Udo Erasmus, author of "Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill ", lectured in Calgary recently on the role of essential fatty acids (EFAs) in the human diet. His basic message? Consume the correct proportion of healing fats rather than killing fats to live longer and stay healthier.

Poisoned while working with pesticides, Erasmus turned his attention to the field of nutrition to find the answers doctors were unable to give him. After several years of research, Erasmus wrote the bestseller "Fats and Oils", which earned him a PhD in nutrition. He pioneered the technology for pressing and packaging flax and other fresh oils for human consumption, and has become an internationally recognized authority on the subject of fats, oils and cholesterol in human health.

According to Erasmus, lack of one of the essential fats is the single greatest nutritional deficiency of our time. It leads to poor health, several degenerative problems, and early death. We have been inundated with misleading advice on low fat diets over the years, and Erasmus sets the record straight. If the current fad of low fat or total fat elimination continues, human health will be detrimentally affected, he warns.

In fact, some fats - the ones containing EFAs - are crucial to health and can even reverse degenerative illnesses such as arthritis, allergies, Type II diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. EFAs also help boost the immune system, transport cholesterol and electrons, and regulate oxygen use and energy production. About 15 to 20 percent of a person's diet should be made up of fats and oils that contain omega-3 or omega-6 essential fatty acids, according to Erasmus. The best sources of EFAs are seeds and nuts in their natural form and fresh, unrefined oils.

Erasmus points out that the manufacturing process turns healing fats into killing fats.

For example, hydrogenation, the process which turns refined oil into margarine, destroys the essential nutrients of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs, and results in the formation of large amounts of unnatural toxic products. These products, known as trans-fatty acids, have been proven to double the risk of heart attack, according to a Harvard-publicized study. By gaining an understanding of these processes, we can choose food that may help prevent degenerative disease.