Fat is Back and Hipper Than Ever??

[sleepy]

Many years ago when the 0 Fat (with high phosphate preservatives!) craze became the big deal, I had to question it. The U.S. Military still advised adult males to eat 5 grams of saturated fat per day as an Essential Nutrient. This was a part of The Boot Camp Diet, and for Officers. And then, the food companies replaced the fats with phosphate preservatives, to ensure shelf stability due to the lack of fat.

But the phosphates oxidize and destroy the Essential pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5) which is necessary for life to properly detox the phosphates and the liver and to metabolize any fats in the diet, to prevent sticky platelets.

Well, of late I have been reading on the Net that they now say Hey! Fats aren't so bad! As if, in normal amounts, they were always considered to be an Essential Nutrient. As if the reporters are trying to avoid appearing to backtrack against their expertise and being called to task for their previous advisement to avoid all fats as "poison".

So today I went to the store, and I thought for sure I would never ever see this again in my lifetime. On the baking supplies aisle I found bottles of Grapeseed Oil and Rapeseed Oil sitting right alongside 4 lb. tubs of Farmer John's Lard, with 2 lb. jugs of pure cocoanut oil right above the trendy though possibly useful stuff.

During The Fat Embargo, the Lard was strictly banished to the tiny end aisle as Manteca alongside the tortillas while the baking supplies were nearly solely oils, canola, virgin olive, Pam Spray, etc.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

given my high genetic LDL / triglycerides, i did indeed overreact to fats for awhile.

in the past year or two, as these kind of findings have come out, i've become a lot more sanguine about eating sat fats. but the thing is, most research still seems to suggest that eating animal-sourced sat fat, particularly processed stuff like sausages, is far inferior to eating stuff that's plant-based and less processed. nuts and seeds are a particularly good example.

the real problem on the cardio front appears to be the eating of processed grains and sugars. although, yea... i don't think anyone's doing themselves any health favors by cooking with lard or butter.

a case could probably be made that eating an average american diet is even more hazardous than moderate smoking or medium-heavy libation. something like that.

 

[sleepy]

The processed grains are like the 0 fat cookies with added phosphates.
They no longer have the necessary nutrients to deal with the other half of it.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

there's that, and there's also the regular glycogen load from processed grains screwing up your insulin response over time. the sugar surges also inflame your blood vessel walls, requiring 'bandaids' of cholesterol deposits to be laid down as a responsive mechanism.

my current understanding, anyway.

of course certain diets also seem to allow people to 'cheat' at this stuff, like mediterraneans and okinawans eating all that pasta / noodles / rice products yet still doing okay with diabetes and cardiovascular disease... outliving most other peoples.

 

[StevOz]

Well I guess I won the genetic lottery, no matter what I eat I'm fine, still I do have an active lifestyle, have always felt health and well being is 90% exercise and 10% diet.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

well, the issues i mentioned above are long-term in nature. i think it usually takes decades to develop diabetes or CV disease due to diet / lifestyle... for the non-predisposed person, that is. probably cancer, too.

but sleepy was moreso discussing nutritional deficits, i believe. those would give you the more immediate feedback, but even so, many of those would still probably take time to manifest.

most people seem to look at diet in terms of how it makes them feel short-term and how it affects their fitness level. nothing wrong with that, but it's simply not the whole picture by a long shot.

i definitely agree about exercise, though. i've done sports / exercise my whole life, and i'm probably reaping some of the rewards these days, even as i've struggled with a handful of genetic issues the last couple decades. i mean, if i'd made the whole situation worse than it already was, i doubt i'd even be here these days. still kind of amazed that i just hit 48, because i never expected to last that long(!)

not sure either if it's really a good idea to still be alive, living a sort of twilight existence, but that's a different matter.

 

[StevOz]

Well like they say life is a lottery and I know I fight against my own mental disposition, I'm really not predisposed to being a nice person also some better tackle would have been nice.

