Great Health, Beauty, Nutrition Means
A Full Fat Salad
ByRebecca Prescott
Fat free has almost become a cornerstone
in many households. It is certainly something
of a fixture on modern restaurant menus. And
industries have catered to the fat free preoccupation
by supplying foods labeled fat free and low
fat, as well as herbal and medical products
that block fat metabolism. But the bottom
line on the beauty and health fronts, is that
if you want beautiful skin with fewer wrinkles,
or to speed up your metabolism, you need to
eat the right kind of fats.
The benefits to your skin of eating
the right fats daily are many. Beneficial
fats stimulate the production of collagen,
improves the blood flow in the layer below
the skin that supplies nutrients for the
creation of new, healthy skin cells. Poor
quality blood flow here means under performing
new skin cells. Fats keep the skin moist,
from the inside. Fats are crucial for
the absorption of the fat soluble vitamin
- A, D, E, and K. And the beneficial phytonutrients
like carotene, lycopene and lutein need
fat to be absorbed also.
For example, eating salad with a dressing
containing fats increases the absorption
of these phytonutrients. A study, published
in the Journal of the American College
of Nutrition (and referenced in Gorgeous
Skin by E Angyal) found that those who
ate a salad with a low fat dressing had
very little alpha-carotene, beta-carotene
and lycopene in blood tests taken afterwards.
Those who had a full fat dressing with
the salad had noticeably higher levels
of these carotenes and lycopene metabolites
in their blood.
Fats also help produce and regulate hormones,
reduce inflammation (the right fats anyway),
and prevent eczema, psoriasis, and hair
loss.
According to Erica Angyal, you need about
2tbsp, or 20 grams of fats per day so
the skin can lubricate itself, and so
enough vitamin A can be absorbed. Vitamin
A prevents premature aging.
Erica Angyal recommends olive oil, flaxseed
oil, walnut oil, pumpkin seed oil, coconut
oil, mustard seed oil, avocado oil, soy
oil, macadamia oil, and canola oil. She
suggests using extra virgin, virgin, cold
pressed oils where they are available,
as these are always much better quality,
and the way they are processed means unhealthy
chemical changes to the oils are avoided.
Of the oils here, the mono unsaturated
oils are olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia
oil, as well as the oil from cold water
fish, like swordfish, mackerel and salmon.
Mono unsaturated oils can reduce wrinkles.
The polyunsaturated oils are flaxseed,
walnut, pumpkin seed, and canola oil.
For the reasons outlined below, I would
not personally use these to gain the bulk
of needed daily fats. Coconut oil is a
saturated fat, but extremely good for
you.
Coconut Oil
I love this stuff. Not only does it have
a beautiful aroma when it is good quality,
cold pressed coconut oil, but it has amazing
health benefits that go beyond great looking
skin. Aging, including aging of the brain
and skin, is associated with a process
called 'peroxidation'. This simply means
that free radicals remove an oxygen electron
from the fats (lipids) in our cellular
membranes. Ultraviolet light, from the
sun, causes peroxidation in unsaturated
fats, both in the laboratory and in your
skin. This increases the rate at which
wrinkles form.
And unsaturated fats, like regular vegetable
oils, decrease the metabolic rate. Unsaturated
fats suppress the response of the body's
tissues to thyroid hormone. Unsaturated
fats inhibit the protein digestive enzyme
that forms thyroid hormone, as well as
damaging the mitochondria in cells, which
relates to cellular energy production.
Coconut oil counteracts these unwelcome
effects of unsaturated fats.
Coconut oil it is incredibly versatile.
Because it is so stable, it can be used
in cooking without becoming hydrogenated.
And it doesn't change the flavor of the
food, despite its strong aroma. Coconut
oil contains medium chain fatty acids.
These are not stored in the cells like
other fats but go directly to the liver
which converts them into energy. The shorter
chain length allows them to bypass the
metabolic pathway that other longer chain
fats need to use. Coconut oil is the only
saturated fat that is good for the body.
Interestingly, Dr Mercola's website quotes
an article by Dr Ray Peat in which he
mentions that when so called essential
fatty acids were used in patients fed
intravenously, their immune systems were
suppressed. Consequently, coconut oil
is used instead. The only exceptions are
in cases where immunosuppression is needed,
such as in organ transplant patients.
The essential fatty acids are the omega
3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Examples are flaxseed oil, the oils of
cold water fish like salmon, evening primrose
oil, and sunflower oil.
References:
1. http://www.mercola.com/2001/mar/24/coconut_oil.htm
2. Erica Angyal, Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days
(Lothian Books, 2005)
If you're troubled by acne scars, check
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