Here we cover why fats are important, the different kinds of fat, and which kind is best for your dog’s health.
There’s been a lot of talk about the different kinds of fats. We hear people talk about good fats and bad fats. Just what does that really mean to you and to your dog? Simply put, there are fats that are difficult for the body to utilize. So they get stored as excess fat.
That excess fat in turn can cause a number of problems. Some of those problems include:
- Lack of energy
- Exhausted organs
- Heart and cardiovascular problems
These are often times the result of the bad fats. the bad fats come from some seed and vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils. The good fats are those fats that are easily utilized by the body for fuel and energy.
Your canine companion needs a readily available supply of these as do you. This is where virgin coconut oil comes in. We now know that not all saturated fats are the same. Coconut oil contains a type of saturated fat known as medium-chain triglycerides, MTCs or medium chain fatty acids MCFAs. The body uses MCFAs more effectively because they are shorter in length than long chain fatty acids found in hydrogenated oil and some vegetable and seed oils.
Medium chain fatty acids MCFAs bypass the intestinal tract and are handled in the liver instead. The liver then immediately converts the MCFAs into energy. This is a very quick process and makes less strain on the pancreas and digestive tract and uses fewer body resources.
That newly converted energy now becomes a valuable source of fuel for your dog’s body. Plus, it increases the retention of nutritional components needed for body functions. Virgin coconut oil is so valuable to you and your dog because over 90 percent of it is made up of these good fats. Your dog’s body needs the MCFAs to work properly. These are not your typical fats. They won’t clog the arteries like hydrogenated fats will. MCTs or MCFAs are very different from long chain fatty acids contained in hydrogenated oils or hydrogenated fats. The fats and hydrogenated oils are very difficult for the body to utilize. That’s why the body will just store them as fat and move on to its other functions. It takes too much energy from the body to try to process them. This is the kind of fat that most of us refer to as stubborn fat. It’s very difficult to get rid of. Now you know why.
So, what is it about processed hydrogenated fats that makes them so bad for us and our pets?
Hydrogenated Oils started out as oils that, if left in their natural state, are actually good for you. But they have a very short shelf life. So, manufacturers put them through a chemical process that extended that shelf life.
To do that, they put them under several atmospheres of pressure and heated them to temperatures of 500 to 1000 degrees. After the heating process, they then injected the oil with a metal catalyst like platinum, aluminum, or nickel. They do this to the oil for several hours, so it absorbs the metal into its molecular structure. This makes the oil stay in a solid or semi-solid state at room temperature and creates an oil that is either fully hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. at this point, these oils are closer to plastic and cellulose than to oil. from a chemical standpoint, hydrogenated oil is only one molecule away from being classified as a plastic. manufacturer’s love This. all the enzymatic properties of the oil have been removed and the oil is now acting as preservative.
Just like plastics, hydrogenated oils can last for years and never break down. Using and hydrogenated oils means that the food will eventually spoil which shortens the shelf life. that costs manufacturers money. So, they use hydrogenated oils to extend shelf life and reduce manufacturing costs.
What happens when you consume foods that have been made with hydrogenated oils?
Your body is trying to digest a plastic like substance. plastics cannot be digested and utilized by your body or by your dog’s body. You have now introduced a foreign substance into your diets. That foreign substance can cause a dramatic decrease in the body’s ability to defend itself against disease and the immune system becomes impaired. diseases now have a much easier time taking over the health and well-being of you and your dog’s bodies.
The body will continue to try to digest these hydrogenated oils. It will send more and more digestive enzymes into the stomach in an effort to break down the plastic like nature of the hydrogenated oils. Now the internal temperature of the stomach rises, which can set off a chain of additional health issues. And what happens to the blood? when you or your pet consume hydrogenated oils, the blood will become thicker and more viscous, just like the plastic like oil you’re eating. Now the heart has to work harder to move the thicker blood. blood affected by the hydrogenated oil is just thicker, its stickier. Now it gets stuck in the arteries much easier and contributes to the arterial plaque. Studies show these oils are actually scaring the internal walls of the arteries. That’s because of the nickel that is used in the hydrogenation process. The body will respond by producing cholesterol in an attempt to heal the scarring.
The end result is plaque buildup on arterial walls.
Consistent consumption of the hydrogenated oils causes continuous scarring and plaque buildup in layers. The arteries become more and more narrow and the blood has a more difficult time moving through. The heart is working harder and being worn down much faster leading to heart attack and other cardiovascular disease.
At this point the brain can become affected.
The heart has a more difficult time pumping the needed blood into the head. By slowing the micro circulation of the blood to the brain, muddled thinking and a myriad of brain related conditions can occur.
Remember how we talked about aluminum being one of the metals Manufacturers used in the hydrogenation process?
Research has proven that aluminum has been linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. This can all happen within a relatively short amount of time. Studies have shown that these effects start within a few minutes of consuming anything with hydrogenated oils in them. This is just one of the ways that hydrogenated oils are contributing to heart disease and high blood pressure for you and your pets.
Hydrogenated oils create free radicals when they are heated. Free radicals are well known as the root cause of many of today’s health problems for both humans and pets.
Free radicals cause damage to the good cells by stealing their electrons in a process called oxidation. When the free radicals oxidize the good cells, the good cells lose the ability to function properly and begin to break down. This leads to disease in the body on many different levels and can affect the brain, nervous system, and all of the organs. Coconut oil does not produce free radicals when it is heated and therefore does not destroy your dog’s body or yours as foods containing hydrogenated oils will. In fact, coconut oil will remain stable even at high temperatures. That’s why it’s safe to cook with coconut oil versus other types of oil that lose their stability at higher cooking temperatures.
Now you understand why you hear people say that hydrogenated oils are not good for you or your pets.
By consuming them, you’re actually breaking your body down on a cellular level. That’s why it’s important that you read labels and avoid anything that is hydrogenated. You just learned what to look for when reading labels for you and your dog to make sure you are not getting an oil that will cause disease and ill health.