Fats are among the most misunderstood food nutrients for essential living. They are vital for energy, hormone production, storing and transporting vitamins, and insulation of nerves and organs. This clarification of the roles of fats in the body helps you, the reader, to understand their importance and make informed dietary choices. In the 1980s, high-cholesterol fats were implicated as the most significant factor in producing coronary artery disease. Saturated fats were known to raise blood cholesterol. Saturated fats in red meat are distributed throughout the meat, and in poultry, they are in the skin. People were told to have lean red meat and to avoid chicken skins to minimize saturated fats.

What is the hierarchy of good to bad fats? Green is recommended —>Minimize red.

What has been the most controversial fat? That would be saturated fatty acids. Over the last 50 years, it has been the most vilified fat for bad health. Saturated fats were known to raise total cholesterol. As testing got more sophisticated, it was known to increase LDL cholesterol, which is bad cholesterol. More modern testing shows that saturated fats also raise HDL. The gold standard now is the ratio of HDL/total cholesterol. From that perspective, saturated fats are neither good nor bad relative to their impact on heart disease.

How could there be such confusion in recommendations? Early studies were observational and were not well-controlled among the study groups. Once a recommendation was made, those with the government and heart guidelines were reluctant to change. How can you recommend that this affects an entire population when comparing low-fat and high-fat use? It may also include different sleep, exercise, stress, and eating habits between the groups. From my perspective, you look at where we were 100 or more years ago when obesity, diabetes, and heart disease rates were low and stable. You take away the processed, packaged, convenient, and fast foods. You look at animals raised in their natural environment without -pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides), less crowding and stress of a feedlot, cage, or contained pond, and foods that are natural to them. That is to look at food as seen in its ancestral domesticated environment. Ancestral saturated fatty acids – solid animal shortenings including tallow(cattle), Suet(sheep), Lard(pork); products containing saturated fats - red meats, coconut oil/milk/cream, palm oil, dairy -—> butter, whole milk, cream, ghee, and cheese. Ancestral unsaturated fatty acids are two different categories: monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The polyunsaturated oils are divided into Omega-6 and Omega-3 oils. Monounsaturated fatty acids – avocados, olive oil, and nuts omega-6 fatty acids (limit use)

They are an essential fat that cannot be produced by the body but must be ingested. They can be found in eggs, butter, cheese, nuts, and certain seed oils. The amounts vary based on how the host animal was raised. For instance, beef and poultry raised in a feedlot or cage has a higher omega-6. These omega-6 fatty acids are generally overused in processed and fast foods and are inflammatory. Just like with saturated fats, they should be limited to healthy choices. Omega-3 fatty acids (encouraged use) Another essential oil that the body cannot produce on its own must come from our ingested diet. This healthy oil comes from cold-water fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines), crushed seeds (canola oil and linseed oil), certain other seeds (edamame, chia, flax, and hemp), nuts (walnut, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, and pecans), and in some vegetables (cabbage, watercress).

Not only are omega-3 fatty acids heart healthy, but they are also anti-inflammatory and good for your entire body to reduce disease. Trans fats are potentially the most dangerous fats. When they are found in their natural animal state, they aren't harmful. However, when unsaturated vegetable oils are processed by hydrogenation to make the oil more solid, such as with Crisco and any margarine, they are considered dangerous, leading to cardiovascular disease and increasing the risk of cancer. This is a complete reversal of recommendations given in the 1980s, saying hydrogenated vegetable oils were safer than saturated fats. They raise LDL and lower HDL. Again, when we mess with Mother Nature, things turn nasty. In summation, when it comes to fats straight from their "ancestral" source, there is growing evidence that these healthy fats have a null to beneficial effect on cardiac disease. When we eat oils used in processed foods, convenience foods, or finger foods, especially with trans fats, it can put our health in decline.