Food Freedom Friday Edition 262 - PUFA Problems

The modern world is one where you are often told that pretty much everything under the sun is bad for you. Some even claim the sun itself is harmful to your health! I try and avoid all these overhyped claims, BUT, there is one food substance that you probably consume regularly that deserves more attention. This substance is far more damaging than any of the commonly feared foods, yet is still consumed on a daily basis and in enormous quantities around the world. It is so ubiquitous that even many health-conscious individuals are not even aware of. Meanwhile its consumption is linked to heart disease, obesity and even cancer.

I am referring to Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids. Also known as PUFA's. In particular Omega 6 PUFAs.

What are PUFA’s?

Poly-Unsaturated Fatty Acid or PUFA is a type of fat where the fatty acid has more than one (poly) double bond in the carbon chain. They are unsaturated because they are missing out on numerus hydrogen atoms (which saturate all the bonds on a saturated fat). This makes the bonds weaker and more volatile like a chain of links that are missing a joint or two, on each and every link. This would be neither strong nor stable. Due to this instability, polyunsaturated fatty acids are very much prone to oxidation, where the double bonds get damaged, causing major problems with how your body reacts to the acid.

Omega-3 and Omega-6

There are two main types of PUFA’s — omega-3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Omega-3 essential fatty acids are found in fatty fish, shellfish, liver, and in some seeds like flax. These can be very good for you in moderate amounts.

Much, much more prevalent however, are PUFA’s in the form of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Omega-6 PUFA occurs naturally in small quantities in real, whole foods like seeds, nuts, legumes, as well as ethically-raised animal products.

The biggest problem with these omega-6’s is your body is only made to handle these fats in small amounts. Your fat cells are comprised of mostly saturated and monounsaturated fat and very little omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. When you begin consuming the oils from these foods in concentrated form, as opposed to eating moderate amounts of the actual foods they are found in, you can create a rather serious imbalance resulting in various health problems.

When was the last time you sat down and ate a big bowlful of cotton seeds, rapeseeds or grapeseeds? I would think your answer was probably never!!! Thanks to the modern technology of the food processing industry, these oils have become a common food, that you have more than likely consumed in large quantities, right along with soybean oil, corn oil, safflower seed oil, sunflower seed oil, and all kinds of these concentrated forms of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The Problem With PUFA

Mainstream medicine advocates the use of PUFAs over those artery-clogging saturated fat you have been advised to avoid. Not all fats are as healthy as you might have been told. Polyunsaturated fats are inferior to saturated fats for many reasons:

Inflammation & Free Radical Damage

The most widely-recognized danger of PUFA oils is the inflammation due to excess consumption. Many foods are somewhat inflammatory, and that is not necessarily a bad thing as a little inflammation can keep processed like your immune system running smoothly. However, when taken to the extreme, inflammation can be problematic. High levels of inflammation have been linked many serious concerns including heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Excessive inflammation in the body from PUFAs occurs due to the free radicals created in the processing of the industrial oils (like vegetable and canola), rendering them rancid. Free radicals are atoms with an unpaired electron floating around creating havoc in the body. These compounds attack cell membranes and red blood cells, and they even cause damage to DNA and RNA strands, leading to cellular mutations in the body’s tissues. In skin, they are responsible for wrinkles and premature aging. In blood vessels, they buildup plaque. In tissues and organs, free radicals can set the stage for tumors to form.

Processing PUFA Oils

Free-radical forming oxidation of the PUFAs happen when they are exposed to heat, light, or oxygen.

Before they ever are exposed to any of these, the PUFA oils are oxidized through the process used to manufacture them. As you might imagine, it is challenging to make oil out of things like seeds. People have been making oil from olives for millennia because it’s pretty easy — you squeeze it. Oil comes out. This is not quite the case for a rapeseed (canola), soybean, corn or cotton seed.

Factory-processed PUFA oils are created through measures of high heat and extreme pressure, (exposing the oil to oxidative damage), and further processed with a slew of chemical solvents. Some of these chemicals (usually hexane) remain, and yet another chemical is added to deodorize the now-rancid PUFA oil’s smell. In that process, the small amount of omega-3 present in oils like canola, actually convert to trans fatty acid. Finally, BHT and BTA are added as chemical preservatives, since any naturally-occurring preservative substances, such as antioxidant vitamin E which were once naturally found in the food, have been thoroughly removed through the processing.

PUFA & Metabolism

PUFA oils have a devastating effect on your metabolism. PUFA’s interfere directly with the functioning of the thyroid gland, as well as the ability of the thyroid hormones to be utilized, or metabolized, by the body. This type of interference with thyroid functioning is a major cause for a sluggish metabolism in the body.

