Understanding the Critical Need for Fat in Our Food Storage

Fat is an essential macronutrient, just like protein and carbohydrate.  We've got to have it.  With nine calories per gram, fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient, compared with protein and carbohydrate which have just four calories per gram.  Fat's major function in the body is as an energy reserve; it is converted into adipose tissue.  In exercise, carbohydrates are utilized for energy for about the first 20 minutes, and then fat starts getting metabolized.  However, fat has a few other important jobs.  Not only does it help the body absorb fat-soluble vitamins, but it also slows digestion so that the digestive tract can absorb other nutrients.  Fat is critical to regulating body temperature, protecting the vital organs, functioning and development of the brain, and producing regulatory hormones.  And it keeps the hair and skin healthy. 

Too much fat in the diet, yeah, makes us fat. 

Too little fat in the diet, however, doesn't make us skinny.  A complete lack of fat in the diet leads to a condition called protein poisoning.  It's also known as rabbit starvation, protein starvation, and mal de caribou, and it occurs because the body cannot utilize protein in the complete absence of fat and carbohydrate.  There's a common misconception that rabbit starvation is a result of eating rabbits, and that's simply not true.  The problem arises from eating only rabbits, such as someone surviving in the wild might attempt to do.  If the person eating rabbits is also consuming fats and carbohydrates, there is absolutely no risk of developing protein poisoning. 

Symptoms of protein poisoning, or a complete absence of fat in the diet, include diarrhea, fatigue, headache, low blood pressure, slow heart rate, and a hunger that is satisfied only by the consumption of fat.  Onset of the symptoms of protein poisoning may be accelerated by an extremely cold and dry environment and may occur in as little as one week.

To correct the problem, eat fat.  To the body, from the point of view of being able to utilize carbohydrate and protein, fat is fat, regardless of the source.  Any fat will do the job.

However, the debate still rages in science and medicine (and society) regarding which fats are healthier.  I'm a bit cynical in that I believe that if Big Business can make a buck, they'll happily tell you that their product is better and safer than whatever you have been using.  Enter canola and vegetable (soybean) oil, both of which are Roundup Ready, and margarine and oleo.  They're polyunsaturated or monounsaturated and have a shorter shelf life.  Saturated fats have a longer shelf life, they're more natural, they taste better, and they aren't Roundup Ready.  Regardless, just make sure you have adequate supplies of some kind of fat in your storage.

Related posts:
Dietary Deficiency--Carbohydrate 
Dietary Imbalance--Fiber
Dietary Deficiency--Protein 

For further information:
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/dietary-fats
https://www.livestrong.com/article/519284-what-is-protein-poisoning/
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/03/too-much-protein.aspx
https://www.livescience.com/53145-dietary-fat.html

 3 april 2019

13 march 2023