Fat. That’s a word and a nutrient that people try to avoid. But fat actually does have an important role in health and growth, especially for children, so it’s beneficial to understand what fat is and what fat does.
Just like all things in life, moderation is key when it comes to fat. So what are the different kinds of fat? Why would coconut oil be preferable to butter (or is it?) and why does everything in nutrition have to be so complicated?
Why Fat is Essential in Kids' Diets
First of all, fat is an important source of energy, which is especially beneficial to growing bodies. Kids need calories to grow, but may not have enough room in their stomachs to get all of that energy from carbohydrates.
There are several important vitamins (A,D,K and E) which need fat in order to be properly processed and used by the body. It’s also essential for the proper growth and development of the brain, so basically super important in the diets of infants and young children (and older children as well, since the brain does continue developing into adolescence, even if it doesn’t seem like it is).
Finally, there are 2 fat chains (omega-3 and omega-6) which are essential (meaning the body needs them and can’t make them). So fat is actually an important part of a healthy diet, especially for growing children.
Understanding Fat
What should we do with this new information. Tell it as a nice story.
3 Types of Fat
There are a few types of fat, which already makes it a bit confusing. There’s unsaturated fat (which comes in both mono and poly varieties), saturated fat (which only comes as straight up sat fat), and trans-fat. So let’s get the fats straight:
Unsaturated Fat
This is sometimes called “healthy” fat. Unsaturated means that it is not full, aka, there is room in the fat chain for another hydrogen molecule to attach. Monounsaturated has 1 empty space and Polyunsaturated has more. These fats are the ones found in plants (such as avocado and nuts) and in fish. Cooking oils that are liquid at room temperature are unsaturated fats.
Trans Fat
This is usually known as “bad fat.” When unsaturated oil undergoes a process called hydrogenation, which is basically adding hydrogen to the oil, it creates trans-fat. This extends the shelf life and helps prevent foods from going bad.
The downside is that it also raises cholesterol levels and increases inflammation, which leads to heart disease, stroke and diabetes. And there is no known health benefit. For this reason, the FDA banned trans-fats from processed foods, although this type of fat does occur naturally in meats and dairy products.
Saturated Fat
Saturated fat is a little more complicated. Unlike both unsaturated and trans-fat, saturated fat is as full of hydrogen molecules as it can possibly be. This type of fat is solid at room temperature, like butter, margarine or coconut oil.
What’s the big deal with Saturated Fat?
Diets high in saturated fats tend to cause LDL (or the bad cholesterol) to go up. Higher LDL levels could lead clogged arteries, which is why experts limit saturated fat intake to be 10% of your daily calories. Foods that are high in saturated fat tend to add a lot of calories, but not a lot of nutrients, which can lead to weight gain.
There is much debate among researchers about the correlation between saturated fat and heart disease, but the best recommendation is to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats and to continue eating plenty of other healthy foods.
So, what about butter?
Well, butter is definitely high in saturated fat. When you compare the nutrition facts for butter and oil, you can see exactly how much higher.
Just 1 serving of butter contains 35% of your daily saturated fat needs. While 1 serving of oil is only 5%. That is a huge difference and definitely a reason to try and replace some of the butter in your diet with a lower in saturated fat oil.
However, butter is still delicious and useful for baking. If you want a brown butter cookie, or some buttercream frosting on your birthday cake, don’t skip. Make sure you’re using the real thing, and enjoy every bite.
Why is coconut Oil Different?
If you use the internet to learn about food and nutrition, you have most likely read something about coconut oil. Starting in about 2015, coconut oil was hailed as a SUPERFOOD! which I guess is like regular food, only with more powers. People attributed many, many health benefits to this superstar, from curing skin ailments, increasing fat burning, preventing Alzheimer’s and helping with weight loss. And these benefits, according to many websites, are based on evidence,so you know it’s true. Even as recently as January, 2018, websites were listing the many incredible health benefits of coconut oil, and not just websites like Goop, but websites with names like “health” or “science” in their title.
But…
Unfortunately for the coconut oil industry, the American Heart Association has quietly been dispelling many of these coconut oil myths. According to the AHA, the key for better health and specifically better heart health lies in reducing overall consumption of saturated fats, such as those found in coconut oil. Although many people realize that saturated fats are found in many animal products, such as red meat and butter, it also exists in plant products, such as coconut oil. So, just because coconut oil is plant based, vegan, paleo-friendly and gluten free, does not necessarily mean that it is also heart-healthy and good for you.
And recently, a professor from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health called coconut oil “pure poison” (or at least that’s the translation, since this lecture was given in German). So now the internet is of course in a huge debate: Is coconut oil the panacea or it is the poison?
So Panacea or Poison?
The truth, like always, is somewhere in the middle.
Coconut oil definitely contains high amounts of saturated fat, about 12 grams in each tablespoon. (For comparison, a tablespoon of butter contains 7 grams of saturated fat.) For adults eating 2000 calories a day, the recommended intake of saturated fat should be less than 22 grams. A person with high cholesterol should have even less, about 15 grams a day. Children should also try to limit saturated fat to about 10% of their total calories.
The pros for coconut oil are that it is naturally dairy free, which is great news for people who can’t have dairy. It also has a very specific flavor, which is important to certain flavor profiles.
However, there is no denying that coconut oil is a food that is very high in saturated fat and that diets high in saturated fat are associated with health problems. Therefore, eat coconut oil coconut oil with caution, and use it carefully with the understanding that it alone cannot replace a diet that is high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
So, In Conclusion...
It can be confusing to try and keep up with all of the debates over foods. The important thing to remember is a healthy lifestyle comprises of many things. It’s impossible to call out just one food as being the cause, or cure of any disease or ailment. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains, combined with a little knowledge and understanding are the best ways to stay ahead of the confusion. It also doesn’t hurt to always read the internet with a grain of salt.
