Dang you, Petro D. from Hyperlipid! No Omega 3s? No ultraprocessed food?

(Bob M) #1

Not sure how many people follow Petro D. over at Hyperlipid, but he’s killing me right now.

First, there was the broadside assault on Omega 3s:

For those “not in the know”, his theory is that PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) cause fat cells to become insulin sensitive. MUFAs (monounsaturated fats) less so, but still some insulin sensitivity. Saturated fat causes fat cells to become insulin resistant.

In short, insulin sensitive fat cells = you will overeat and gain weight; insulin resistant fat cells = you will not overeat and not gain weight.

The broadside above basically takes those miracle fish and fish oil PUFAs and says they cause you to overeat. Ugh! No fish now?

Then, he discusses “ultra processed food”:

Now, even I think there’s something about processing of food that can make it more palatable.

And he reviews a study (on rats – almost none of the studies are done on humans) where there are three diets: normal (crapinabag); ultra-processed garbage but with low PUFAs; ultra-processed garbage but high PUFAs.

The thinnest rats ate…the ultra-processed garbage but with low PUFAs. Gah!

By the way, when looking at the study in the bottom link above, CX:0 = saturated fat; CX:1 = MUFA; CX:2 or CX:3 = PUFA. So, C8:0 is a saturated fat, C18:2 is a PUFA. Linoleic acid is C18:2 and is the evil PUFA and is an omega 6 fatty acid. α-Linolenic acid (ALA) is C18:3 and is an omega 3 fatty acid.

He’s causing me to rethink fish. And whether “processed” food is “bad” because of palatability or because of PUFAs (though fireinabottle had me going that way anyway).

Ugh. Is nothing sacred?

(Central Florida Bob ) #2

Great. The exact, complete opposite of the Croissant diet, which says saturated fat feeds the electron transport chains in our cells better than PUFAs do, so eat saturated fat and avoid PUFAs.

This is a great illustration of why I promised myself years ago to never change my life over one study. One study means nothing. A few studies might mean something, but wake me up when we have several years worth of good quality, controlled trials.

#3

So if I understand this correctly… the mice who ate less… weighed less at the end? What’s so special about this study?

Aren’t Omega 3’s from fish oil oxidized?

Processed food is bad because it lacks protein. Protein is required to shuttle fat in muscle instead of adipose tissue.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

I’m not really seeing a problem here. We already know that ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids are essential to the human diet, and that we do not need them in quantity. In fact, quantities of ω-6 fatty acids cause systemic inflammation. This is one of the principal reasons the commercial seed oils are so deadly. They contain a high percentage as ω-6 fatty acids, and almost no ω-3 fatty acids.

What Peter is saying is that fish oil is not a panacaea. The only reason ω-3 fatty acids are of concern is that they compete with the ω-6 fatty acids for cell receptors, so if ω-3 does not balance ω-6 intake, things get seriously out of whack. But to try to consume ω-3 fatty acids in a quantity vast enough to balance the ω-6 fatty acids contained in the average commercial seed oil would no doubt cause serious health problems as well.

The solution is to avoid commercial seed oils. And from the study Peter quotes, probably fish oil, too, it would appear. I imagine that digging into the production of commercial fish oils, like the production of commercial seed oils, would reveal a lot of steps that we wouldn’t approve of, if we knew about them. By contrast, the fruit oils, avocado, coconut, and olive, can be produced with a minimum amount of processing other than pressing the fruit. Eating fish is a whole different kettle of fish (:grin::rofl:) from consuming fish oil, and we know that nutrients consumed in their whole-food matrix often have a very different effect on the body from the same chemicals isolated into supplements.

So go back to eating fish, and fry it in coconut or olive oil. Or better yet, in butter, lard, tallow, or bacon grease, which are mostly saturated and monounsaturated fats, and which contain ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids in a much healthier proportion.

BTW, I’ve learned the hard way that when Peter says something I disagree with, it’s because I don’t understand him correctly. Moreover, his sense of humour is of a particularly dry British type that often doesn’t register as humour to American ears.

(Bunny) #5

I think there is enough fat and in natural Whole Foods like meat and vegetables in perfect ratios for the human body, the way nature intended.

All that stuff Hyperlipid is doing is an excuse to eat excessive amounts of dietary fat and meat everyday by the truck loads when is not necessary?