The information in this book was initially published as a three-part series called "Fats and Oils in a Nutshell" by Dennis Willmont in Macrobiotics Today, 2007.

In turn, the information from this article was organized, adapted, and shortened from the author¡¯s 2007 Fat Chance: Surviving the Cholesterol Controversy and Beyond, which is a longer and fully detailed book on using fats and oils naturally and responsibly. Good fats and oils are crucially important in maintaining health because they regulate cellular metabolism. They enable toxins to get out of the cells and nutrients to get in. Bad fats and oils block this process and set the stage for Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. To prevent these killers, you need to know how to tell the good fats and oils from the bad ones and how to use them properly.

This book provides you with all the simple basics you need to use fats and oils for optimum health safely and responsibly by understanding the following topics:

• Distinguishing the good fats and oils from the bad ones
  
• Understanding the destructive impact of industrially processed fats and oils
  
• Avoiding labeling scams such as "cold pressed" and "extra virgin"
  
• Avoiding the negative impact of heating oils industrially and in the kitchen
  
• Knowing what fats and oils to use and why
  
• Understanding the crucial function of Omega 3s
  
• Knowing how to balance the Yin-Yang function of the Body/Mind with fats and oils
  

Dennis Willmont has been practicing acupuncture, Taijiquan and Daoist meditation over thirty years. In the early 1980s, Mr. Willmont created and directed the first professional program of Shiatsu and Acupressure Therapy in North America. His unique blend of scholarship and intuition has led to the formation of a multi-volume series on the energetics and Body/Mind/Spirit connection in ancient acupuncture. Dennis uses natural foods, essential oils, and Chinese herbs in his acupuncture practice in Marshfield, Massachusetts.