For the Love of Saturated Fat

I realized that I've never spelled out my thoughts on fats based on the research I've done. I'll admit I'm a subscriber to the Weston A. Price Foundation and Sally Fallon's perspective, and if you are a vegetarian there are still some great options for you.

Saturated Fat

When it comes to fat, mainstream science is focused on the kind, which is sort of important, instead of the quality, which is very important. Studies on saturated fat do not focus on the quality of meat consumed or its level of processing, nor do they take into account the amount of sugar and processed oils also consumed, both of which have been linked to high cholesterol and clogged arteries.

While everyone needs different levels of saturated fat, it is by far the most beneficial fat you can consume from high quality sources. Despite popular belief, saturated fat is not only heart-healthy, it is essential to good digestion, a strong immune system, strong bones, and even prevention of cancer. Studies showing that saturated fat is bad for us don't take into account the quality of the saturated fat or the amount of sugar or other kinds of fats consumed at the same time.

Saturated fat enables the absorption of vitamins A, E, D, and K, and minerals such as calcium. It is also absorbed directly into the bloodstream, reducing stress on the liver and other organs. The brain is primarily nourished by saturated fat, which also influences optimal nerve communication regarding hormones and metabolism. And saturated fat contains microbial agents that protect our digestive tract and therefore boost immune function.

While you might be concerned about the calorie content of saturated fat, both studies I've read and my own experience teaches that consumption of high quality fat actually aids in weight loss. This is largely because saturated fat enables the body to absorb more nutrients, which means it becomes satiated much sooner, which means cravings and usually portion sizes naturally reduce without much effort on the part of the eater.

Saturated fat is highly stable at high temperatures, meaning that will not go rancid with exposure to heat, light, and oxygen. Therefore it is ideal for cooking. Our ancestors cooked with butter and lard for thousands of years without the health issues we have today.

Saturated fat to increase: Organic chicken (whole or with skin and bone are the best options), organic grass-fed beef (again, on the bone is good), wild caught fish, extra virgin coconut oil (a great option for vegetarians!).

Saturated fat to reduce: Non-organic meat of all kinds, bacon, sausage, lunchmeat, pork and ham, and other highly processed meats or meats with nitrates/nitrites. Obviously if you can find these items organic and minimally processed, they don't have to be completely eliminated.

Vegetable Oil and Trans Fat

The fat that actually deserves saturated fat's reputation is vegetable oil. These polyunsaturated fats are not much better than trans fats, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which have been conclusively linked to heart disease and cancer. They clog arteries, provide an overload of omega-6, confuse the body, and turn rancid with exposure to heat, air, and/or light—which often happens before we even purchase them—creating an abundance of free radicals.

Vegetable oils are cheaply produced in mass quantities, often from genetically modified corn and soybeans (GMO foods have been linked to reproductive issues and sterility in lab tests.)

Vegetable oil to increase: Extra virgin organic olive oil, a relatively stable monounsaturated fat that can be used to cook with at medium temperatures and is great for salad dressings. Be sure to store in a cool, dark place and use up quickly to prevent rancidity. Peanut oil is also stable at high temperatures, though it is high in omega-6, which we get plenty of from other sources. Small amounts of sesame oil, hemp oil, and flax oil can be used raw but should not be used to cook with, as they break down and turn rancid very easily.

Vegetable oil to reduce: Soybean, corn, canola, safflower, cottonseed, and generic vegetable oils; all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, including margarine and shortening (Crisco).

If you have a question about a particular fat I haven't mentioned here, send your inquiries my way!

The Primal Diet: An Interview

Recently I caught up with an old friend of mine, who informed me that she has discovered the Primal Diet and is loving it. I have heard only a little about this new eating lifestyle, so I asked her to give me a little info for people who might be interested, and she very kindly agreed.

First of all, she says, "I hesitate too much to say, 'I'm Paleo' or 'I'm Primal.' There's a tendency for people to resemble religious fanatics when they define themselves by the way they eat. I don't want to adhere to the orthodoxy, I just want to be healthy. I really encourage people to do their own research, both in what a nutritious diet is and what goes into your food."

I couldn't agree more! Orthorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that has been identified in recent years with obsession over eating a certain way, whether that way is healthy or not. Many people develop this condition while trying to be healthy—in fact, almost every diet is an example of orthorexic behavior.

Below is an excerpt from our interview.

What made you consider the Primal Diet?

I started by reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. It really opened my eyes that what "everybody" knows about nutrition is based on some really bad science. The next book I read was Protein Power by Drs Mike and Mary Eades. It applied low-carb/no grain to weight loss. Following their sources, branching out from their blogs I found a lot more information.

Some blogs I follow:

• www.marksdailyapple.com
• www.proteinpower.com
• www.fathead-movie.com
• www.freetheanimal.com

Basically it finally boiled down to biochemistry and common sense. The common sense part is that humans have been eating veggies, meat, and fruit for millions of years; we've only had agriculture for 10,000. Clearly we are more suited to these natural—primal if you will—foods.

Besides, do you know what they feed cows to make them superfat? Grain. (Cows are supposed to eat grass, not grains.) If grain can make a vegetarian cow into a complete lardass, it'll do the same for omnivores like us.

