Anti-inflammatory fats

Which fats should I eat?

Fat is an important substance that we need to be healthy and it helps with several functions in the body. But which fats should we eat according to the anti-inflammatory diet?

anti-inflammatory fats

What is fat and what function does it have in our bodies?

Fat is a nutrient that we get through food. Just like the other macronutrients protein and carbohydrates, fat is also an important source of energy. Some types of fat provide us with essential fatty acids that the body cannot produce by itself but which are essential for us. The body can store fat in the adipose tissue as an energy reserve and give us the energy we need in a concentrated form.

Our bodies therefore need fat – but it’s important to exclude potentially harmful fats from our diet. If we ingest too many bad fats, we can suffer from chronic inflammation, which in turn can lead to diseases such as type-2 diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and some types of cancer.

When we eat the right kind of fats, we’re getting the vital fatty acids that affect a lot of important functions in the body, mainly:

Regulation of inflammation and the immune system
Hormone and gene regulation
Helping to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
Maintaining brain function
Keeping your cells healthy

Different types of fats

A lot of research has been done on fats and the field of knowledge is huge. Here we briefly describe what the terminology is all about.

Long, medium, and short fatty acids.

– Fatty acids are classified based on the number of bonds between the atoms and the length of the chains on which the atoms are attached.

Monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fats.

– This classification is about how the atoms are bonded. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are also usually referred to as unsaturated fats.

Trans fat is a type of fat that can be found naturally in small amounts in certain foods such as meat or dairy. Food manufacturers sometimes add artificial trans fats to extend the shelf life of their products. We should ingest as little of those as possible, as research shows that they increase the risk of heart and vascular diseases (they affect, among other things, arterial function and cholesterol levels) and are linked to inflammation and insulin resistance.

Essential fats are fats that the body cannot produce by itself. The body itself can create most of the fatty acids it needs from carbohydrates and protein. The exceptions are the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid and the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid. These are essential, i.e. vital, so we have to get them through our food.

Depending on the fat’s chain and saturation, our body will choose to treat the fat in different ways when we eat it.

Which fats should I avoid?

Simply put, fats that are saturated and long-chain are bad for us.

Long-chain fats have to pass through the lymphatic system and blood circulation, where they can stay for several hours and affect:

The increase of the inflammation-causing bacterial poison endotoxin in the blood
A powerful cascade of neurotransmitters that cause an increase in inflammation
An increased number and activation (combat-readiness) of white blood cells
A significant increase in the level of inflammation in the body

Professor Stig Bengmark therefore recommends trying to avoid long-chain fats that are saturated, and instead choose fat sources with short and medium-length chains that can be taken up directly to the liver via the portal vein, such as coconut oil.

According to the anti-inflammatory dietary model, you should avoid trans fats, animal fats, processed fats and saturated fats with long-chain fatty acids. These include the following food types, for example:

Processed oils/fats such as standard cooking oil or margarine
Animal fats (except fish)
Trans fats – found in various processed foods

Which fats should I be eating and how much?

Unsaturated fat, natural vegetable fats, and foods that are not processed are all good for us. About 10% of our energy from food should come from fats.

Essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6 are long-chain but unsaturated fats. They are also forced to enter via the large lymphatic duct but are not considered to be as damaging to the inside of the blood vessels as the animal ones. A lot of foods contain both omega-3 and omega-6. However, Omega-6 occurs more in normal foods, which makes it easier to meet the requirement.

Omega-3 also includes the fatty acids DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), DPA (docosapentaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). DHA and EPA are mainly found in fatty fish. Since it’s needed for the development of the brain in fetuses and young children, it is important that pregnant women get enough of it during pregnancy.

A list of good types of food that contain healthy fats:

Vegetable fats and foods that are not processed such as fatty vegetables, nuts and seeds.
Coconut oil and MCT oil
Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring)

There is a huge amount of knowledge around fat, and it has been extensively researched. A lot of people are looking for the perfect fat to eat but it’s easier said than done. A lot of fats have both helpful and unhelpful properties. The best thing is to vary your diet and try to eat healthy fats as much as possible.

Tips 

If you want to add extra oil, feel free to use a few tablespoons of coconut oil and limit standard cooking oils such as corn oil and rapeseed oil instead. Oils with long fatty acids can create problems in the body. For example, when making sauces or dressings, MCT oil is a good choice. Coconut oil contains mostly saturated fats, i.e. the type that we are advised to eat less of, but from a purely chemical perspective, it consists of shorter chains and therefore does not need to pass through the lymphatic system/blood circulation. Research is being carried out on whether this type of fat can have positive effects in the body and there are studies with results both for and against coconut oil.  

 Avocados can replace, among other things, butter and cream in food. They go well in raw soups and smoothies to give a ‘creamy’ texture. You can even bake gingerbread biscuits with avocado instead of butter.  

Frying shouldn’t really be included in the anti-inflammatory diet, but if you want to fry, we recommend coconut oil as it can withstand high temperatures compared to standard cooking oils such as rapeseed, corn, and olive oil.