Saturated Fat: Nutrition for Starting a Family

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September 3, 2024

Sometimes a young couple asks for specific advice about nutritional requirements for fertility and pregnancy.

Their story often starts with how many years they have tried, how many miscarriages they’ve had, how many hormone treatments and in vitro fertilizations had failed.

After a brief conversation, the prospective mother tells me she is following a low fat, high carbohydrate diet, and she eats very little meat.

By changing their dietary program to fit the guidelines of the Weston A. Price Foundation, every one of these couples has successfully conceived and delivered a healthy baby - something that they thought might be impossible given what they’d gone through.

I am always amazed and awed at how well it works. Conception occurs in six months or less, and the baby is carried to term.

Saturated fat is a necessary nutrient for fertility and pregnancy. Without it, a successful pregnancy is not possible.

There is a wide variety, including butter, lard, beef tallow, chicken or duck fat, fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel. (Crab has an additional bonus for fertility - the yellow “crab butter” in the cavity just below the head).

Saturated fats are needed for developing the fetal nervous system and brain that will see them through their school years with fewer learning disabilities and behavioral issues.

Saturated fat contains the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K. Some nutrition experts claim that these vitamins are also available in vegetables. However, vegetable sources only have the precursors to these vitamins, so your body must conjugate them to make the actual vitamin. The human body is only capable of converting a small fraction of the precursor, much less than what is required for optimal health.

Pastured animals, on the other hand, easily convert them to vitamins, and they store the fully formed vitamins in their fat. That is why it is more efficient and effective to obtain fat soluble vitamins directly from the fat of the animals that make it.

Now come the protests: “Saturated fat will make me fat!” The fact is, carbohydrates are what make you fat. If you reduce your intake of carbs and increase saturated fats, you will shed excess pounds. Try it.

An important consideration is the source of all this fat. It must come from healthy animals that are fed on pasture. 100% grass-fed beef, pastured and forested pork, pastured chickens and lamb. If it is pastured, it has the right balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (no need to supplement with fish oil for omega-3). If it is pastured, it contains conjugated linoleic acid, which has numerous health benefits other than maintaining a healthy pregnancy. It contains fat-soluble vitamins in quantities your body can’t produce alone. It contains other factors involved in developing healthy bones and immune system. It also provides raw materials for making hormones that govern biochemical activity of every system of the body.

For a list of other foods that are essential for fertility and pregnancy, dig into the Weston A. Price foundation's recommended diet for pregnant and nursing mothers. They have an article full of amazing information.

May you be deeply nourished!

Susan

Why Choose Fermented Foods?

My grandparents on my father’s side used to make sauerkraut in wooden barrels in the basement. My mother’s side made cheese and salami. I could smell these concoctions throughout the entire house. Fermenting is part of your national heritage, no matter your family’s country of origin. Alongside nourishing grass-fed/grass-finished pastured meats like Polyface raises, every person should include real fermented foods into their diet. This method of food preservation goes back farther than most realize, reconnecting us with ancient traditions, long before the refrigerator-freezer was invented. Every culture consumed something fermented every day. Here are the reasons why I like fermented foods. Fermentation preserves food without using high pressure, high heat, or chemicals, so it both conserves and increases them. The nutritional value of fermented foods lies mostly in the pro-biotic bacteria that are present, and byproducts of their digestion. The bacteria’s digestive “waste” is a collection of vitamins, enzymes, and co-factors needed for every system of the body. These include: Vitamins B1, B6, B12, C, and K2 Superoxide dismutase (SOD, an antioxidant) GTF chromium (assists sugar metabolism) Glutathione (a potent detoxifier) Phospholipids (cell membrane building blocks) Digestive enzymes Beta 1,2 glucans (present in shiitake mushrooms; modulates immune system) Fermentation neutralizes or eliminates these: Phytic acid (present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Enzyme inhibitors (also present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Nitrites Prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) Oxalic acid (binds minerals) Nitrosamines (known carcinogen) Glucosides Probiotics and enzymes in whey neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, allowing your digestion to access the nutrients in the food. Enzymes are proteins. Proteins are delicate molecules with very complex structure and shape. The structure of the enzyme gives it its function. Without structure and form, the enzyme will not do its job of catalyzing biochemical reactions. Without enzymes, biochemical reactions would cease. Enzymes are denatured (unraveled or broken down) by high pressure, high heat, acidic conditions, toxic chemicals, and electrical disturbances. Once denatured, they lose their form and shape, therefore they lose their function. Unlike canning and commercial processing, fermenting occurs at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, encouraging beneficial bacteria to thrive. Temperatures above 117 degrees Fahrenheit denature enzymes and kill probiotic bacteria. If you wonder what 117 degrees feels like, it’s the temperature at which you cannot touch an object with your bare hands and hold it for a few seconds. If it’s hot, but you can still touch and hold it in your hand and not pull away, it’s under 117 degrees. This innate protection mechanism (i.e., reflex) prevents your own protein (i.e., skin on your finger) from being denatured. It’s also a good indicator of when your food is hot enough to kill probiotics and denature enzymes. For best results, fermented foods must be eaten raw, never hot or cooked. Fermented foods are safe and protective against pathogens. USDA scientist Roger McFeeters, who oversees a fermentation laboratory, says, “The lactobacilli can number a billion per gram of tissue at the height of fermentation. The bad bacteria can't compete." According to McFeeters, lacto-fermentation has caused no known food-borne illness. "As far as we know, it's been going on for thousands of years. It's perfectly safe.” The sauerkraut that my grandparents made had a layer of raw pork chops embedded in the salted cabbage. When the sauerkraut was done, you could safely eat the pork chops raw! They were pre-digested by the bacteria, and “cooked" by the organic acids in the kraut. Probiotics prevented pathogens from establishing. None of us ever got food poisoning. My grandmother lived to be 100. Fermented foods have anti-carcinogenic properties. They normalize blood pressure and heart rate, help to break down fat in the liver, and maintain healthy systemic pH. And they are quite tasty. In the supermarket, look for fermented foods in the refrigerated section, not on the shelf with canned foods. Shelf-stable canned foods were subjected to high temperatures. The probiotics and enzymes have been denatured. Look for “live cultures” or “live probiotics” on the label. Eat something lacto-fermented every day, like your ancestors did. Just a tablespoon or two of sauerkraut or an ounce or two of cheese is enough to have the desired effect. Choose a salad dressing made with raw apple cider vinegar, or a tablespoon of a fermented condiment such as ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. Try a fermented beverage, like kombucha, beet kvass, or ginger ale. (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon has some great recipes for all of these.) The original condiments were digestive aids. They’re easy to make. Try it. May you be deeply nourished! Susan

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Saturated Fat: Nutrition for Starting a Family

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