Nutrition and Health

[Loui Tufga]

What is going on here?? The way this thread is heading there is a good chance I will drop dead tomorrow!!

[dwaino]

dwaino, it is my belief that vegetables are eaten by what i eat 

personally, though, i will not eat margarine or any any proceesed oil if i can help it. i try to stick to animal fats or cold processed vegetable oils

hydrogenation of oils is as you say,  basically to get them to behave like saturated fats which are solid at room temperature. I believe that partially hydronated, or trans fats are worse. your body will use these just like saturated fats, but the problem is that cells manufactured with them become insulin resistant. whether this is the same for fully hydrogenated or not i am unsure.

basically the less processed what you eat the better off you are.

have you looked into coconut oil?

Cheers al. Definitely an advocate of trying to stay away from processed food when I can.

We're kind of foodies, so we use a few different oils. The missus is Sicilian so extra virgin olive oil (usually pricey imported brands) gets the biggest work out here, but I like to use peanut or sesame oils if I'm making a stir fry for example. I guess it comes down to what we're making. But pretty much all mono and poly unsaturated fats. Coconut oil is high in saturated fat isn't it? I guess this is where I've been getting confused. I do remember reading somewhere that saturated fats like that in butter can/is/something good for your heart in moderation. But it's the trans or hydrogenated ones that are the real bad guys.

It's something really interesting and I'd love to actually understand at some point. Unfortunately it can be a pretty subjective topic and I've even had doctors and dietitians contradict each other. My main staples are fruit, veggies, fish and some other sea foods, eggs, milk and cheese, then try to do the right thing and throw in things like nuts, an avocado here and there etc, even back on a pea isolate since I've been back into training (I don't eat red meat or chicken or anything, so needed to increase the protein intake for recovery), but I'm always getting told a better way of doing it.

What is going on here?? The way this thread is heading there is a good chance I will drop dead tomorrow!!

  I am 12 and what is this.

[tiga]

Eat well, Exercise regularly....Die anyway.

[1965]

You're born, poo happens and you die.

[Ruanaidh]

You're born, poo happens and you die.

Unlike nearly everyone I know I have no fear of death........ as I don't believe in it IMO, maximising the potential of our body brings back to a shorter time-frame the period where you suffer degenerative diseases at the end of your years. That is my motivation. Fit/healthy people usually die of spontaneous heart attacks, often in their sleep according to this TED Talk:

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100.html

[dwaino]

Automatic kudos for posting TED. 

[Penelope]

yeah, Dwaino Coconut oils is high in saturated fats, but for some reason it has the reputation of having healthy saturated fats.

All saturated fats are healthy and play a variety roles in our bodies, its just that those who gained financially in switching people from expensive fats to cheap processed oils have done a really good job in bastardising nutritional guidance.

A couple of years ago some boffin found that fibre in the diet can be fermented in the colon (if you have the right bacteria) and end up with short chain fatty acids, which are very important for your immune system.

Well, all short chain fatty acids are in fact saturated fats, so thats an arse about way of providing your body with the fuel your immune system needs, but very few would actually say just eat saturated fat because it is good for your immune system.

this is a good article on fats;
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/skinny-on-fats#fatty

Mary Enig knows her fats. she has been warning of the dangers of trans fats for a long time and was at the forefront of the push to mandate that trans fat content be put on labels in the US.

she has a swag of articles here;
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats

[dwaino]

Thanks al  bookmarked for when walking dead is over

[Ruanaidh]

Automatic kudos for posting TED. 

Why thank you dwaino

[Yeahright]

can anyone prove it doesnt?

I can put forward a pretty good argument that it doesnt, but as i said it is long winded and technical. happy to do so when i have the time. I used to have a website that explained it all, but it was hacked and destroyed.

Lets be serious it cant be good for the ticker can it.

care to explain why not?

All i did was stop smoking.

thats all you did? you did one of the most beneficial things you can do for your health. Considering the repair role that cholesterol plays in your body, it is only to be expected that your cholesterol will drop once you stop poisoning it.

Its like saying that once i stopped cutting myself i stopped getting scars

The repairing cholesterol is high density whereas the build up from smoking is low, so your explanation is a bit off..

actually there is only one type of cholesterol, and that is cholesterol.

High density and low density actually refers to Lipoproteins. HDL is a high densty lipoprotein, etc.  There are also Intermediate Lipoproteins and Very Low Density Lipoproteins. You see, this is where the smoke and mirrors starts, HDL and LDL are not actually cholesterol, they are the things that transport cholesterol (and fat)around your body.

In a nutshell they start of as Very Low Density lipoproteins and they transport Cholesterol and fat around the body and deliver them where they are needed. this is done only be means of specific receptors. Fat or cholesterol cannot be dumped from lipoproteins willy nilly, and if they were, they would not even stick to the endothelium, the "non stick" inner lining of our arteries.

a VLDL will have mainly tryglycerides (fatty acids or fat in simple terms) and cholesterol. the fatty acids will be delivered to cells that require energy, or stored as fat in the body.

as it loses these fatty acids it becomes an Intermediate density lipoprotein.

at this stage it can actually be reabsorbed by the liver and i believe this to be crucial, but noone seems to know what determines whether it is reabsorbed, or whether it continues on its delivery run.

as it continues to loose the tryglycerides (and the "key" that would have allowed it to be reabsorbed by the liver)  it now becomes an LDL, , containing mainly cholesterol and some fat. It's purpose is to deliver cholesterol and fat soluble vitamins to cells that require it.

A HDL is a different cat. it circulates around exchanging "keys" that lock into receptors with the VLDs/IDLs/LDLs , as well as scavenging used cholesterol from cell walls and returning it to the liver to be reprocessed.

Now for cholesterol to end up in our arteries, we first need something to damage the endothelium, the body then starts a repair process. This is when so called arterial plaque is formed.These arterial plaques are basically scar tissue. Of the eight stages of this plaque formation, cholesterol and fat appear at stage 6 (now that hardly be the cause of the problem, can it?).

One thing known to damage the endothelium is nicotine. So when Daniel stopped smoking, he reduced the amount of damage done to his arteries, amongst other things. He therefore reduced his body's need for cholesterol, so his LDL dropped accordingly. (this would be due to reduced damage to cells all through the body, not just in the arteries.)

I was always taught HDL turned cholesterol into high density and same with low if you get what I mean? But then again I've never taken much interest into nutrition as I find theres to many "experts" contradicting each other.
Thanks for your explanation though.

[Yeahright]

yeah, Dwaino Coconut oils is high in saturated fats, but for some reason it has the reputation of having healthy saturated fats.

I found this...
"Plus, some argue that coconut oil and palm fruit oil, which are plant-based sources of saturated fats, may actually be beneficial because their particular fatty-acid make-up means they are metabolized differently in the body."
Not really an explanation but might help a little?

[dwaino]

Thanks. I might do a little reading on it then to see if I can find anything, and then find if it will better suit any particular recipes. I stay away from palm oil though if I can really help it, whether the manufacturer claims RSPO or not.

[Chuck17]

Is coconut oil digested?, I thought it was a lubricant.

[tiga]

What about cottonseed oil? the local chippie uses it and the food tastes crap but if its better for you then maybe they are on the right track.

[Penelope]

Is coconut oil digested?, I thought it was a lubricant.

one of the easiest digested oils as you dont need bile. Excellent choice of oil for people who have had their gall bladder removed.

It also has claims as an anti viral/anti bacterial agent. There was talk of it being used to help cure golden staff. I have had success with fixing mastitis in a dog feeding her coconut oil and raw milk.