Furthermore, the inflammation caused by excess PUFA consumption leads to a rise in the stress hormones cortisol (the “belly fat” hormone) and Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS-3). The release of these hormones is triggered by the presence of inflammatory molecules such as Interleukin-6 which are known to rise in direct proportion to the presence of omega-6 PUFAs in the diet. The stress hormones released as a result are significant because of all the factors that have been studied when trying to determine what causes leptin resistance (the hormonal state that makes your body think it‘s starving, keeping your metabolism subdued and continuing to try to store fat even if you have way more than enough already), the closest ties are to these counter-inflammatory substances.

PUFA & Modern Diseases

The advent of industrial polyunsaturated fats in the diet is, without question, the single most prevalent change to the human diet in recent history. Carbohydrate, protein and saturated fat consumption are about the same, but the amount of polyunsaturated fat has increased over two-and-a-half times, and climbing.

Polyunsaturated fats accumulate in your cells and can be passed on from generation to generation. This means that for over a century now, society has been experiencing the cumulative effects of all that excess PUFA through inflammation, thyroid disfunction, leptin resistance and all. It can take years to flush the PUFAs from your system, even if you eliminate or reduce them immediately.

Sources of PUFA

Hydrogenated PUFAs in Processed Food Products

PUFA oils in their worst form are those which have been fully or partially hydrogenated. This is a chemical process used to make the oil solidify at room temperature, resulting in it being more shelf-stable. The process begins by adding tiny particles of heavy metals which bond to the fat before being subjected to a highly pressurized hydrogen gas reactor. Soap-like emulsifiers and starches are added for consistency, before the solidified oil is steamed at extreme temperatures to make it more palatable. The hydrogenated fat is then bleached, dyed, and artificially flavored and sometime labelled “All Natural”

Another name for these hydrogenated polyunsaturated fatty acids is trans fats.

You will find these hydrogenated polyunsaturated trans fats in most processed food, from cake mixes to granola bars, breakfast cereals to fast food fries, crackers, cookies and popcorn. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to make a habit of looking for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated listed on the ingredients label, before you indulge on your favorite processed goodies.

Industrial PUFAs in Processed Foods

If you begin looking for industrial oils on the label of any processed food, you are sure to find them.

Keep in mind that you are aiming for no more than about 4% of total calories in your diet to come from PUFAs.

The omega-6 content by percentage of total calories of common PUFA’s is:

·       Corn oil: 54.5% Omega-6 PUFA

·       Sunflower oil: 68%

·       Vegetable oil 51.4%

·       Cottonseed oil: 52.4%

·       Canola: 19.0% (and the omega-3’s present are transformed to trans fats from the factory processing)

·       Grapeseed oil: 70.6% Omega-6 PUFA (can I get a “holy-freaking-CRAP!?“)

·       Walnut oil: 53.9%

·       Sesame oil: 42%

·       Peanut oil: 33.4%

·       Olive: 9.9% (totally fine in moderate amounts, but the PUFA content is why it’s not the best choice for cooking due to oxidation)

Fake animal fats fare no better:

·       Tub margarine (yes, that would be your favorite “heart-healthy” buttery spread): 33% PUFA, 4.3% trans fat

·       Stick margarine: 21.4% PUFA, 26.7% trans fat

·       Vegetable shortening: 23.7% PUFA, 12.2% trans fat

Fats that are mostly saturated are what we really want to be using. Here’s how low these traditional fats are in omega-6 PUFAs:

·       Butter: 3.4% omega-6

·       Beef Tallow: 3.1% omega-6

·       Coconut oil: 1.9% omega-6

Notice these are within the recommended total percentage (less than 4%) of dietary PUFA.

What To Eat Instead

To put it simply, it is optimal to eat real, natural food.  By only using those actually healthy cooking fats which are mostly saturated, instead of liquid cooking oils, minimizing processed foods, and eating grass-fed animal products instead of factory-farmed, you are well on your way to cutting out toxic levels of PUFA in your diet.

What About Ratio?

You may have heard that rather than the PUFAs simply being the problem, it is more about the ratio of the different types, omega-6 and omega-3, in the foods you eat. You want to maintain a ratio of from 1:1 to 3:1. This would mean eating foods and supplements rich in omega-3’s can help boost that ratio in your diet.

My personal belief is that for the purpose of sustaining a healthy metabolism, keeping your consumption of all PUFA to the minimum that you actually need would be the ideal scenario. If you are eating plenty of grass-fed animal products, decent amounts of seafood, and ideally some organ meats occasionally, you probably don’t need to go out of your way trying to incorporate extra omega-3’s into your diet. You only need a little, and these high-quality foods will provide it, along with a healthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. Supplementing with fish oils for omega-3 will improve your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 PUFA, but, in alignment with many of my philosophies, a better strategy is to remove those which are high in omega-6 PUFA, eat natural foods which have an appropriate ratio, and leave it at that. Real food for the win!