Great
Health, Beauty, Nutrition Means A Full Fat Salad
by Rebecca Prescott
Fat free has almost become a cornerstone in
many households. It is certainly something of a fixture on modern
restaurant menus. And industries have catered to the fat free
preoccupation by supplying foods labeled fat free and low fat, as well
as herbal and medical products that block fat metabolism. But the
bottom line on the beauty and health fronts, is that if you want
beautiful skin with fewer wrinkles, or to speed up your metabolism, you
need to eat the right kind of fats.
The benefits to your skin of eating the
right fats daily are many. Beneficial fats stimulate the production of
collagen, improves the blood flow in the layer below the skin that
supplies nutrients for the creation of new, healthy skin cells. Poor
quality blood flow here means under performing new skin cells. Fats
keep the skin moist, from the inside. Fats are crucial for the
absorption of the fat soluble vitamin - A, D, E, and K. And the
beneficial phytonutrients like carotene, lycopene and lutein need fat
to be absorbed also.
For example, eating salad with a dressing
containing fats increases the absorption of these phytonutrients. A
study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition
(and referenced in Gorgeous Skin by E Angyal) found that those who ate
a salad with a low fat dressing had very little alpha-carotene,
beta-carotene and lycopene in blood tests taken afterwards. Those who
had a full fat dressing with the salad had noticeably higher levels of
these carotenes and lycopene metabolites in their blood.
Fats also help produce and regulate
hormones, reduce inflammation (the right fats anyway), and prevent
eczema, psoriasis, and hair loss.
According to Erica Angyal, you need about
2tbsp, or 20 grams of fats per day so the skin can lubricate itself,
and so enough vitamin A can be absorbed. Vitamin A prevents premature
aging.
Erica Angyal recommends olive oil, flaxseed
oil, walnut oil, pumpkin seed oil, coconut oil, mustard seed oil,
avocado oil, soy oil, macadamia oil, and canola oil. She suggests using
extra virgin, virgin, cold pressed oils where they are available, as
these are always much better quality, and the way they are processed
means unhealthy chemical changes to the oils are avoided. Of the oils
here, the mono unsaturated oils are olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia
oil, as well as the oil from cold water fish, like swordfish, mackerel
and salmon. Mono unsaturated oils can reduce wrinkles. The
polyunsaturated oils are flaxseed, walnut, pumpkin seed, and canola
oil. For the reasons outlined below, I would not personally use these
to gain the bulk of needed daily fats. Coconut oil is a saturated fat,
but extremely good for you.
Coconut Oil
I love this stuff. Not only does it have a
beautiful aroma when it is good quality, cold pressed coconut oil, but
it has amazing health benefits that go beyond great looking skin.
Aging, including aging of the brain and skin, is associated with a
process called 'peroxidation'. This simply means that free radicals
remove an oxygen electron from the fats (lipids) in our cellular
membranes. Ultraviolet light, from the sun, causes peroxidation in
unsaturated fats, both in the laboratory and in your skin. This
increases the rate at which wrinkles form.
And unsaturated fats, like regular vegetable
oils, decrease the metabolic rate. Unsaturated fats suppress the
response of the body's tissues to thyroid hormone. Unsaturated fats
inhibit the protein digestive enzyme that forms thyroid hormone, as
well as damaging the mitochondria in cells, which relates to cellular
energy production. Coconut oil counteracts these unwelcome effects of
unsaturated fats.
Coconut oil is incredibly versatile. Because
it is so stable, it can be used in cooking without becoming
hydrogenated. And it doesn't change the flavor of the food, despite its
strong aroma. Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids. These are
not stored in the cells like other fats but go directly to the liver
which converts them into energy. The shorter chain length allows them
to bypass the metabolic pathway that other longer chain fats need to
use. Coconut oil is the only saturated fat that is good for the body.
Interestingly, Dr Mercola's website quotes
an article by Dr Ray Peat in which he mentions that when so called
essential fatty acids were used in patients fed intravenously, their
immune systems were suppressed. Consequently, coconut oil is used
instead. The only exceptions are in cases where immunosuppression is
needed, such as in organ transplant patients. The essential fatty acids
are the omega 3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Examples are
flaxseed oil, the oils of cold water fish like salmon, evening primrose
oil, and sunflower oil.
References: 1.
http://www.mercola.com/2001/mar/24/coconut_oil.htm 2. Erica Angyal,
Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days (Lothian Books, 2005)
Rebecca Prescott runs two websites covering
health issues from a natural perspective. The first reviews vitamins and
supplements in terms of possible health solutions, and the second
covers acne treatments.
Rebecca Prescott may be contacted at http://www.vitaminstohealth.com
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Inferior
Foods Reign Supreme
by Debra Augur
Whole foods are the most sensible choices
when it comes to putting nutritional value on our plate.
So why would we pile on anything less?
It's a simple matter of economics. A
multi-billion dollar's worth, to be exact.
Refined foods are big industry, and draw
enormous profit. When industries are accustomed to bringing in big
profits, they do what any industry would do: protect those profits at
all costs. In addition, these profits bring power, and information can
be put forth, covered over, or otherwise manipulated to protect that
power.
Does this sound paranoid?
Think about it: big industry can invest big
money. In this case, the refined foods industry can fund a great deal
of research. Anything that is found that could reduce sales and profits
is certainly not going to be broadcast to the general public!
There is a counter-balance to this
conglomerate, in the form of a much smaller, but very valuable,
independent research contingent. Their voices strive to broadcast the
message that through their research, they have found that the increase
in disease and obesity has a direct correlation with the increased
consumption of nutritionally inferior products. These products are put
out by the refined foods industry, in the form of overly processed,
nutritionally substandard food. They are "quick and easy", and have
been stripped of their essential nutrients. The shortage of nutrients
in our daily diet leads to multiple deficiencies, the severity of which
is determined by our overall diet. The very vitamins and minerals that
are bodies require in order to fight off illness are discarded in the
processing phase.
The good news is that as long as the
deficiency hasn't caused lasting damage, it can be reversed as soon as
we begin to incorporate those nutrients back into our diets in the form
of whole foods nutrition.
There is already a push to limit the amount
of advertising that the refined foods can do, similar to what has been
done in the tobacco industry. Most reprehensible has been the amount of
advertising that has been directed at children during commercials
between cartoons. Characters are created for the purposes of the
advertising, and these foods seem like "friends" to the young mind,
because they blend in with the characters they are seeing in their
favorite programs.
For the sake of our collective health,
sweeping changes need to be made, in the form of more research on
nutrition, and focusing on the nutritional value that our bodies can
get from whole foods eating. It has already begun, as more and more
fruits, vegetables, and grains that are common in other parts of the
world have been imported and become more familiar. Organic products are
also thriving. As people learn more about what they put into their
bodies and the effects, they are willing to make changes in order to
improve.
When the refined foods industry protects its
profits "at all costs", this includes your health. Are you willing to
continue to pay the price?
Debra Augur has studied holistic nutrition
for years, put that knowledge into practice, and has a passion to share
that knowledge with others who are seeking their own best health. If we
are what we eat, are we denatured, devitalized, deficient and
potentially toxic? Visit www.eat-well-to-be-well.com to learn more, and
begin acquiring your healthiest self.
Debra Augur may be contacted at http://www.eat-well-to-be-well.com
or deb@eat-well-to-be-well.com
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