The truth about dietary fats and why we need plenty of them.

Did y’all eat ample colored, hard-boiled eggs over Easter weekend? Perhaps an omelet, frittata, quiche or, as in my home, soft-boiled eggs? I’m a big fan of eggs – pasture raised, ideally. I’ve taught classes on eggs and, as you may imagine, I’m often asked for my “opinion” on eggs. Concerned less about humane conditions or quality, questions are fats. Are they “good” to eat? What about cholesterol? Will they make me fat?

I’ve been meaning to write about fats since January, when the updated US Dietary Recommendations for Americans (RDAs) were updated and promote eating more animal-derived foods, including meat, dairy and eggs – high in fats. Yet, the RDAs also caution about limiting saturated fats to less than 10% of total caloric intake (1). I hate to be reductionist by talking numbers and isolating nutrients from whole foods, and I’ll try to make fats both palatable and vindicated.

A few years ago, I was preparing lunch for a healing retreat and struggling to relax and find the calm I needed inside to be present for the participants. My body was shaky; my mental chatter was loud. I was overdoing everything. I looked up from chopping kale and said, “I need to eat fat.” The woman running the retreat looked at me curiously – she’d never heard anyone declare wanting fats and didn’t understand how fat consumption would improve anxiety (6).

In that moment, I realized I’d moved beyond our culture’s outdated, damaging and fallacious associations with dietary fats and, thankfully, understood their key role in wellbeing from a biochemical and functional position, versus as a villain. I peeled a hard-boiled egg. In “nutritionism terms”, I was eating a whole food with monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fats plus omega-3 fats, cholesterol and phospholipids. I chewed well, took a few deep breaths, drank water, and moved seamlessly through lunch prep and the mindful meditation exercise with focus, energy and calm.

Yes, certain fats help regulate the nervous system. Often when anxious or stressed, we crave sugar, salt and caffeine, choosing sweets, candy or sugary coffee. Underlying that craving is the need for fats – walnut brownie or chocolate peanut butter cups, anyone?

We need fats to make neuronal nerve fibers; synthesize neurotransmitters like dopamine and for effective communication; reduce inflammation; insulate cell membranes; and provide energy for the brain. Fats also help the adrenal glands make cortisol and adrenaline. Cholesterol and saturated fats, both prevalent in eggs, supports cell membrane integrity; regulate cell signaling; are precursors for steroid hormones like estrogens, testosterone and progesterone and adrenal hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

Naturally, not all fats are created equal – and we cannot live without them. Besides nervous system support, fats protect vital organs and make up tissue matrixes; allow transportation of certain nutrients into/out of cells; support growth and energy production; regulate reproductive processes; metabolize fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K; and make bile acids to break down dietary fats.

Though we make some fats inherently, like cholesterol and triacylglycerols (TAGs, commonly known as triglycerides), others must be obtained in our diet, such as linoleic and alpha-linoleic fatty acids from plant sources (4). Notably, upwards of 95% of consumed dietary fats are TAGs made of various animal- and plant-derived saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. We break down TAGs for the body’s use, remake them to store until needed for energy, and primarily store fats as TAGs to protect our organs (visceral fat). Fats including cholesterol and phospholipids typically make up less than 5% of our dietary fat intake.

Why fuss over cholesterol and saturated fats if we need them to thrive, and if we’re not eating too many of them? They’ve been vilified.

During my childhood, cholesterol was a main topic of frustration, thanks to my dad’s “high cholesterol.” For months, perhaps years, he gave up some of his favorite foods – wild meat he’d hunted himself, pork, beef, eggs and cheese. He bought leisure suits and worked out at a gym, per Doc’s orders, and was on one trial statin after another. He felt great, but his cholesterol levels stayed the same.

Decades of research shows that total cholesterol levels in the blood are not greatly affected by eating cholesterol-rich foods (2) and eating more eggs – high in cholesterol – reduces cholesterol levels and mortality (7). Why? Because we’re measuring proteins (LDLs and HDLs – aka “bad” and “good” cholesterol) that carry only cholesterol made in the body. Cholesterol is so crucial for our health, we synthesize 3-5x more cholesterol than the amount we consume from food. It makes sense that certain whole food sources of cholesterol (eggs!) are beneficial to our health. Presently, many doctors also measure very-low-density lipoproteins VLDLs, which transport dietary cholesterol.

Dietary cholesterol is not, in fact, the culprit in “high cholesterol” so what’s to blame for obesity and heart disease? Saturated fats, which also are in eggs, meat and dairy. Wait, if we’re omnivores who require certain fats from plants and are designed to eat fats from animals, what gives? Turns out, diets low in simple carbohydrates – not fats – are better for lowering cholesterol levels in the blood (2). Does that mean high-fat diets are good for cholesterol and heart disease? Not necessarily. It’s confounded by many factors like super complex fat digestion and metabolism; genetics; the Standard American Diet with its excessive ultra-processed foods (3); and a modern, sedentary lifestyle, and more.

Saturated fats are a type of TAG, and 7-13% of American diets include these stigmatized fats –we need them, too! Ample data shows that reducing saturated fats in the diet does not altogether improve death from cardiovascular disease when replaced with just any polyunsaturated fat (2). Again, there are factors, though certain unsaturated fats, like oleic and linoleic fatty acids, may help reduce LDL lab values (4). To complicate things, these fats are found in both plants and animals – including eggs!

As ever, we’re back to nutrition basics: Eat dietary fats from a wide range of whole or minimally processed foods – and make sure you’re digesting them well!

Links:

·      Read about Saturated fats, dairy and raw milk (oh, my!).

·      Read about the updated Dietary Guidelines for America and whether we should eat animal or plant-based foods.

·      Concerned about cholesterol levels, fat digestion and metabolism? Reach out HERE for support.

Additional references:

Gropper, S.S., & Smith, J.L. (2013). Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Marieb, E. (2012). Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology (10th ed). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.

McGuire, M., & Beerman, K. (2013). Nutritional sciences: From fundamentals to food (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Originally written for and published by 5bGazette.com