Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are the types of fats that are necessary for a healthy body but cannot be produced by the body so they must be supplied through the diet. Every cell in the body needs EFA’s for the production of new cells and the rebuilding of cells.
Some of the benefits of EFA’s are: lowering cholesterol, reducing blood pressure, they promote healthy hair and skin, aid in the prevention of arthritis, beneficial for psoriasis, eczema, candidasis, cardiovascular disease and brain development and function.
Omega 3 and Omega 6 are two categories of EFA’s which can be found in certain oils such as: flaxseed, walnut, fish, canola, grape seed, borage, primrose, soybean, sesame seed and unsaturated vegetable oils. These types of oils should be consumed in liquid or supplement form but not exposed to heat, cooking or processing which will destroy the EFA’s resulting in cell destroying free radicals. It is important to incorporate antioxidants into your daily dietary intake because antioxidants seek out and neutralize the cell destroying free radicals.
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils form trans fatty acids (or “plastic fat”), which the body cannot process causing cell membranes to stiffen thus affecting the major organs and immune system function. In 1911, Procter & Gamble, Crisco and Mazola introduced hydrogenated oils into margarines, butters and other products. By the 1930’s heart disease and diabetes began to skyrocket and studies have shown that the constant consumption of trans fats causes weight gain and especially belly fat that is very hard to lose. Other health dangers linked to trans fats are liver and gallbladder diseases, infertility, ADHD, cystic fibrosis, elevated cholesterol levels, fibromyalgia, migraines, gout and arthritis.
There have been several products on the market promoting “0 Trans fats”, but actually those ads were deceptive because the products still contained hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. According to the FDA regulations:”if the serving contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fats, the content, when declared, shall be expressed as zero.”
Because all trans fats are bad fats, the daily intake should be less than 0.5 grams. One deceptive product marketing ploy is to reduce the serving size to reflect a “0 trans fat” content when actually the trans fat content is the same. If you were to eat a bowl of cereal and coffee with creamer for breakfast (4 grams); a sandwich with chips for lunch (6gm); a salad with cheese, potatoes with gravy and a roll with margarine for dinner (6gm) and a slice of cake for dessert (2gm), your total trans fat intake would be 18 grams for the day. That is 18 times more than the maximum allowed trans fat daily intake.
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