A Close Examination of "Free" or "Visible" Fats

By Milton G. Crane, M.D. and Barbara G. Crane, R.D. of Weimar Institute

The use of free oils is a much-debated subject. The type of oil that we eat and the way it is presented to our digestive organs is very important to us for several reasons. Basically, the problem with animal fats and with "free" or "visible" fats is that they are no longer encased in the natural fiber capsule, other important food ingredients have been left behind, and, worse yet, they may have been changed from their natural molecular shape or composition by an animal, a factory, or by exposure to the air. Free fats turn rancid when exposed to oxygen outside the plant cells. It does not take long for cornmeal to turn rancid at room temperature, but kernels of corn may last half a millennium without spoiling. Secondly, in the factory or animal a certain percentage of the fatty acids are changed from unsaturated to saturated fatty acids, from the "cis" form to the "trans" form, and/or the location of the double bonds of an unsaturated fat may have been moved along the carbon chain. For example, an "omega-3" fat may be changed to an "omega-6" fat. It is not the cold pressing or extracting of the oil, but the filtering and heating processes afterward "to stabilize" it, that is the main cause for these changes. This becomes very important to our body chemistry.

"Free" Fats Are Empty Calories: By this we mean that the free fats have been squeezed or extracted out of their natural plant cell fiber enclosure and, in that state, have essentially no accompanying fiber, starch, protein, minerals, and few, if any, vitamins. Fat supplies nine calories per gram. According to studies, the average American is eating 300 more calories a day from added fat source than they did in 1910. Our recipes are loaded with this commodity and our bodies show it. Half the population over 50 years of age is obese. It is true that oil was in recipes in the Bible. God gave it to Israel in the desert. Israel also ate flesh and milk fat, but the end result cannot recommend such a diet. (Deut. 32:13, 14)

"Free" Fats Induce Cholesterol Synthesis: Oil in a bottle has no cholesterol. Those advertisements are true. However, whenever we eat oily or greasy foods, our bodies turn on cholesterol formation in two places, first, in the liver to make bile salts to emulsify fat, and, second, in the intestinal tract to assimilate the oil as balls of fat called lipoproteins. The more free fats we eat, the more cholesterol our bodies make. Since the body cannot break the cholesterol complex down, the only way that our bodies can dispose of the excess cholesterol is to excrete it in the bile. The amount of fiber and plant sterols in food determines how much cholesterol will leave the body by the stool. Thus, a regular or an occasional meal of oily or greasy food will result in a gradual accumulation of cholesterol in the body. Preliminary studies indicate that free fats readily turn in the cholesterol synthesis system, and it may continue to generate increased cholesterol and bile for weeks after the fat intake is lowered.

Cell Membranes: The walls of the cells and the organelles inside the cells are made up of a double lining of fatty acids hooked up with phosphorus. An overabundance of saturated (fully hydrogenated) fats, trans-fats, and/or cholesterol in the cell membranes causes them to be stiff, whereas the natural cis-polyunsaturated fats make cell membranes that are more flexible. Optimal flexibility of membranes results in optimal cell function. Probably the greatest damage to cells and their inner compartments is the presence of oxidized fatty acids. As alluded to above, as soon as the fatty acids are freed from the plant cells, oxygen begins to attack the double bonds, turning the fat into oxidized fatty acids. These are the so-called "toxic radicals." These oxy-fats make up the oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxy-LDL). These oxidized-LDL are the source of oxidized cell membranes. If these get into the walls of the nuclear membranes, oxy-LDL can potentially damage the genetic material. These cause an increased rate of aging of the cells and an increased risk of cancer.

Dietary Fat Determines Key Body Chemistry: Several key chemicals, prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes, are made from the fats we eat. They have many functions in the body, including the regulation of blood pressure, blood clotting, and the response of our immune system to germs, cancer viruses, and allergy-causing chemicals. Natural plant produce should give us the best source of raw material for these chemical processes.

Clumping of Red Cells in the Blood: A diet high in free fats raises the blood fat level for several hours and induces clumping of the red blood cells, called rouleaux formation. This clumping interferes with the uptake of oxygen in the lungs and impedes the free flow of the red cells in the small arteries and capillaries. Thus, tissues suffer from a degree of lack of oxygen.

Fatty "Micelles" Damage Heart Tissue: Investigators have shown that these high levels of micelles, these little balls of fat, that get into the blood after a high fat meal can get into the heart muscle and damage the cell membranes of the nerve conducting system and set the patient up for an irregular rhythm of the heart.
High Fat Diet, Sunshine, and Toxic Radicals: The high fat diet, particularly free fats, increases the triglyceride fats in the blood. Ultraviolet light from the sun through the skin can damage the skin and increase the chance of skin cancer. An excess of free fats in the stool with a low fiber diet increases the toxic radicals in the fecal material and contributes to diveticulosis and cancer of the colon. Of major importance is the presence of rancid, oxidized, fats that we get in our oils, margarines, ground meals, soy protein isolates and concentrates, and animal fats.

The Safer Diet: From the above evidence, we conclude that the safest diet is one in which there are no animal fats and no refined, "free" visible fats. The best foods are natural unrefined plant sources without the presence of added sugar, syrup, oil, margarine, or shortening. Once the legume or grain is ground, the fat is exposed to oxygen and is on its way to becoming a toxic radical. If the grains and nuts are to be ground, they certainly should be obtained fresh from the shell, ground up fresh, and used before they become rancid.

Sufficient oil is naturally present in nearly every plant food. For example, oatmeal and collard greens furnish about 15% of their calories as natural fat. However, the refining process of the whole grains removes 40%-60% of the good oils. If you think that you need more oil or fat in the diet, get them in the whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, olives, and avocados. You do not need to add any "free fats" to the diet.

Those persons who have a weight control problem would do well to avoid two types of food: (1) those foods which are naturally high in fats; and, (2) foods which are quickly converted into fat by the body.

(1) The nuts, olives, avocados, and the soybeans are naturally high in fat.

(2) Any food that can quickly raise the blood sugar and increase insulin levels in the blood will increase the amount of fat that the body makes from the sugar that we eat. This includes sugar, sweets, dried foods, cooked fruit, fruit juices, and, in some people, even very sweet fruit like cherries, plums, and peaches.

Peanuts and peanut butter have three drawbacks. They are major sources of aflatoxins, depending upon the harvesting and storing methods of the peanuts. They are relatively high in oxalate that tends to interfere with the utilization of calcium in the body. In the peanut butter much of the oil is in the free state, and Wissler and coworkers have found that it causes atherosclerosis more readily, gram for gram, than does other oils that they tested.

For further information and references, see "Importance of the Type of Fat in the Diet."

Copyright © 1995-2002 Milton G. Crane, M.D. and Barbara G. Crane, R.D., Weimar Institute, Weimar, CA 95736. All rights Reserved.