BEST SOURCES OF FAT

• Fresh Butter and Cream from pasture fed cows – preferably raw and cultured
• Lard
• Beef, Lamb, Goose, and Duck fat from pastured animals
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Unrefined Flax Seed Oil in small amounts
• Coconut and Palm Oil

Benefits of Fresh Butter and Cream

1)   Fat Soluble Vitamins

This includes true vitamin A or retinol, vitamin D, vitamin K and vitamin E as well as all their naturally occurring cofactors needed to provide maximum benefit.  Butter is America’s best source of these important nutrients.  In fact, vitamin A is more easily absorbed and utilized from butter than from other sources.  The fat-soluble vitamins occur in large amount only when the butter comes from cows eating green grass.

2)   The Wulzen Factor

Called the “antistiffness” factor, this compound is present in raw animal fat.  Researcher Rosalind Wulzen discovered that this substance protects humans and animals from calcification of the joints – degenerative arthritis.  It also protects against hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland.  Calves fed pasteurized milk or skim milk develop joint stiffness and do not thrive.  Their symptoms are reversed when raw butterfat is added to the diet.  Pasteurization destroys the Wulzen factor – it is present only in raw butter, cream and whole milk.

3)   The Price Factor or Activator X

Discovered by Dr. Price, Activator X is a powerful catalyst which, like vitamins A and D, helps the body absorb and utilize minerals.  It is found in organ meats from grazing animals and some seafood.  Butter can be especially rich source of Activator X when it comes from cows eating rapidly growing grass in the spring and fall seasons.  It disappears in cow fed cottonseed meal, high protein soy based feeds or even hay.  Fortunately, Activator X is not destroyed by pasteurization.

4)   Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

Butter from pasture fed cows also contains a form of rearranged CLA, which has strong anticancer properties.  It also encourages the buildup of muscle and prevents weight gain.  CLA disappears when cows are fed even small amounts of grain and processed food.

5)    Glycosphinogolipids

This type of fat protects against gastrointestinal infections, especially in the very young and the elderly.  For this reason, children who drink skimmed milk have diarrhea at rates three to five times greater than children who drink whole milk.

6)   Short- and Medium-Chained Fatty Acids

Butter contains about 12-15% short- and medium chain fatty acids.  This type of saturated fat does not need to be emulsified by bile salts but is absorbed directly from the small intestine to the liver, where it is converted to quick energy.  These fatty acids also have antimicrobial, antitumor and immune system supporting properties, especially 12 carbon lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid not found in other animal fats.  Highly protective lauric acid should be called a conditionally essential fatty acid because it is made only by the mammary gland and not in the liver like other saturated fats.  We must obtain it from one of two dietary sources – small amount of butterfat or large amounts of coconut oil.  Four carbon butyric acid is practically unique to butter.  It has antifungal properties as well as antitumor effects.

7)   Omega-6 and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

These occur in butter in small but nearly equal amounts.  This excellent balance between linoleic and linolenic acid prevents the kind of problems associated with overconsumption of omega-6 fatty acids.

8)   Lecithin

Lecithin is a natural component of butter that assists in the proper assimilation and metabolization of cholesterol and other fat constitutes.

9)   Cholesterol

Mother’s milk is high in cholesterol because it is essential for growth and development.  Cholesterol is also needed to produce a variety of steroids that protect against cancer, heart disease and mental illness.

10) Trace Minerals

Many trace minerals are incorporated into the fat globule membrane of butterfat, including manganese, zinc, chromium and iodine.  In mountainous areas far from the sea, iodine in butter protects against goiter.  Butter is extremely rich in selenium, a trace mineral with antioxidant properties, containing more per gram than herring or wheat germ.

Benefits of Lard

Lard or pork fat is about 40% saturated, 48% monosaturated (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and 12% polyunsaturated.  Like the fat of birds, the amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in lard will vary accordingly to the diet of the pigs.  In the topics, lard may also be a source of lauric acid if the pigs have eaten coconuts.  Like duck and goose fat, lard is stable and a preferred fat for frying.  It was widely used in America at the turn of the century.  It is an excellent source of vitamin D, especially in third-world countries where other animal foods are likely to expensive.  Some researches believe that pork products should be avoided because they may contribute to cancer.  Others suggest that only pork meat presents a problem and that pig fat in the form of lard is safe an healthy.

Benefits of Duck and Goose Fat

Duck and Goose Fat are semisolid at room temperature, containing about 35% saturated fat., 52% monosaturated fat (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and about 13% polyunsaturated fat.  The proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids depends on what the birds have eaten.  Duck and goose fat are quite stable and are highly prized in Europe for frying potatoes.

Benefits of Olive Oil

Olive Oil contains 75% oleic acid, the stable monounsaturated fat, along with 13% saturated fat, 10% omega-6 linoleic acid and 2% omega-3 linolenic acid.  The high percentage of oleic acid makes olive oil ideal for salads and for cooking at moderate temperature.  Extra virgin olive oil is also rich in antioxidants.  It should be cloudy, indicating that it has nor been filtered, and have a golden yellow color, indicating that it is made from fully ripened olives.  Olive oil has also withstood the test of time; it is the safest vegetable oil you can use, but don’t overdo.  The longer-chain fatty acids found in olive oil are more likely to contribute to the buildup of body fat than the short- and medium- chain fatty acids found in butter and coconut oil.

Benefits of Tropical Oils

Tropical Oils are more saturated than other vegetable oils.  Palm oil is about 50% saturated, with 41% oleic acid and about 9 percent linoleic acid.  Coconut oil is 92% saturated with over two thirds of the saturated fat as medium-chain fatty acids (often called medium chain triglycerides).  Of particular interest is lauric acid, found in large quantities in both coconut oil and in mother’s milk.  This fatty acid has strong antifungal and antimicrobial properties.  Coconut oil protects tropical populations from bacteria and fungus so prevalent in their food supply; as third-world nations in tropical areas have switched to polyunsaturated vegetable oils, the incidence of intestinal disorders and immune deficiency diseases have increased.  Because coconut oil contains lauric acid, it is often used in baby formulas.  Palm kernel oil, used primarily in candy coatings, also contains high levels of lauric acid.  These oils are stable and can be kept at room temperature for many months without becoming rancid.  Highly saturated tropical oils do not contribute to heart disease but have nourished healthy populations for millennia.  It is a shame we do not use these oils for cooking and baking – bad rap they have received is the result of intense lobbying by the domestic vegetable oil industry.  Red palm oil has a strong taste that most will find disagreeable – although it is used extensively throughout Africa – but clarified palm oil, which is tasteless and white in color, was formerly used as shortening and in the production of commercial French Fries, while coconut oil was used in cookies, crackers, and pastries.  The saturated fat scare has forced manufacturers to abandon these safe and healthy oils in favor of hydrogenated soybean, corn, canola, and cottonseed oils.

Benefits of Flax Seed Oil

Flax Seed Oil contains 9% saturated fatty acids, 18% oleic acid, 16% omega-6 and 57% omega-3.  With its extremely high omega-3 content, flax seed oil provides a remedy for the omega-6/omega-3 imbalance so prevalent in America today.  Not surprisingly, Scandinavian folk lore values flax seed oil as a health food.  New extraction and bottling methods have minimized rancidity problems.  It should always be kept refrigerated, never heated, and consumed in small amounts in salad dressings and spreads.