Fats. It is almost upon us, peoples…the tide is turning and we’re heading into winter before you can say “who drank all the pumpkin spice lattes?” As we age, it’s important to give our skin proper nourishment to survive cold, dry air that winter winds deliver. Luckily, we can start with something we all like to do.

EAT FAT!

I, like you, cringe inwardly when I read those words. I grew to adulthood in the 80s, when the covers of Vegetarian Times primarily featured beautiful fat-free pasta dishes. We in our 40s, 50s and 60s are inheritors of a terrible dietary faux pas; namely that fats are baaaaad for us.

Fats are good. Fats are kind. Fats are gentle. Fat cushions our nerve cells, moistens our skin cells, and moves food along in our gut. Our own fat stores energy for us, pulls toxins from our circulation (for a gentle detox later) and keeps us warm.

EAT GOOD FAT! TRASH BAD FAT!

Its not fat that is bad; it is processed, saturated fat that is bad. We just have to eat the right kind of fat!

Let’s start with bad fat.

What fats should you go to your cupboard and throw away right now?

1. Any fat or oil that you have seen on a commercial. If you see it in a popular magazine or during a television show, it is almost undoubtedly full of saturated, processed fat and is bad for you.
2. Canola, corn, and soybean oil. These oils, despite their marketing as healthy, are mostly processed and partially hydrogenated. Studies have shown that regular use of these oils can disrupt liver and kidney function, cause free radical damage, and can increase cancer risk due to processing.
3. Margarine, shortening, and fake butter. Margarine was invented in the early 1970s and was marketed as a healthy alternative to butter. Our bodies do not recognize these frankenfats and do not respond well to them. If we’re lucky, they just turn to adipose in our bodies. But we’re never that lucky…are we?
4. Butter or fat made from sad, factory farmed animals. Aside from the inhumane, rotten treatment these poor animals suffer, and also because of it, their hormones are completely out of whack — and their stressed out, depressive hormones course through their muscles, blood, milk, and fat.  Add to that the antibiotics, the artificial growth hormones, and the gods know what slop they eat for food — laden with e-coli and salmonella — all that ends up in us!
5. Olestra/Olean.  Same thing, just branded twice because the press caught up with this science experiment gone wrong.  Marketed as a “fat free” fat — it can cause abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and anal leakage (!!!). Not only that, it inhibits Vitamins A, D, E, and K from being absorbed. If your friend grabs a package of tater chips with this in it, swat it away from your shopping cart.

Next time, I’ll tell you what fats you can use to replace the aforementioned abominations.