FAT video w/Fallon, Enig & Dr. Eades & Coconut Myth Buster #1

Still have a problem understanding fats? No wonder...Fifty years of false propaganda has every one's head spinning! The scam with trans fats is up...but the challenge remains to neutralize the 'demonization' campaign against saturated fats. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Click above to bite off a piece of truth...then chew it for a while. What will you do with it? If you're anything like me, you'll want more info. You can go to the YouTube location of the above video and find more. Nourishing Traditions is another great resource.
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Coconut Myth Buster #1:

Coconut is admittedly a high-fat food. We all know, of course, that high-fat foods cause heart disease, right? We've been told and told and told by every 'reputable' resource that this is fact. These 'facts' were based on a hypothesis. To review elementary science, a hypothesis is a theory. An unproven theory.

As an example, think Columbus. Think "The world is flat". Think, "People are gonna think I'm nuts if I agree with ol' Chris, so I'm gonna keep my mouth shut...even if I can't figure out how it is that I see the masts on the ships coming into port before I actually see the ships..." Think of pointing fingers and an outcry of "Heretic!" when you say something isn't what the whole world says it is.

That should give you a little bit of an idea of the battle people like Mary Enig and Sally Fallon have been fighting for decades. But they won the battle over trans fats. Today, people like you and I, regular everyday people, are little by little, learning the truth. In fact, we're learning so well, that the large food corps are starting to shake in their boots. They're doing really dumb things that do no less than confirm suspicions that they're up to no good..."Like what?" you ask. Like running farmers out of business because an organic farmer's seed blows into their field. Like suing people who take pictures of their cattle 'farms', draining the average man's pocketbook long before the courtroom is ever entered. Like using scare tactics as those you will see if you dare to watch the film, "Food, Inc.".

So back to the high-fat scam.The hypothesis I speak of is called the 'lipid hypothesis' which states that there are three stages in the progression of heart disease: 1) Consumption of too much cholesterol & saturated fat w/the consequence of high cholesterol, 2) The high cholesterol produces atherosclerosis, and finally, 3) Atherosclerosis clogs up blood vessels with an end in coronary heart disease.

The problem with this hypothesis is that there is much scientific evidence, ignored evidence that has been known for over fifty years, that actually contradicts each of these stages. So this knowledge has been kept buried away from the public mind for so long that the public has had no real choice but to believe what they have been fed.

So, is it true? Do high-fat foods cause heart disease?

Studies tell us the answer is "No".

1960's:  Masai of Kenya:  Cattle herders whose diets consisted of an average of 1 gallon of full-fat, raw milk/day, (That's about 3/4 lb. butterfat!), and Dr. George Mann of Vanderbilt University who conducted the study reports that at their festivals, the Masai would eat from four to ten pounds of meat. (Sorry, but that even makes me want to gag.) But here are the points. 1) They were completely free of heart disease. 2) Blood Cholesterol was measured at 50 % lower than the average American, 3) In his study of 50 hearts and arteries from varied ages, obstruction-causing plaque was rare, and 4) No evidence of a heart attack was found in any of the hearts.

1975-1981: Framingham-Puerto Rico-Honolulu Study:  The National Institutes of Health, studied 16,000 healthy, middle-aged men from these three areas. In 1975, all they had to do was answer questions about their normal diets. In 1981, the diets were compared between the ones not having had heart attacks and those having had heart attacks. DON'T LOSE THIS NEXT FACT: Those who had fallen victim to heart attacks had consumed more polyunsaturated oils than those who had not. This is exactly opposite the suppositions made by the lipid hypothesis.

Let's look at another, bigger study.

1998: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology: A review of 27 studies of over 150,000 people. The studies were aimed at the connection between heart health and diet.

"In three groups, the patients had eaten more animal fat than the controls. In one group, they had eaten less. In all the other groups, researchers found no difference in animal fat consumption between people with heart disease and those without. What's more, in three groups the patients had eaten more vegetable oil than the controls. In only one group had patients eaten less vegetable oil than the control group."

Critics of these studies site the fact that they are older studies. (But is truth truth today and not tomorrow???) Still, for the sake of conceding to the insanity, I suppose I need to tell the further truth that there are more recent studies that confirm those studies. Following, read two such study reports:

2002: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Reported on a Denmark study in which researchers zeroed in on hospital patients diagnosed with heart disease. The patients were divided into three groups: two who ate generally 'healthy' diets, low in animal fats, high in whole grains, fruits, and veggies. The last group ate lots of meat, butter and even white bread. Still, they found no link between food consumption habits and coronary heart disease.
 

Butterfat protects heart health!

2004: British Journal of Nutrition: (Oh, you're going to love this!)...This report comes to us from a Swedish study. Milk fat, (butterfat), was "negatively connected with risk factors for heart disease and heart attack." Translation? Butterfat protects rather than hinders, heart health.

In short, scientific research has never supported the idea that high-fat foods cause heart attacks.

In a coconut shell: Don't be afraid of coconut's saturated fat.

"But what about cholesterol???", I heard a voice plaintively whine...
Geez, this stuff can get deep, can't it? ...Well, that will be Coconut Myth Buster #2.

Book Review Tuesday: "Eat Fat, Lose Fat-The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats"-by Dr. Mary Enig & Sally Fallon

I think the main thing we need to remember is to keep the main thing the main thing. Traditional eating and food preparation is about nutrient-dense eating. Weight loss comes slowly and gradually, as a by-product of this lifestyle and has never been the primary goal.


