What’s so Bad about Hydrogenated Fats?

Hydrogenated fats are so bad. No, I mean really bad. You have heard it from your doctor, you have heard it in the media, and you have heard it from your neighbor. But have you ever wondered why they’re so bad? Well, I’m going to tell you why and this is really important to know.

It all started in the year 1931, when Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for his work on cellular respiration. What he found out was that if a cell’s oxygen supply was cut by 30% it would change from aerobic (with oxygen) respiration to anaerobic (without oxygen) respiration. What does this have to do with hydrogenated fats? Well…everything!

The whole point of the hydrogenation process is to keep oxygen out of the fat. That’s why things like hydrogenated margarine last so long. It can sit for years without going bad! Try that with flax oil or cold-pressed olive oil. With hydrogenated fats, the oxygen can’t get in and make it go rancid. Our cellular membranes are made up of a lot of fat and by this I mean Omega 3 polyunsaturated fat. There is also cholesterol in there, which is actually a good thing. This was discovered by another German scientist, Dr. Johanna Budwig. She created a diet, called the Budwig Diet, with which patients on death’s doorstep recovered from cancer.

So, when we eat hydrogenated fats, which are a lot like cholesterol, and the body has little or no access to Omega 3, then it has no choice but to use the hydrogenated fats to build the cellular membranes. Once this is done, the cell can no longer get enough oxygen to live because the fats keep the oxygen out of the cell and it becomes ‘brain damaged.’ In other words, it begins to suffocate. Then it turns to the fermentation of glucose (sugar) in order to live and it replicates itself and gives off lactic acid.

I know, this part is a little technical and you are probably wondering why I am telling you all of this. I’m telling you this because this process is the prime cause of cancer! All cancer cells were once normal cells and Dr. Warburg determined that when deprived of oxygen, the cells turned cancerous. We know today that cancer cells thrive on sugar and in an acidic environment and that’s exactly what happens when the cell cannot get enough oxygen. It seems so logical.

Of course, there is so much to say about cellular respiration and cancer that a whole book could be written about it, but I hope that you at least a good idea of what those hydrogenated fats are doing to your body. I know that it is something I never even considered and I let them into my body and I nearly lost my life and everything I hold dear. Of course this is only one contributing factor in cancer that I am covering here and there are many more culprits, but something important to keep in mind. The next time you want to reach out for a baked treat or a packaged, refined food read the ingredients list and if you see the word ‘hydrogenated’, then put it back on the shelf and wander on down to find something healthier to indulge in. Your body and your life will thank you for it.