Today I’m going to discuss a common area of confusion, as there are a lot of different messages out there depending on who you speak to. What it boils down to is the whole saturated fat debate. We’ve been led to believe that saturated fat is so detrimental to health we must avoid it at all costs, but is this necessary? And is butter or margarine healthier? Read on to find out.

Just to be clear you absolutely need fat in your diet.  It’s the type of fat which can cause problems.

The pros and cons of margarine

• Margarine is made from vegetable oil which undergoes hydrogenation or intensive processing to harden the texture.
• Although rich in polyunsaturated fats which are considered healthier for your heart, by the time they’ve been processed they’re less than ideal. After this processing they often become trans fats which we definitely want to avoid!
• Some margarines contain healthier oils such as olive oil, and some really aren’t too bad at all such as the vegan brands you can buy in health food shops. These can contain a nice variety of alternative fats such as coconut oil and shea butter.
• Margarine will almost always contain additives to make it tastier and spreadable.
• Standard margarines are very high in omega-6 fatty acids. We need to keep our omega-3 and 6 in the correct ratio to be healthy – but there is a problem! Found everywhere, Omega-6 is in so many foods we end up eating far too much of it.
  Omega-6 can also be very inflammatory. Excessive inflammation is at the root of most disease and illness states, so really, avoiding too much omega-6 is essential.

The bottom line on margarine:

If you’re avoiding dairy for dietary reasons or if you’re vegan, look for brands which are free from trans fats.  Better still use ‘healthier fat’ containing brands from your health food shop.

The pros and cons of butter:

Although demonised as being high in saturated fat, and therefore bad for heart health, this isn’t the whole story. The jury is still out on how much saturated fat we need in our diets, but the general consensus is it definitely needs to feature in our diets to some degree.

The nutrient profile of butter from grass-fed herds is very high. It contains some real plusses such as –

• Vitamin K2, this plays a key role in bone and heart health, and is also key in cancer prevention.
• Butter is also rich in several important fatty acids, including butyrate which you need for a healthy gut. You can read more about keeping your gut healthy here.
  Plenty of omega-3 fatty acids for brain and skin health.
• Conjugated linoleic acid which helps stop weight gain and helps build muscle.

The bottom line on butter –

It’s rich in saturated fat which we undoubtedly need in our diets, but the jury is very much still out on how much exactly we need.
As is usually the way with all things nutrition related – the poison’s in the dose – a small amount is likely beneficial for you, but too much may well be damaging.
And how much butter do we really tend to eat? It’s not something we usually consume at very high levels!
When buying butter look for grass fed, organic and if you can get it, raw.  If you have a good local farmers market you may be able to pick up raw butter there.

Nut butters
Seed butters
Hummus

They can all be spread on toast too to make a delicious snack.
Try to avoid eating only one kind, they’re all beneficial and contain different types of fats which we need for a balanced diet.

What’s the real reason for your heartburn or reflux?

Contrary to what it may feel like, acid reflux symptoms are not usually caused by too much acid in the stomach, and antacids may not be the best remedy.  This blog outlines the truth about antacids, and why you may want to consider a natural solution.

Here’s the thing: It seems that symptoms such as heartburn and reflux actually come about because of low stomach acid, AKA hypochlorrhidria. And what’s worse is that every time you take antacids, PPIs or H2 blockers you may actually be making the problem worse.

The truth about antacids is they may cause a viscous cycle situation.

Now that’s not to say that medications such as antacids don’t have a place, they are useful for effectively treating the occasional bout of heartburn or reflux. What I’m talking about here is chronic, ongoing, frequent use of these medications.

Prolonged hypochlorhydria – or low stomach acid – is associated with

• nutrient deficiencies,
• diabetes,
• chronic fatigue

and a whole host of other disorders.

Before we go any further into this, be aware that antacids themselves tend to be associated with an array of side effects, including –

Constipation
Diarrhoea
Nausea and vomiting
Low appetite
Headaches

So what does cause these uncomfortable symptoms?

Reflux comes about because of acid rising up through the oesophagus. This happens because the valve at the lower end of your oesophagus starts to leak, generally because of too much pressure on the stomach (as I just mentioned) allowing acid to creep up into the oesophagus. If your stomach acid isn’t in your stomach, but sloshing around up in your oesophagus, you may get uncomfortable problems.

There are a few reasons this may happen –

Hiatal hernia – this is when the upper end of your stomach pushes through the diaphragm.

Eating meals which are too large – an over-full stomach adds pressure to the diaphragm allowing acid to seep upwards.

Eating too much of the ‘wrong’ food – this isn’t to say that everyone has the same ‘wrong’ foods, it’s just that some foods are more suited to some people than others. Or, what your body needed when you were younger, for example, may not be what it needs now. It could be that you may be consuming too much carbohydrate for your current needs, for example.

You may also have dysbiosis or SIBO which could be increasing the levels of gas in your digestive system.

Food intolerances – These could be behind your symptoms.

Stomach acid is also a major first line of defence for your immune system
If you raise the pH of your stomach environment so it becomes more alkaline, it’s not particularly hostile to any unwelcome guests. We want it to be nice and acidic to protect us from invaders.

Therefore the risk of stomach bugs such as salmonella or listeria may increase. A very acidic environment is not only necessary to effectively digest food, but also to kill off any invaders.

So what is the truth about antacids and PPIs?

Unfortunately you may be inadvertently adding to the problem.

Your stomach may go all out trying to make more hydrochloric acid to increase the acidity of your stomach, and return it to it’s set point, you can really end up with a no-win situation.

So what can you do about it?

You’ll need to do a bit of detective work to ascertain where these symptoms are coming from:

Dietary changes may help you here.

Reducing refined grains – white bread, white pasta etc. and also keeping your sugar intake to a minimum.

Probiotics

Eating probiotic-rich foods may help you – but be aware these can sometimes aggravate symptoms, especially if you have an underlying issue such as SIBO.  This is where testing can be valuable.

There are also supplements that can help you, but of course it depends on what is actually the underlying cause of your reflux or heartburn.  High quality magnesium and digestive enzymes are a couple that may be recommended.