05/22/07 - Volume 1 - Issue 9
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May Newsletter

Have you ever noticed when someone has a heart attack you will hear statements like "She was absolutely fine yesterday and then all of a sudden she had a heart attack". Well actually, the truth is she was not fine yesterday. Illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and cancer do not happen over night, but rather over a long period of time, from ongoing inflammation in the body. I often hear people say - but I feel fine - there is nothing wrong with me so why do I need to take supplements, eat foods without growth hormones or antibiotics, exercise, have testing test done, etc. The reason to do these things is because you need to focus on health instead of waiting for disease to happen.

I like to think of it as health planning. After all, most of us do financial planning but how many of us do health planning. There is some merit in putting aside money for later in life (financial planning), why not invest time into health planning as well. Health planning could be things like finding ways to reduce your risk for disease such as improving your diet, learning which supplements would be beneficial for your metabolic type, or exercising on a regular basis. Any health promoting improvement can make a difference to your health and quality of life so that you will be able to enjoy what you put aside from financial planning. One of the biggest problems that face Americans today is the increase in inflammation which in turn leads to many diseases. One major cause of inflammation is the type of fats and oils we are consuming, and so this month I would like to discuss this topic in detail and inform you on exactly what is good and what's not.

I want to start by saying that fat is NOT bad for you. That is one of the biggest misconceptions I hear in my office from patients all day long. We actually need fat to burn fat and it's essential to our metabolism, energy production and the proper function of all the organs in our body. Many people may believe that if something is fat-free it is better for you, but unfortunately that is not the case (if it was, and that actually worked, there would be no overweight people in this country). The biggest problem with fat free foods is that when you take out the fat, it doesn't taste very good and so the manufacturers have to add things to make it taste better. One of the most added ingredients to solve this problem is sugar, and sugar is by far worse for us than fat is.

Calorie wise, all fats have the same number of calories, so weather you are getting olive oil, avocado oil, corn oil, etc it's all 9 calories per gram. Fats however are very complicated creatures and there are quite a few things to look at when it comes to them.

Trans fats, Saturated fats, Unsaturated fats, Omega oils, what does this all mean?

Technically, the only bad fats are trans fats which are also called hydrogenated oils. These are oils that are liquid at room temperature, but are processed by hydrogenation to become solid at room temperature. The process of hydrogenation adds a hydrogen molecule to the oil and thus changes the molecular structure of it bringing it from a natural oil to an unnatural (not found anywhere in nature) substance. Because our bodies have a tough time processing and digesting things that they do not recognize, these trans fats are never fully digested and go on to clog our arteries and cause inflammation.

Saturated fats usually come from animal sources like meats and dairy. These fats when eaten in excess can also harm our bodies, but another important thing to remember is the source of the fat. If the fat comes from an animal that is raised organically and allowed to roam free, the amount of fat in that piece of meat will be far less than its factory farmed counterpart raised in a cage.

We also have unsaturated fats which are divided into polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Monounsaturated fats are the healthiest and have many heart benefits. Oils rich in monounsaturated fatty acids are olive and avocado.

Omega 3, 6 and 9 are other words you may have seen on labels and in the press. Omega 9's are monounsaturated fats and Omega 3 and 6's are polyunsaturated fats. The main thing we need to know about these is that omega 3's are anti-inflammatory, thus prevent and reverse inflammation, omega 6's are pro-inflammatory which means they cause inflammation and Omega 9's are neutral and heart healthy. 3's are found in foods like fish in the form or EPA and DHA and flax in the form of ALA. ALA converts to EPA and DHA which is what is utilized in the body. Flax seed is a source of ALA but the body needs to convert it to EPA and DHA because it can not use ALA. As we get older we lose the ability to convert it and thus need to get it directly from EPA/DHA from fish oil sources. Omega 9's are found in olives, avocados and some nuts like macadamia nuts and 80% of the fats you consume should be in the form of omega 9's monounsaturated fats. These oils are also the best for cooking because they have higher smoke points and will not oxidize and cause free radical damage as some other vegetable oils will. Omega 6's are all other oils including most vegetable oils. GLA, evening primrose and borage oil are the only omega 6's we need to take in because our body can't make those on its own.

