Interesting article about fat...

[Jolt]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22116724/

What do you all think? I think they might be on to something...everyone ate the stuff for years and years, and they didn't seem to have all the problems we do now--this may turn out to be just one more case of "everything in moderation" and sticking to natural products rather than processed and fake foods. Of course, I think a big part of it is also the lack of physical activity in our society today---when people were eating a lot more of the saturated animal fats etc., they were also getting a lot more exercise in their daily life than most people do now, so those fats were being used for energy.

[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]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22116724/

What do you all think? I think they might be on to something...everyone ate the stuff for years and years, and they didn't seem to have all the problems we do now--this may turn out to be just one more case of "everything in moderation" and sticking to natural products rather than processed and fake foods. Of course, I think a big part of it is also the lack of physical activity in our society today---when people were eating a lot more of the saturated animal fats etc., they were also getting a lot more exercise in their daily life than most people do now, so those fats were being used for energy.

I think one of the things we really have to remember is that it really pretty recent that most people have had access to such large amounts of food, and animal proteins especially. Not too long ago meat, and red meat especially was a treat, to be used sparingly or maybe once each week or two. Not only that - most people's everyday lives are much less physically demanding these days. We have so many convienences that save us physical labor that we and so much food that its no wonder there are now so many obese people at severe risk for a coronary.
We might also consider that life expectancy has increased too. Many illnesses and accidents that were killers not too long ago are now survivable, and people that live longer will die of something eventually. This may be leading to more deaths via heart disease as more people are living long enough to develop it, so it may be difficult to say that people of generations ago may not have had significant amounts of heart disease, but they just did not die of it....

[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 .

[Jolt]

I think one of the things we really have to remember is that it really pretty recent that most people have had access to such large amounts of food, and animal proteins especially. Not too long ago meat, and red meat especially was a treat, to be used sparingly or maybe once each week or two. Not only that - most people's everyday lives are much less physically demanding these days. We have so many convienences that save us physical labor that we and so much food that its no wonder there are now so many obese people at severe risk for a coronary.
We might also consider that life expectancy has increased too. Many illnesses and accidents that were killers not too long ago are now survivable, and people that live longer will die of something eventually. This may be leading to more deaths via heart disease as more people are living long enough to develop it, so it may be difficult to say that people of generations ago may not have had significant amounts of heart disease, but they just did not die of it....

The overeating issue is definitely part of our problem today, combined with the lack of physical activity. As far as the life expectancy increasing, that could certainly be part of the explanation for the heart disease deaths increasing--it does make sense that more people used to die from other things before the clogged arteries had a chance to happen. I'm really getting frustrated at all the "back and forth" stuff that goes on in the world of nutrition as far as what's healthy and what's not. Especially since I'm going into nursing and planning to specialize in cardiology--I feel like I need to get this straight in order to recommend the right things to my patients. So far, the safest advice seems to me to be the following: moderation is a good general rule, you're best off sticking to natural, minimally processed foods, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, avoid trans fats like the plague, and stay away from crappy carbs like white flour and large amounts of sugar. Not to mention physical activity is important.

[Wahine]

I hear you Jolt. I am often asked to make general lifestyle recommendations to people at high risk for cardiovascular disease and I'm really fed up with the way the media flip flops everything all the time and over simplifies. It's difficult to convince an uneducated person to change there diet when what they hear is contradictory statements in the news and magazines. There attitude is that nobody knows anything anyway so what does it matter.

I myself am at high risk for cardiovascular disease. I both of my parents suffered heart attacks by the age of 60 and now I have a brother with advanced atherosclerosis at age 45. I sure hope the eating right, no smoking, exercise and not obese factors count for something!! But sometimes you wonder.

[Eden]

I think you sound right on track - nothing will likely kill you if you are sensible about *how much* of it you eat (execpt maybe transfats )
I just think articles like the one you posted are often a little light on looking at the bigger picture or at very least you have to be sure to read carefully.... OK- you might accept eating more saturated fats may be better for some people, but don't forget to eat your veggies too....
I also think a lot of people forget that fats contain so many more calories for the same amount of food, so they don't appropriately scale their intake when they eat them.

[kelownagirl]

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 .

I use a non-stick pan and don't use any fat to cook eggs, pancakes etc.

I could LIVE on bread and butter. You are weird.

[shootingstar]

I did grow up in household with butter..1 lb. lasted us for over 1 month or so. 8 people in family. Later it was margarine which also took ages to disappear. I mean hey, I was raised on 80% Asian diet until I left home.

then after leaving home, I never bought butter for home. Margarine. Then stopped margarine about 10 years ago or so. No reason. Just lazy. Besides 1 small tub of margarine would take me several months to finish.

At home, we don't stock margarine nor butter. Once his son, who is a chef, cooked some wonderful meals for us when he visited. I was so shocked to see 3/4 of lb. butter disappear for 2 meals, which included for apple pie crust.

Nowadays I only have butter at a restaurant for roll(s) or if it occurs in purchased baked goods. Partner is from a German line of family pastry chefs, etc., so butter does creep into special occasion meals --2-3 times / year for meals that he prepares.

We use safflower, sunflower and olive oil at home. No we don't use spray. Guess I never got around to it.

Life without butter and margarine is very painless....and it is for millions of people around the world.