Diary of a Nutritionist

An Introduction to Fat (or more specifically, MUFAs)

Often time, we get caught up in how much saturated fat, or Monounsaturated fat, etc. is in the food we eat, when in reality, F-A-T itself, is not the problem.  The problem lies within the processing of fats.

It took me years to figure this out.

When I started to concentrate on my health, I was terrified of all fat.  In fact, I avoided it like the plague.  Then, as I became more nutritionally savvy, I would only use first-cold pressed olive oil.

Recently, I cannot open a woman’s magazine without hearing about MUFAs, which is pronounced: moo-fah.  In writing this article, I mentioned the term to my younger sister, a diehard Lion King fan, who was like, what? Mufasa? Afraid not, my dear.  MUFA is the term used to describe Monounsaturated Fatty Acid-- and boy is it quite the celebrity these days.

MUFAs, are plant-based fatty acids that are found in avocados, olives, nuts and seeds, olive oil, canola oil, and apparently, dark chocolate, as every magazine points out (Which is actually quite silly, as chocolate is much higher in saturated fat, than monounsaturated fat (MUFAS)… but it is certainly higher in MUFAs than most other desserts!)

MUFAs seem to be all the rage, and are being touted as a way to fight belly fat.  I opened up a magazine, just the other day, and olives and avocados were practically jumping off the pages. We now have women adding olives to their eggs, sandwiches, apples, bananas…  We’ve got MUFA’s coming out of our ears!

While MUFAs are, generally speaking, “good” fats, and certainly better than other alternatives, just because they are labeled MUFA, does not mean that they are magical belly busters.

Here is a quick glance at Fat and MUFAs.

Fat is essential in any healthy diet.

There are 3 types of fat:

Monounsaturated (MUFA)

Polyunsaturated  (PUFA)

Saturated

This can get rather tricky, eh?  Instead of getting all caught up in MUFAs, PUFAs, and Loofahs , the easiest way to understand what fats are best for you, is to simply understand that, the best fats, are those that are RAW, and unprocessed.

As stated before, avocados, oils, nuts and seeds, etc. are all touted as having extraordinary MUFA power.  But not all MUFAs, (or fats, for that matter), are the same.

What do I mean?

Well, 1 cup of pureed avocado is approximately 30ish grams of raw, plant-based fat, but it is also a lot easier to digest than say, a small handful of raw, but dense, nuts or seeds.  Additionally, raw nuts are easier on the system than roasted nuts and seeds.  See…  Still a MUFA, but not as beneficial (because if the body has difficulty processing the food it is given, the body expends extra energy working to get rid of it).  What I am trying to get at here is… just because something is labeled, MUFA, does not give it magical powers, i.e.  Adding olives to your eggs, is not going to make the fat melt away, but it would be entirely more beneficial than adding cheese… do you catch my drift?

Then, there is our well-marketed, pal, and MUFA, olive oil.  Olive oil is often praised as the healthiest oil, but truthfully, other cold-pressed oils, like Avocado and Sesame, can be just as beneficial. Why then do we not hear about them as often?  Funny story… because they do not have their own marketing campaign. Who would have thought!?

Olive Oil can act as a great salad dressing, and can also be used for low temperature cooking.  I suggest aiming for the organic, first-cold pressed bottles, as lower quality varieties of any oil, are more processed (and perhaps, refined).  Remember, the less processed (and refined) something is, the easier it is for the body to break it down.

I also recommend keeping the cold-pressed bottle of oil in the fridge after opening, as oils can go rancid if exposed to light, or heat.

What is your favorite first-cold pressed oil, and how do you use it?