The Skinny on Fat

Milk

One place to cut the fat in your diet is milk.  Milk is made up of a high percentage of water.  In an effort to minimize the impact of nutrition labels the industry has chosen to list the fat as a percentage of weight rather than calories from fat.  Despite being labeled as 1% and 2% which sounds so lowfat the actual percentages are as follows:

Whole milk – 50% of calories from fat

2%  milk – 35% of calories from fat

1% milk – 23% of calories from fat

Skim – 5% of calories from fat

One concern with milk is the homogenization process which breaks the fat cells up into miniscule particles that will more easily disperse.  One argument to why homogenized milk is bad for you is because those fat cells are reduced to such a small size that these cells can move in our bodies in ways and places they wouldn’t normally be able to.

Why is milk homogenized?  To keep the cream from separating from the milk, no other reason.

Commercially bred meats

I’ll use beef as an example.  Cow’s bodies are designed to eat grass. (hence the 2 stomachs)  When they eat grass the ratio of omega 6 to omega three in their meat is 3:1.  Grass is hard to feed to cow’s en mass, so producers looked to other feed sources.  Corn is cheap, cows will eat it and they grow faster when fed corn, so corn has become a staple in the diets of commercially raised beef.  The ratio of fats in this meat is 20 omega 6 fats to 1 omega 3 fat.

Because of what commercial animals are fed meat has become a large source of the wrong fats in our diets.  

This is one place following the word of wisdom   and eating meat ‘sparingly and only in times of cold or famine’ helps in a low fat diet.

In addition to their corn diet, cattle producers also feed cows the cast offs from candy and bakery companies.  Why?  Because it fattens them up faster. 

If you eat wild meat, your meat is most likely in the healthy 3:1 ration of bad to good fats.   Congrats! 

Good Fats/Bad Fats

This is a new area of thinking for me.  My mother-in-law gave me the “do’s and don’ts” of fat when we first got married (they have a family history of heart disease) and the biggest rule was “there aren’t any good fats.” 

Of course I remember a discussion with my grandma in the early 90’s where she was talking about how high in fat avocados were and I thought, “So?  God made avocados, they must be good for us despite being high fat.”  That was the first time it occurred to me there might be healthy fats.   Of course, now avocados are touted as a source of healthy fat.

We get into the most trouble in areas where we alter what Heavenly Father made.  For me one of the safest bets is olive oil because it’s been used for thousands of years and it’s in the state that the Lord made it.  When you get cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil it hasn’t been heated or chemically altered.   What about other oils?  Canola oil is touted as being heart healthier.  Corn oil?  Safflower oil?  These oils are produced through a heat and chemical extraction process that alters the chemical properties of the oil. They also use the chemical hexane to produce these oils and it remains as a by product in the oil.  Because of the high heat involved in the process to extract the oil, it begins to become rancid and therefore has to be chemically deodorized before it can be commercially sold.  Lots of chemicals and lots of steps beyond what God made.  Too mamy fo rme.  

After all the bad press fats have gotten it’s easy to forget that fat is one of 3 macronutrients that our bodies need to function well.  (fyi the other 2 are carbohydrates and proteins) We hear a lot about Omega 3 fat.  These are considered to be healthy fats.  Most experts think we should be eating a ratio of 4:1,  omega 3 fats to omega 6 fat.   

Sources of Omega 3 Fats

Flax seeds are a powerhouse for Omega 3 fats

Walnuts are high in omega 3

Fish & seafood

Winter squash

All other fats make up the omega 6 category.   

Other healthy fats to incorporate into your diet: 

Nuts/seeds

Olive oil

Avocados

Possibly coconut oil (it is cold pressed and virgin, so unaltered from its natural state)  There is a lot of hype over coconut oil right now, most of it coming from the industry itself.   Coconut oil is almost entirely saturated fat (what we’ve always known as the bad fat) however, while most fats are composed of long chain triglycerides, coconut oil is composed mainly of medium chain triglycerides which are  more easily digested, absorbed, and put to use nourishing the body. Unlike other fats, they put little strain on the digestive system. This is another fat that, if it is cold pressed, virgin oil, is in the same state as it was created, a plus for coconut. Do not confuse coconut oil with the 'partially hydrogenated coconut oil' that is used in many commercial products, not the same thing.  See below for information about hydrogenation. 

There are also rumblings in the healthy eating community and even some main stream media that animal fats aren't as dangerous or as bad for us as we've been led to believe, and might be part of a healthy diet.  I believe that is probably true, however the fats would need to come from animals fed their natural diet rather than the corn-fed, beef, chicken and pork commercially available. 

Fats to avoid: 

Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils – this would be shortening and margarine product

These fats are, again, chemically altered. Trans fats are artificially produced fats that are very unhealthy. The consumption of trans fats is believed to be one of the main causes of obesity. The health risks of trans fats include heart disease, obesity, cancer, clogged arteries, high cholesterol, diabetes, birth defects, allergies in children, etc. Food manufactures use (partially) hydrogenated oils because it increases the shelf life of their products. This means less spoilage, less loss and therefore more profit.

These fats are in most commercially prepared foods for that reason.  You have to carefully read labels to avoid these products. 

Simple Ways to Cut Fat from Your Recipes

Cookies:

I have never found a cookie recipe that hasn’t worked just as well using half the fat.  The only adjustment I usually make is to put in about ¾ of the flour and then add a little at a time until the dough is the right texture.   

Cream soups/white sauces

Any sauce you use a roux for can be made using just flour.   Make the soup and then at the end add the flour mixed with a little cold water.  When you thicken with flour you have to boil the mixture a minimum of 1 min to cook the flour starches and remove the flour taste. 

French Fries

We cut potatoes for fries and put into a large bowl then toss with egg white, making sure to coat each fry.  These come out similar to steak fries.   Sometimes we toss them with herbs or seasoning before baking.  Also you can coat fries with olive oil and herbs and bake to get crispy fries.  Healthy fat! 

Corn tortillas

We’ve always loved these fried in oil for tacos, but we recently learned you can fry them at high heat without oil and they are just as yummy but no grease drips down to your elbow when you eat them and they are much healthier for you.

Sour Cream

Substitute fat free greek yogurt in recipes calling for sour cream.  Ups the protein, takes out fat.  (Winco sells large containers of greek yogurt)

Stove top stuffing

 I have one recipe that calls for stuffing and in a pinch I use the box stuff.  I substitute water for the butter, still works great.

Sauteing

 We use chicken broth or even water to sauté vegetables, or to stir fry. 

Waffles

My brother-in-law taught us that you can really skimp on the oil in waffles as long as you spray the waffle iron between each waffle.  (I haven’t graduated to a good Pam replacement yet, it’s on my to do list)

Flour Tortillas

This is one area where I always read labels.  I’ve found tortillas ranging from 2.5 grams of fat to 5 grams of fat with variation even in the same brand.  Tortillas are usually part of a larger dish for us and I don’t want them to be the main fat component of the meal. 

And that's the skinny on fats around here!!  We're still working on incorporating good fats, we're pretty good at avoiding bad ones at this point.  Hope you found something you can use.