Issue #16

How To Make Sense Out Of
The Controversy Over Fats

The Confusion
Fat is a subject that has more controversy surrounding it than practically any other food. Some people say that you should cut almost all fat out of your diet. Others say that fat is good, eat a lot of it and don't worry about it. Then there is the question of whether or not fat actually makes you fat or not?

I was certainly confused about fat. But once I examined the subtle differences between fats and what they do in your body, the whole issue became more clear to me. So let's take a look.

Before we begin, in the last issue of Foundations of Health you may remember that I talked about the importance of maintaining an alkaline pH in your body.

Well, there is a significant relationship between pH and fat so I'm going to talk about these two together at times. Just how these two are related will become apparent as I discuss the various types of fats.

What Fats Do For You
First of all, your body absolutely needs fats. Here are some of the things that fat does for you.

• Binds to fat soluble vitamins so your body can use them
• Is part of hormone production
• Assists with joint lubrication
• Builds cellular membranes
• Buffers acids
• Creates healthy hair, skin and strong nails
• Helps neurotransmitters function properly

The problem is that we often associate fat with increased risk of diseases like strokes, cancer and heart disease. But that's only because most of us treat all fats as if they were the same. Well, they are not. There are bad fats and there are good fats.

On the next page I've provided a breakdown of each of the various kinds of fats so that you will know which you should have as part of your diet and which you should avoid.

Click here to continue.