Fats – the good, the bad and the UGLY

Udo Erasmus wrote an excellent book called “Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill”. Fats can be divided into three categories: The good, the bad and the UGLY!

Ugly fats are fats, that can do you real harm. Why is this? Every cell in our body is like a box. And the wall of this box is made out of essential fatty acids and proteins. It is like building a house: If you don't have good building material, the house will not be of good quality.

If your diet contains “ugly” fats, your body will have to use those as cheap alternatives for essential fatty acids to build new cells. The problem with the ugly fats is, that they can make the cell walls rigid. Rigid cells cannot communicate well with other cells – they do not function well.

So what are these “ugly” fats? They were originally created as a substitute for butter in the 1800s. Margarine is made by hydrogenation of oils in the presence of a nickel catalyst. The high temperatures used in the process tend to “flip” the structure of some of the oils into the “trans” form, which results in partially hydrogenated “trans fats”.

Not only do trans fatty acids provide no known benefit to human health; there is a clear link between trans fatty acid intake and an increase in LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol). Trans fats also lower levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), and therefore increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

The other problem is, that the oils commonly used are Omega-6 fats, which are pro-inflammatory, especially if consumed in big amounts. They also decrease the beneficial effect of the good Omega-3 fats.

According to Wikipedia there are no brands of spreads on sale in the UK which contain partially hydrogenated oils. But to my knowledge this is no guarantee that these fats are not used as ingredients in products.

The Food Authority of Australia also states that “commercially produced fats such as margarine spreads, fats used in deep frying and fats used in pastry doughs, are likely to contain some trans fats.”

When you go shopping next time, why not check the labels for words like “margarine”, “hydrogenated”, “trans fat” and “vegetable fat”. I do not touch foods with these ingredients.

Are you ready for an "oil change"? 

Have a healthy week,

Dr Oliver Frey, MD MRCGP

Food and Genes – the science of Nutrigenomics

As a busy GP in several NHS practices in Suffolk and Essex I see patients with a variety of chronic conditions, from arthritis to IBS. Many of them are not aware that changes to their diet could potentially improve their symptoms.

Our food is like fuel for a car: There is nothing wrong with Petrol or Diesel, but putting either of them in the tank of a car that requires different fuel, the engine will certainly not do well.

A couple of years ago whilst practising in Switzerland I saw a patient who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. He had been taking Methotrexate, a very powerful drug, for over 10 years. The potential side effects worried him and he asked for my help. We discovered that he had a gluten intolerance. After stopping gluten, his symptoms improved so drastically, that he decided to wean himself off the Methotrexate.

We have to keep in mind that our genetic plan is probably a couple of million years old, and our diet has changed drastically in that time. Dairy, cereals and eggs are now a staple in our diet, but they were not in the past. For some of us our genes just cannot keep up with that change.

Have you ever felt bloated after a meal? Chances are you ate something that does not fit to your genetic plan. Your digestive system aims to break down your foods into the smallest particles which are absorbed as building material or fuel. With some foods it might struggle to do this completely and instead the “left-over” pieces are broken down by bowel bacteria. They produce as by-product acid and gas.

The acid can “drill” little holes into your gut, leading to the “leaky gut syndrome”, which can be the start of a variety of inflammatory diseases.

The spectrum of possible symptoms is wide: Some people just feel chronically tired, others suffer from loose bowels, despite normal investigations.

If you think that any of these symptoms fit to you, speak to a qualified practitioner with an interest in functional/nutritional medicine. After excluding a more sinister cause of your problems, he/she can arrange tests to find out which foods work together with your genes, and which not – the science of nutrigenomics.

Best regards and good health,

Dr Oliver Frey MD MRCGP

Information presented in this article is for information only and not intended as a substitute for seeking professional medical advice. Dr Frey has a private medical practice in Stonham Aspal specialising in functional/nutritional medicine. He can be contacted by email via contact@dr-frey.com or his website www.dr-frey.com.