Ridding Your Body of Acidic Wastes 31
again and in the process has become rancid, and therefore carcinogenic.
Moreover, the temperature of the oil in which these foods are cooked
is so high the structure of the fat molecules in the food is altered. Mis-
shapen molecules become rigid and elongated. After being absorbed
into the cells, they stiffen the cells’ membranes. Some scientists believe
this could give rise to emotional problems and learning disabilities in
children because rigid cell membranes could interfere with the trans-
mission of thoughts between brain cells.
Any food whose molecular structure is altered is carcinogenic. But
as far as other fats and oils are concerned, it’s not so easy to label them
either good or bad. For example, if you take vitamin E supplements
when you eat polyunsaturated vegetable oils, they lose most of their
toxicity. On the other hand, long-term use of vitamin E, shorn of its
cofactors, removes calcium from the bones. An example of a very
healthy oil that under certain conditions can become toxic is the oil in
fi sh. To make fi sh oil available to the body and to prevent it from
becoming toxic, short-chain fats like butter or medium-chain oils like
coconut oil should be eaten along with the fi sh. These shorter-chain
fats and oils act like scissors, cutting up the long molecular chains in
fi sh oil into pieces that are small enough to be absorbed through cell
membranes. Butter is also benefi cial because it contains short chains of
butyric fatty acid that are burned up rather than stored as fat.
Coconut oil is easily burned up, thus providing the body with an
effi cient form of fuel that is also good for weight loss. In addition, coco-
nut oil keeps the energy-producing factories in the cells—the mito-
chondria—in good repair. Furthermore, coconut oil can be heated to a
very high temperature without having its atomic structure altered.
According to the chemist Ray Peat, Ph.D., coconut oil is a very effective
cancer preventive. People have a hard time believing that it has so many
health benefi ts given that it is supersaturated. But a saturated fat with
single bonds that bind atoms together doesn’t break down and become
toxic when it is subjected to heat the way the double- and triple-bonded
(polyunsaturated) oils do.
Meat fat is also stable because it contains saturated and monounsatu-
rated fatty acids. I knew a healthy woman in her late nineties who ate
fatty meat and cream sauce made with butter every day. She claimed the
meat was more easily digested if eaten with butter. Her intuition was
correct because the short-chain fatty acids in butter break apart the