I'll add that there is a very important point here: The natural food of cows is grass. I've discussed this in previous posts on my blog and on Skirt.com, but in short, grass makes beef high in omega-3 fats and vitamin D, both of which are sorely missing from our diet, while grain makes beef high in potentially harmful and highly prevalent omega-6 fatty acids.

What has following the Primal Diet guidelines done for you?

My joints don't ache. I have more energy. I have more libido. I think I'm more cheerful. I'm more driven. My skin cleared up. My weight dropped. No colds or flu since I started it. I don't really sunburn anymore. I'm sleeping better. I can skip a meal and not have a blood sugar plummet. I'm gaining muscle. The low level congestion I'd always had disappeared. My sense of taste has really improved.

What's the best part of eating this way?

Bacon, chicken skin, duck fat. Seriously, I suppose I should say the health benefits are the best part, but it's the food. Lifting weights is my second favorite part. I know that's not "diet," but strength training is an incredibly important part of good health.

What's the hardest part?

Cooking for myself is fine, eating out is never a problem. But when somebody makes "Grandma's special cookies" turning them away can seem like an insult. People have a lot of emotion tied up in food. That's why I really don't want to buy into food orthodoxy. People bond over food, they express love with food. I have a hard time turning away food that other people offer me.

I'll add that I think the point that "people bond over food" is so true. "Food orthodoxy," another term for orthorexia, deprives us of more than food we want to eat. It deprives us of interaction with others, and sometimes makes what we are putting into our bodies more important than our relationships. That's why primary food is so key to healthy eating.

Finally, if you're interested in a healthier way to eat grains, check out my blog on soaking them, and also The Nourished Kitchen is a great resource for recipes and tips.

If you've tried the Primal Diet, or something similar, I'd love to hear about your experience!

What Do Potatoes and Twinkies Have in Common?

Well, the short answer is that you lose weight if you eat nothing but either of them.

In two (I must say) fascinating articles recently e-mailed to me by a friend, two separate men embark on journeys consisting almost solely of Twinkies (and other "convenience store" junk food) and potatoes, respectively. Both men lost weight, as well as experiencing lowered BMI, cholesterol, and even blood sugar, in the case of the potatoes.

I find this both appalling and fascinating. Evidently, losing weight makes a big difference in your health. However, I disagree with this statement by Dawn Jackson Blatner, a dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association:

"When you lose weight, regardless of how you're doing it -- even if it's with packaged foods, generally you will see these markers improve when weight loss has improved."

I would challenge the Twinkie professor to follow this diet for longer than 10 weeks. Say, a lifetime. After all, Morgan Spurlock's dangerous health numbers made an unexpected improvement toward the end of his 30 days eating only McDonald's on an increased calorie diet.

Also, one-third of the Twinkie professor's food was a multivitamin pill, a protein shake, canned green beans, and celery. Not the most nutrient dense food, but he was getting protein and a very few antioxidants. In addition, he was watching his calorie intake.

As for Chris Voigt, the head of the Washington State Potato Commission, he ate only potatoes and seasonings for two months to protest the USDA banning potatoes from the approved WIC foods.

I looked up the list, which you can find at the link above. No organic foods are allowed. This is understandable considering the improved cost of organic food, but it still sucks. Whole milk is not listed as an approved food (though it isn't listed as Do Not Buy), and soy milk is approved. The fat in whole milk is best for nursing mothers and young children, which is why it was traditionally reserved only for them. And I've already addressed issues with soy milk.

Finally, whole wheat bread was listed as approved, but since most of it includes high fructose corn syrup, that doesn't really seem like an improvement.

That said, the WIC approved list does do a pretty good job of limiting packaged foods or additives. However, while white potatoes are definitely not the most nutritious choice, they are far from harmful in the way that packaged, processed foods are.

"There are things we can't measure," said Blatner, questioning how the lack of fruits and vegetables could affect long-term health. "How much does that affect the risk for cancer? We can't measure how diet changes affect our health."

Well, actually, we can. In the past sixty years, the health of Americans has declined drastically, and instances of chronic disease (heart disease, diabetes), cancer, heck, virtually everything have risen just as drastically. We may have wiped out smallpox and polio, but we are seeing a brand new range of debilitating health issues: ADHD, autism, chronic fatigue syndrome, and Crohn's disease.

I think most poignant for me is the claim of "CornSugar.com" that "high fructose corn syrup—corn sugar—has been used in the food supply for more than forty years..."
I can only assume that this is supposed to be an argument for the safety of HFCS. However, in the last forty years we have seen U.S. cancer deaths rise from 330,972 in 1970 to 554,740 in 1996 to a projected "leading cause of death" in 2010 at over 7 million worldwide.

"Despite dramatic medical advances over the past 50 years, heart disease remains a leading cause of death globally and the Number 1 cause of death in the United States," reports a 2008 article.

Once called "adult onset" diabetes, type-2 diabetes is now affecting children as young as four. This is entirely caused by lifestyle and diet, and is entirely reversible. "The odds of developing diabetes increased by 40% from the 1970s to 1980s and then doubled between the 1970s and 1990s."

Is this all the fault of high fructose corn syrup? Of course not. But it's not a great track record for foods introduced in the last forty years. And it's not a great argument for eating potatoes and/or Twinkies to lose weight. I find it amazing the lengths to which people will go to prove a pointless point, when indicators that dietary changes will majorly and positively impact disease in America are staring us all in the face. Just goes to show what can happen when money is involved.