8 Top Tips to Sunlight Success #8

Tip #8

Believe it or not, a diet high in poor quality polyunsaturated fats (also known as PUFA’s, or oils) extracted from seeds such as soy beans, corn, sunflower seed, safflower seed, rape seed (canola), can raise the risk for all three types of skin cancer (Squamous, Basal Cell and Melanoma). ¹³

For those just at the beginning of their journey learning about foods - when I refer to fats, I am meaning fatty acid molecules found in food. Every single food contains some level of fat - even lettuce has a little, maybe between 1.4-3.5%. A scientific word for fat is "lipid" and comes from the Greeek language.

Stretch your Brain: This is a highly controversial area of research, as so called “vegetable oils” (PUFAs) have been promoted as healthier for preventing heart disease for about 50 years. I suspect there is much more to this story. For example:

• How much and how often are these PUFAs consumed by each person with their unique biochemical makeup? PUFAs are a main ingredient in cheap processed foods such as biscuits, cookies, cakes, breads, oven fries, savoury crisps and crackers, as well as deep fried fast foods and restaurant foods;
• How are the raw ingredients for these "vegetable oils (PUFAs)" grown - with herbicides and pesticides used on the soil and sprayed on the crops also? Are the seeds genetically modified and interact with the human body in some different way?
• How are the fats extracted from the whole seed - with toxic to human processes and chemicals?
• And, is there a cocktail reaction within the body for example, is there a reaction between PUFAs eaten as food with products used on the skin which also contain toxic to human ingredients?

Not all fats are created equal^!4  But here's a little something to tweak your interest.

Most of us know the good fats in whole foods like nuts and seeds begin to go rancid ("off") once the nut or seed is ground. So have you ever stopped and thought about all those glowing golden oils in clear plastic bottles in your favourite grocery store? If those golden oils are from nuts and seeds, why don't they go rancid too? And here's another interesting snippet - did you know that "vegetable oils" are a major ingredient in industrial varnishes? Might that explain that hard to remove brown baked on layer on your baking pans, your toasted sandwich maker...the vegetable oil has baked into varnish!

In a STRENGTH column, coming up, we will take a deeper dive into Nutrition. Controversial topic in the 21st century! So stay tuned, and I'll be back.

This is the final part of 8 Top Tips to Sunlight Success. Dear brother or sister, I pray you have learned something new and interesting on how to make the most of sunlight for health in your life. But there is another interesting angle to this sunlight story I would love to share with you soon. 

References:

13. Nam, James. (2018, July 6) Link found between skin cancer risk and high polyunsaturated fat intake. Retrieved from https://www.oncologynurseadvisor.com/home/cancer-types/skin-cancer/link-found-between-skin-cancer-risk-and-high-polyunsaturated-fat-intake/

14. Omega 6 fatty acids: the alternative hypothesis for diseases of civilisation. (2017, August 25). Retrieved from https://breaknutrition.com/omega-6-fatty-acids-alternative-hypothesis-diseases-civilization/

Image by Dominik Schraudolf from Pixabay - adapted by Vital Force NZ