Currently Americans are not getting enough 3's and eating way to many 6's. We used to eat 1 Omega 6 to 1 Omega 3, but now Americans consume 16-20 times more 6's than 3's and there is a huge problem with inflammation, because remember omega 6's are pro- inflammatory. 50 percent of people suffer from a chronic inflammatory condition and going back to "we are what we eat", the more 6's we eat the more we become inflamed.

We are behind almost every westernized nation in health; we are ranked # 25 because we eat so much inflammatory fat. Inflammation suppresses your immune system and if it's suppressed you can't fight the cancer cells, diabetes, infection etc. You may have heard the fish oils are good for cholesterol, ever wonder why? Cholesterol is an inflammatory marker and it goes up when there is inflammation going on in the body. We have this problem because we have so many more omega 6's which is why fish oils (omega 3's) work so well to lower cholesterol.

I often hear patients taking Omega supplements which are great, however there are different kinds. Some of the popular ones are all in one Omega 3 6 9 pills. However as you can see from above, these would not always be the best because we already have too much 6 and technically just need the borage and fish oils. 9's are easy to get from foods so it's not as necessary to supplement. Generally, Omega 3's in the form of EPA/DHA is the better anti-inflammatory supplement.

Krill Oil - another great supplement

Krill comes from unpolluted parts of the world so it's free from PCB's and mercury. Krill is a little different from straight fish oil because it has natural occurring phospholipids but also vitamin A and E and beta carotene. It's a very small fish on the food chain so it gets eaten right away before it gets polluted. It's also eaten by whales which are very healthy and never get skin cancer. The Eskimos actually eat whale and krill and even though 90 % of their diet is fat, they have no heart disease or cancers because they are eating the good fats.
There has been a lot of hype about Canola oil lately, but don't be fooled as it is one of the worst oils for us. It is an Omega 6 but also it's made from rapeseed and the only reason it's called canola oil is because it comes from Canada. Rapeseed has been banned in products such as baby formulas and the European Union prohibited it everywhere. Rapeseed contains erucic acid which is a toxic substance that can kill you. Knowing this, the food producers decided to genetically modify it to make it low in erucic acid for our consumption. However now we are getting a genetically modified food which is absolutely no better and not something you should put in the body.

You must be wondering how this recommendation came about? You see, back in the 60's everyone was using lard. The government knew that these fats caused heart disease so they decided to start recommending vegetable oils because in essence vegetables do not cause heard disease. However when the public began using vegetable oils, heart disease started sky rocketing. So the government was puzzled about what to recommend to make the public healthier. We then had the corn oil era, the sunflower oil era etc. Nutritionists said please recommend olive oil, its really healthy. But the government said no because we do not grow enough olives. So we have to recommend something that will support the agriculture in our country and that is when Canada came along and gave us rapeseed.

We have been brainwashed by the food industry for many years because they make money by getting us to eat more cheap food so they get more profit margin. In fact the new food pyramid vs the old food pyramid has more calories because they encourage us to eat more. The nutrition world has known about the danger of trans fats since the 70's, so its pretty scary that it took the government till 2006 to take control. Unfortunately the government doesn't always have our interest at heart and it has to do much less with health and much more with the department of agriculture. The USDA puts out the food pyramid, but did you know that no scientists were on that panel? Dr. Perscatore was the only physician that joined the panel recently. Who do you think everyone else was??? If you guessed food manufacturers you are correct!

Right now Americans spend less than 10% of their income on food. In the 40's we spent 40 % on food. I'm not saying that we should be spending half our income on food, but our priorities changed so much. People say they can't afford health food stores or organic meats, but most people have 4 televisions, 2 cars etc. We invest lots of money on looking good, in NYC we can go into a salon and walk out an hour later having spend a few hundred dollars, but people think twice before spending money on nutritional supplements and good quality clean food which will make you feel good and in turn look good because as you know health on the inside will show on the outside too! Our food is what nourishes our body, the same body we will have our whole life so it's ok to spend a little more on it, it will pay you back! There is nothing more rewarding that feeling good your whole life.

It's such a pleasure to help those closest to us become happier and healthier. Please forward this newsletter to friends, family members or colleagues who might be interested and inspired by it. If you are sick of yo-yo dieting and want to finally take control of your health please contact us!

Warmly,


Inna Topiler - Integrative Nutritionist
Complete Nutrition And Wellness

phone: 201-238-2720

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