Despite what the mainstream press has been pushing for nearly thirty years now, animal fat is actually a healthy part of a balanced diet. I know, you’ve read all the press, and heard all the scare tactics about how
dangerous it is to eat animal fats. No bacon. No butter. No heavy cream. No thick steaks with a marbled interior.
But let me tell you, this is a victory of public relations over ancient wisdom. Think about the French, the Japanese, the Inuit. All these groups eat diets with much more natural animal fat than the typical American diet
and yet they have much lower incidence of heart disease, obesity, stroke, and even cancer. Now why is that?
Because, my friends, animal fat is not the problem. Processed carbohydrates are the problem. All the so-called value-added products that line grocery store shelves, all the cold cereals, and cookies, and box dinners that are often trumpeted as “low fat”, “low cholesterol”, and even given the name “health food”. You know which ones those are, the granola bars, and so-called healthy snacks made from grains and dried fruits and — what? Chemicals, additives that improve their palatability, and decrease their nutritional value.
The money that is poured into promoting these products would blow your mind. Celebrity endorsements, sports figures on cereal boxes, all manner of outrageous health claims for the so-called “health” foods, like the
aforementioned granola bars, which are no better and no worse than your old fashioned Baby Ruth or Snickers Candy Bar.
Add big pharma’s marketing dollars and you have a monster of a pr campaign. What does big pharma want you to do? Take more pills. Treat that high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity with a new regimen of pills.
A friend of mine who is highly placed in the pharmaceutical industry tells me that the goal of a pharmaceutical company is two fold. They want you to keep taking all the pills your’e taking, and THEN, they want you to add
another. Like the new drug that is a combo blood pressure and cholesterol – newly patentable and ready for those who are too ill-informed to understand they could probably stop both their high blood pressure and bad
cholesterol with a diet rich in unprocessed foods and a brisk walk around the block every day. But, you can’t patent exercise, and you can’t patent unprocessed whole foods, so big pharma doesn’t want you to think about that.
But doctors who are on the front lines, taking care of patients, are beginning to see the light. Animal fat is not the problem. Dr. Louis Aronne, the founder of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York
Presbyterian Hospital, made the heretical statement that “fat is not a poison.” Aronne went on to say, “People think that eating raw food, and eating no fat at all, is the best way to go, and that’s not necessarily true.”
Dr. Aronne joins Dr. John Salerno in understanding the value of animal fat in a well balance diet. In fact, Dr. Salerno, following the path begun by Dr. Robert Atkins, starts patients who are in the obese category on a “full
fat fast” from two to four weeks. This regimen eliminates all carbohydrates for a short period and instead focuses on proteins and saturated fats to give the body a rest from the assault of the Western diet. Following this short period, Dr. Salerno’s patients choose from a broad and varied diet of unprocessed foods, including 9 servings of organic fruits and vegetables a day as well as adequate protein and fats.
Studies have shown that people who were not following low-fat diets actually tended to lose 44 percent more weight than those who cut their consumption of fat. It just makes sense.
Mankind has roamed the earth for thousands of years. For most of that time, his main concern has been getting adequate food for health and well-being. Only recently have we had access to fruits and vegetables
except during the harvest. But early mankind lived by hunting and eating plenty of protein and fat from wild animals. It just stands to reason, that our evolution may not have kept up with the public relations campaigns waged by the agri-business sector and big pharma.
Despite what they say, you will be healthier eating natural animal fats as well as cold pressed oils from nuts, including olive, walnut, others.
Just stay away from the processed fats. You know what they are: canola, Wesson, corn oil, soybean oil. Most of these are manufactured under high heat and often relying on genetically modified seed, which is so new we
don’t even know what the health risks may obtain from ingesting these Dr. Strangelove seeds.
When in doubt, eat like your grandparents ate. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, nice little steak for dinner. Salad, berries in cream for dessert. Your body will thank you. You will thank you. This time you can
really do it.
Linda Eckhardt
