Inflammatory Food
I was listening to a podcast in which a physiotherapist was describing how he could not help a patient suffering from extreme pain in her back, no matter what treatment approaches he tried. Analgesics were not helping her either. It was only when she agreed to make radical changes to her diet that she was able to sleep through the night and function well during the day.
Some of the biggest health problems the developed world faces today are obesity, coronary heart disease and auto-immune diseases. We may be living longer lives, but we appear to be getting sicker. There are many reasons for this, one of the obvious ones is the food we consume. Never before in human history have we eaten so much nutrient-poor, calorie-dense, highly inflammatory food as we ingest today. Two of the biggest culprits are industrial seed oils, the so-called “vegetable oils”, and processed carbohydrates in the form of various types of refined flour, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juices, soda drinks including diet sodas, etc. These two offenders - industrial seed oils and refined carbohydrates - are often packaged together in the plethora of processed and convenience foods available to the average consumer.
Let’s Talk about Industrial Seed Oils
Recent research has shown that these oils are not the “heart-healthy” solution they are still often touted to be. Cheap-to-produce industrial seed oils were introduced in the early 1900s as a by-product of the soap industry and their consumption has been rising steadily since the mid 1900s. Today we consume over 6 times more soybean oil than we did in 1970.
The process used to make soybean, corn, cottonseed, safflower, rapeseed (canola), peanut, sunflower, and rice-bran oils renders them highly unstable and toxic. The seeds are heated to extremely high temperatures causing oxidation of the unsaturated fatty acids. They are then processed with a petroleum-based solvent, such as hexane to get as much oil out of them as possible, after which they are deodorised to remove the resulting foul smell. Deodorising produces trans-fats, known to be harmful to health. The processing is not complete until more chemicals are added to improve the colour of the final product. Even if we put all the processing with its toxic by-products aside, industrial seed oils are produced from genetically modified crops that are heavily sprayed with gut-disrupting glyphosate.
Industrial seed oils are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), these are mainly in the form of Omega 6s. Since both Omega 6 and Omega 3 fall into the category of essential fatty acids not produced by our bodies, it is important to consume them in our food. The problem is that from an evolutionary perspective, we should be consuming Omega 6 to Omega 3s at a ratio of 1-1. The Western diet, however, relies heavily on industrial oils in the food processing industry, leading us to consume Omega 6 to 3 at a ratio of 10-1 to 20-1. This has dire consequences, as Omega 6s are pro-inflammatory in nature, whereas Omega 3s are anti-inflammatory.
We are told that the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in industrial seed oils are good for lowering cholesterol, and that there is a connection between high cholesterol and coronary heart disease, but this is a topic upon which many doctors differ. PUFAs are fatty acids that contain more than one double bond, which makes them far less stable and more prone to oxidisation. Oxidised fats lead to the production of free radicals - highly reactive and unstable molecules that cause inflammation in the body, which in turn gives rise to many chronic inflammatory diseases, amongst which are asthma, autoimmune diseases, cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimers, depression and anxiety, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, IBS and IBD, infertility, macular degeneration, and osteoarthritis.
Which Oils Should We Use?
Human beings evolved to eat easily extracted fruit oils such as olive, coconut and avocado, and animal fats like butter, ghee, lard, and tallow. Animal fats and coconut oil are saturated fats. They harden at lower temperatures and are very stable. Olive oil and avocado oils both contain over 70% monounsaturated fat. Macadamia oil too offers the health benefits of over 80% monounsaturated fats, and over 16% saturated fats. Here is a list of the healthier options:
Use locally produced virgin olive oil, avocado and macadamia oils for drizzling and low-temperature cooking.
Cook with organic, pastured butter, ghee or pastured animal fats such as lard, duck fat and tallow or heat stable coconut oil.
Not all Omega 6s are bad! Healthy sources are pastured chicken, avocados, and activated nuts.
Look for good sources of Omega 3s such as wild fatty fish and seafood, fish oil, flaxseed and chia seed.
Are inflammatory foods avoidable?
The answer is yes, with conscientious shopping, menu-planning and eating .
Dispense with any canola, sunflower, safflower, peanut, corn, rapeseed, cottonseed, and rice-bran oils you may have in your pantry.
Do not eat processed foods, including sugar, snacks, cookies, cakes, flour-based products, sauces and dressings. Make your food from scratch from whole food, preferably organically grown ingredients.
If you have to eat out, do so infrequently, as restaurants make liberal use of industrial seed oils.
Eat free-range grass-fed rather than grain-fed beef. The same goes for pork if you eat it.
Eat wild-caught fatty fish and seafood like sardines, salmon, mackerel, herring, anchovies, oysters and clams.
Limit your consumption of grains, legumes and nuts.
Eat unlimited quantities of fresh leafy and cruciferous vegetables. Eat vegetables of all colours. Enjoy root vegetables too.
Limit your consumption of sweet and starchy fruit, eat wild berries.
For further information and details on this topic, please read: Chris Kresser https://chriskresser.com/how-industrial-seed-oils-are-making-us-sick/ and https://www.alexfergus.com/blog/pufa-s-the-worst-thing-for-your-health-that-you-eat-everyday and https://drhyman.com/blog/2016/01/29/why-oil-is-bad-for-you/