Interesting article about fat...

[OakLeaf]

Michael Pollan's books have cited some interesting research along the lines that food isn't fungible. Well, of course it isn't, but all these "studies" assume a priori that it is.

If our own health is affected by what we eat, why wouldn't the health of food animals (and plants) be affected by what they eat? Studies have shown that the fat of serrano ham (fed exclusively on acorns) and grass-finished beef (the diet of the Maasai who are the example they usually trot out), for instance, have a very different composition from the fat of animals fed on corn (which is not a natural part of these animals' diet).

A corollary to Pollan's "Eat food" would be, "If and when you eat animal products, take them from animals that have eaten food." That would be a very small minority of what's on the butcher and dairy shelves.

[Jolt]

OakLeaf, that's a good point that I forgot to mention in my original post. Most of the meat, eggs and dairy products we get in the supermarkets come from animals that have been fed a very unnatural diet and this most likely does affect how healthy the products are for us. Not to mention the pesticides, antibiotics etc. used in a lot of agriculture today (don't get me started on how such practices contribute to antibiotic resistance...).

[mimitabby]

The last paragraph aligns perfectly with what I've always believed:

"The message isn't that you should gorge on butter, bacon, and cheese," says Volek. "It's that there's no scientific reason that natural foods containing saturated fat can't, or shouldn't, be part of a healthy diet."

[kelownagirl]

I like butter hence my sig. line. I usually eat it in moderation.

[mimitabby]

Kgirl, I've been a butter advocate since the early 1970's. how could margarine, which comes out of a machine, be better than cowbutter?

Now Olive oil is another story, even "better" for you; but there are some places where ONLY butter will do.

People who are vegetarians get high cholesterol. A coworker of mine, an Indian woman whose only non-vegetarian food was yogurt, was having trouble with her cholesterol and getting chubby. She went to the doctor who told her to INCREASE her protein intake (more yoghurt and BEANS!)
and decrease stuff like white rice. She lost weight and her cholesterol is better.
Knowing how strict she is with diet (unlike most of us cheaters) she was a good case study.


As Long as Meat is available, I'm going to eat it. Not a lot, but it's a part of my diet. Without it, I don't feel as good.

[Eden]

I like butter hence my sig. line. I usually eat it in moderation.

Things with modified fats (hydrogenated, fractionated...) are WORSE than the real thing - I don't know if its true any more, but I seem to recall most margerines used to be nice fat sticks of hydrogenated oils, so it would in fact be much better to stick to real honest to goodness butter....

We use olive oil or canola oil for 99.9% of the cooking in our house. I probably use less than 2lbs of butter in an entire year...

[kelownagirl]

I use olive oil for all of my cooking but if I put something on my bread etc, it's butter.

[Eden]

I use olive oil for all of my cooking but if I put something on my bread etc, it's butter.

Call me weird, but I don't like buttered bread... I used to use butter for cooking eggs, but now that I've discovered cooking spray I'm a convert. It doesn't taste nasty like eggs cooked in oil can and it actually works better for releasing fried eggs too. It's also super easy to apply to a waffle iron and my husband likes making whole grain waffles .