Eat Fat, Lose Fat is not on my carousel at the top of the page. I could only chose ten books for that, and this one just didn't make it to my 'Top 10' list. However, that's not to say it isn't packed full of some fantastic information.

Eat Fat, Lose Fat is written by the same great authors as Nourishing Traditions, so it has to be good. Dr. Enig is an international expert on fats and Sally Fallon (Morrell) is the president of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Although much smaller, this book covers much of the same materials as Nourishing Traditions...much of it in more detail. It hones in on the truth about fats and especially applauds the natural goodness of coconut oil. The book is divided into three parts, 'The Truth About Fats', 'Real Foods-for Healing and Health' and 'Recipes and Resources'.

Inside, you will find three options for traditional eating: One is for rapid weight loss, another is for health recovery, and the third is for maintenance of both with gourmet recipes.

My only real objection with the book is in knowing how difficult it could be for the newcomer to traditional foods and traditional food preparation. It's almost as if it were written for those already on the traditional path.  For a newcomer, the changes required to switch from the modern American diet to a traditional diet can be drastic and include a major culling and replacement of pantry foods, learning to plan ahead much more than we do with processed foods, and also learning a new way to prepare and cook these different foods. You have to admit, that's a lot of changes. Changes generally equal stress and stress often triggers us to react in old, unhealthy ways.

The financial expense of a sudden change can be great, and most of the people I know who have successfully  made the changeover to a traditional diet, have done so gradually...My WAPF Chapter Leader and I like to call it 'baby steps'. Eat Fat, Lose Fat  allows a week for the pantry overhaul and gives great details on how to go about it, but to my simple thinking, it's not enough time, so if you feel pressured, I would think this is an area that could be curbed according to your own ability to embark upon a transformed food lifestyle.

For me, it's important to keep transitions as simple and easy as possible, whenever possible. Otherwise, discouragement may set in causing us to stray from new commitments...no matter how healthy that commitment may be.

There may be many who are kitchen whizzes and maybe just a bit more organized with their day than I am, who will get this book and easily follow every page. For the rest of us, who may feel a little overwhelmed, take heart. It really is packed with healthful, helpful information and the recipes are more than just tasty. And there are many testimonies of how well it has worked.

Do be sure to glean the knowledge and information imparted about fats. If you are unfamiliar with these truths, it may take some time to wrap your head around it. You will be pleasantly amazed by the information supplied about the superfood/superfat, coconut, and you will likely learn some new things about the harm that can be and has been brought to our bodies via the supposedly healthy, polyunsaturated fats. You will read firm research and studies as well as personal testimonies. You will also learn the reason behind failure in fad diets as well as the 'made-to-fail-so-you'll-have-to-pay-good-money-to-come-back-and-lose-weight-again' programs.

The 'Health Recovery' section tells about bone broths, how to get non-synthetic, non-toxic A & D into your diet, lacto-fermented beverages that give beneficial enzymes and nutrients, raw foods like milk and marinated meats/fish, superfoods and soaked grains. Here, you will also find listed several illnesses and what they tell us our body needs. It is really quite amazing.

The weight loss section tells how to achieve weight loss and I was relieved that it discusses what is right for us as far as 'correct' weight loss. There are two phases here...a two week plan that goes into a second phase, but only if needed. The 'core principles' here are to eat three meals each day...ALWAYS breakfast, eat traditional fats-including (especially) coconut oil, eat nutrient-dense foods, and moderate...not immense...calorie restriction. There are some other important factors as well: no in-between snacks, listening to your body...head hunger or true hunger? The core principles are explained in detail and 25 ways to incorporate unrefined coconut into the diet are included. Amazing, again.

Phase One, Phase Two and Health Recovery all offer 14 days worth of meal planning, with recipes to all in the back of the book. But be prepared, a recipe often calls for something else that must be made-from-scratch before the recipe can be completed. And this isn't for one meal a day, (many of them are gourmet), but for three. This is where planning comes in, and you will have to be quite diligent in that

Also included in the book is a section full of resources for things like unrefined coconut oil, and why to use unrefined as opposed to refined...and a host of other coconut products. Other resources are for raw milk, Pasture-raised egg and meat products, dolomite, milk and water kefir grains, kombucha mushrooms, lacto-fermented condiments, stocks, acceptable sweeteners, and pages or 'other' food products.

If you buy this book, do so with the consideration that you will need to give yourself time to study it, plan well, buy well, (often via online ordering), and please, give yourself time to learn how to make some of the recipes in the back. I would suggest trying them out before you actually embark on the plan so when you do eat, you'll be choosing the recipes you love. If you haven't set aside a great deal of funds to change the products on your shelves, then start by doing as the book teaches, only do so gradually. Our Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader recently spoke some very wise words to a mutual friend regarding this transition and financial stewardship. She told her not to throw away everything in her pantry, but instead, as items are used up, replace them with those recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation.  I had already used, and continue to use, that system. I know it doesn't make everything perfect fast, but it is less daunting and certainly spreads the cost out over time. And let's be real, it's less about perfection than progress in the right direction.

You may want to cull some things immediately, (we chose canola oils, shortening and boxed cereals first), and replace them with better foods. The trick for some of us is to do what we are comfortable with and then, maybe push a tiny bit more, just to prevent inertia.

Consider the process in the book as an ideal, not a mandate. Consider the information excellent for your health. In this way, you may save yourself from becoming overwhelmed and giving up. Use the marvelous truths found within the text to form better eating habits and reach toward a healthier you. If you eat as prescribed in the book, you will lose weight. But newbies to traditional eating may want to take a little time to get the concepts, (and proper foods), under the wing a bit before trying to fly.