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There has been a small revolution in nutrition: it has become clear that animal fats, which have long been considered harmful and advised to avoid them, are necessary for our health. What are the benefits of dairy products?
The persecution of animal fats found in meat and milk began in 1961. Then the doctor Ancel Keys published a study that showed that in countries where animal fat is eaten, people are more likely to face the problem of heart attacks and strokes. He was also blamed for being obese. Only unsaturated fats were recognized as healthy – from vegetable oils, nuts and fish.
And the world has declared war on animal fat. A craze for “light” products began, and manufacturers managed to remove fat not only from dairy products, but even from ham and biscuits. People added only skimmed milk to their coffee, ate zero-fat yogurt in the morning, and looked with disdain at butter and cheese, forgetting about the beneficial properties of dairy products. As it turned out, completely in vain.
We need a middle ground between fatty and low-fat foods, a person must consume both those and other foods.
When all dairy products are replaced with fat-free ones, metabolic disorders, hormone production disorders and vitamin absorption are possible. As a result, you get tired quickly, spleen, dry skin … Milk fat is the most biologically complete, easily digestible fat among animal fats. Firstly, it has a relatively low melting point, and secondly, it is found in milk in the form of a highly dispersed emulsion. The smallest fat globules of the emulsion, with a diameter of about 2-3 microns, are easily broken down by the action of gastric juice lipase and are well absorbed. 1 ml of milk contains from 1,5-3 billion of these balls. The composition of milk fat includes more than 100 fatty acids, of which 14 main ones are contained in an amount of more than 1%, the rest are found in small amounts (less than 1–0,1%).
Together with milk fats, we get fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, which provide the necessary level of metabolism and improve health. Milk fat contains phosphatides, which have a lipotropic effect – they reduce the accumulation of fats in the liver, facilitating their transport into the blood.
After the discoveries of Ansel Keys, the American National Research Center for Healthy Eating recommended for several decades that US residents limit their fat intake to 25% of their daily calories. Whole milk was advised to drink only occasionally, putting it on a par with the most harmful foods, such as french fries. Nevertheless, two-thirds of Americans were still obese, and the number of cardiovascular diseases did not decrease. Concerned about this problem, scientists began a new series of studies and came to the conclusion that the results of Ansel Keys are not true.
They found that a “low-fat” diet, in which people completely forego animal fats, leads to a lack of essential amino acids and other beneficial substances in the body. In addition, with a decrease in the amount of total fats, they are replaced by “fast” carbohydrates, and this does not in the best way affect the state of health, and even on the waist.
“Many of those who reduce fat in their diets quietly end up eating more sugar, white flour and fast carbohydrates in an effort to make up for lost calories and cope with hunger,” says Professor Russell de Souza (Rassell de Souza) who studied the eating habits of Canadians. As a result, the threat of obesity and cardiovascular disease is only growing.
Fats of any kind – saturated and unsaturated, animal and vegetable – are necessary for the body to function properly. The combination of saturated and unsaturated fats is required for normal metabolism and, as a result, to maintain harmony.
Saturated animal fats contain important vitamins: A or retinol, D, K and E, as well as natural coenzymes necessary to get the maximum benefit from these vitamins. Moreover, animal fats not only are not “guilty” in the formation of “bad” cholesterol, as Ansel Keys claimed, they reduce its level. Stearic acid from animal fats (the main component of butter) can be converted in the body into oleic-monounsaturated fatty acid, which contributes to the formation of “good” cholesterol, cleans blood vessels from “bad” and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
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Animal fats play a critical role in keeping our bones healthy. For calcium to be effectively absorbed by the skeletal structure, at least 50% of dietary fat must be saturated. And by the way, without them, the body cannot fully absorb the unsaturated fats so beloved by nutritionists. Thus, precious omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in tissues if the diet is rich in saturated fats.
How to eat right to get the right amount of fat? What is the healthiest dairy product? Now, after the discoveries of nutritionists, the National Center for Healthy Eating has ceased to restrict Americans in the consumption of fats: let them eat as much as they want. Professor of epidemiology Dariush Mozaffarian (Dariush Mozaffarian) advocates not a quantitative, but a qualitative assessment: the diet should have a certain ratio of those and other types of fats.
Saturated fats are found mainly in meat and dairy products. In order to get enough of them, but not too much, it is recommended to give preference to fresh meat and poultry, cutting off excess fat and not using oil when cooking them. Nutritionists advise excluding very fatty pork and processed meat products from your diet: sausages, sausages and convenience foods.
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Be sure to eat whole milk products that contain easily digestible milk fat: fermented milk drinks with at least 2,5% fat content, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese and natural butter. As for unsaturated fats, you will find them in any vegetable oil, as well as in fish, nuts, seeds and beans. The benefit of at least two servings of marine fish per week is clear, and the low rate of cardiovascular disease among the inhabitants of countries adhering to the Mediterranean diet is proof of this. Fish contains the right mix of saturated and unsaturated fats.
There are fats that you should definitely avoid. are transgenic or hydrogenated fats. They are obtained through the process of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oils into solid fats. This allows you to replace butter or pure animal fat with cheaper alternatives. Trans fats not only increase the level of “bad” cholesterol, but also reduce the content of “good”. Such fat is contained, in particular, in margarine, spreads, ice cream, crackers and other products.
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