Fats provide energy and lubrication for the brain and insulation for body organs and the body generally. Introducing good-quality fats into your diet as both foods and supplements and eliminating poor-quality fats are an essential first steps to begin a nutritional recovery program.
Fats are essential for the absorption of nutrients, particularly the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. These vitamins require fat to enable them to be transported to cells. Low-fat diets, for example, may adversely affect mental health due to inadequate levels of these essential vitamins. It is a medical myth that saturated fats are dangerous. Saturated animal fats (from pasture-fed livestock and some wild seafood) provide fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K2.
A complement of fats from animals, vegetables, nuts, and seeds extracted via a “cold process” should be integrated with all other oils into a daily diet—along with eggs, which are rich in choline to support the brain and memory.
TIP: Need help digesting fats? Bitter greens like watercress, arugula, and dandelion are the best foods to eat with a high-fat meal.
Adapting your diet to include healthy fats for brain function is one positive behavior that is easy to accomplish. The second is to eliminate the use of unhealthy fats or trans-fatty acids. Most commercially processed foods—such as cookies, margarine, shortening, crackers, chips, salad dressings, and snack foods—contain trans-fatty acids from ingredients such as “partially hydrogenated” oils as well as deodorized vegetable oils, all of which are dangerous for mental well-being.
As a first step, focus on including the following fats in your diet:
Butter. The best, most nutritious butter is raw. Butter is medicine and the brain needs cholesterol. Splurge for raw butter since your food is your medicine. The Wulzen factor, which prevents and decreases arthritis, joint stiffness, and pain, is found only in raw butter and raw cream. Butter should be used on top of grains, vegetables, or proteins; make sure not to cook it at high temperatures.
Ghee. Ghee is clarified butter. It is an ideal fat for people who are lactose intolerant because all of the milk proteins have been removed. Because it has a high smoke point, you can cook with it, unlike butter, which burns.
Coconut Oil. Use coconut oil for cooking or add to smoothies and baked goods. Coconut oil is a medium-chain fatty acid. It is easily digested, considered healing for the brain, and can aid memory. You can also use it as a moisturizer by rubbing it on dry skin.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (cold-pressed). Olive oil should be a deep green color and bought and stored only in a dark bottle or can, away from light. It is ideal for salad dressings, but less so for high heat since olive oil has a low smoke point and the chlorophyll degrades in heat. It can be combined with butter and drizzled over steamed or baked vegetables.
Flax Seed Oil. Add 1/4 cup of organic flaxseed oil to your olive oil-based salad dressing to gain the benefits of essential fatty acids. Flax seed oil requires refrigeration. It is never heated or used in cooking.
Sesame Oil (toasted and raw). Long revered in Ayurvedic medicine as a healing oil, sesame is very versatile. Toasted, it adds depth of flavor to vegetable stir-fries and raw, making a nice, light dressing.
TIP: Swishing two tablespoons of raw sesame oil in your mouth before bed (no rinsing) is an ancient Ayurvedic remedy for gum problems. Gum problems can be associated with heart disease, which in turn can be associated with dementia. So, swish that oil every night and avoid gum surgery.
Healthy Fats for Mental Health
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26.04.2024
Fats provide energy and lubrication for the brain and insulation for body organs and the body generally. Introducing good-quality fats into your diet as both foods and supplements and eliminating poor-quality fats are an essential first steps to begin a nutritional recovery program.
Fats are essential for the absorption of nutrients, particularly the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. These vitamins require fat to enable them to be transported to cells. Low-fat diets, for example, may adversely affect mental health due to inadequate levels of these essential vitamins. It is a medical myth that saturated fats are dangerous. Saturated animal fats (from pasture-fed livestock and some wild seafood) provide fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K2.
A complement of fats from animals, vegetables, nuts, and seeds extracted via a “cold process” should be integrated with all other oils into a daily diet—along with eggs,........
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