Speaking of which I was knocked off my bicycle today, whilst riding on a pathway on the way to work, car came out of a driveway and rammed me off the pathway and onto the road. I saw it coming, thought I had made eye contact, the car slowed before the pathway, then continued as I went right in front of it, oh I didn't see you, oh you didn't look or thought I was not included as on coming traffic, like WTF, still luckily no damage done, left knee cap is a bit sore now though. Though at least the old dear will look both ways next time whilst driving her grand child to school in her 4WD people mover well she had better because I know where she lives!

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

wow, sorry. i had that happen once. nasty experience, and the driver took almost no responsibility.

"pretend it didn't happen and maybe it will go away"... i guess.

 

[sleepy]

Take good care StevOz.

Yeah, I didn't get knocked off my bicycle, but back in the 60's I came to a residential intersection and stopped. Then I started to pedal straight across the street. Right there, a car came up from behind, did "a rolling stop", and then he tried a right turn in front of me.

I hit the right side of his car. I stopped. He stopped. I then started to go around him as it was not my fault and because I as a technical pedestrian had the right-of-way, for being a bicycle rider vs. a full-blown vehicle of mass weight and speed. And he then started to turn right again. And I hit the side of his car again, and this repeated several times before he then tore off in a huff. I seem to remember that he was cussing me out as he left.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Eat the butter. Cook/fry/bake with lard and fresh oils...Rendered lard from a local source is best. Commercial lard has unnecessary preservatives and anti-oxidants added to it. Properly sealed lard keeps well even at room temperature. It is the margarine/artificially hardened or rancid fats that kill. Our tissues need a wide spectrum natural fats and oils to keep them supple and protect them from oxidative damage..

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i see no good reason to eat animal-based cooking fats on a regular basis. i don't think the body of studies support it (a bit of an understatement), and you can get all the same fats from plant sources.

from what i've read, the highest-quality anti-oxidative spectrum comes from eating the ROYGBIV of plant sources. as in, each color of food typically contains a certain package of antioxidants.

loosely speaking, i think the problem with animal products is that along with the benefits, you are almost always getting drawbacks. meanwhile, the problem with (even organic) plant products is that you're only ever getting a portion of the benefit package, therefore need to combine things in a thoughtful manner.

before we were all conditioned to eat yummy-tasting crap, i bet we were quite talented at sensing what we needed nutritionally and going out and getting it. sometimes that included other animals, but on the whole it appears that modern man (roughly humans from the last 50K - 200K years) is designed to be an omnivore with a heavy plant-based bias.

 

[StevOz]

How about fish then, these are classified as animals yet I'd say as a food source more beneficial then almost any other food.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

my understanding is, fish and eggs are probably the two highest-quality animal products one can eat. true, you can get the same fatty acid package and amino acid package (respectively) from plant sources, but it's not easy.

if this suggests anything, maybe it's that we indeed evolved eating fish and eggs on a pretty regular basis. maybe because it's pretty damn easy for hominids to poach eggs from nests, and catching fish was easier than catching land-based creatures. (just a guess, no idea really on the last point)

the main problem with fish nowadays is that so many are basically contaminated by heavy metals and such. in general it seems safer to hit the bottom of the food chain, such as sardines and salmon versus tuna (more of an apex fish). but if you're a regular fish eater, you should definitely look up the available stock in your area and research which is safe versus which has too much mercury and stuff.

the fukushima thing definitely made it harder on all of us who eat fish from the pacific.

 

[sleepy]

Now from a land-based standpoint, I can't believe fish to be a native food.
But only because you have to be an excellent swimmer or smart enough to create a net by hand from natural resources to catch them with. I feel like we are biased towards easy vegetation, and I note that the grizzly bear loves his tubers (raw potatoes).

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

grizzly happens to be hugely adept at fishing in rivers, plus there are many ways for homies to catch fishes beyond what's mentioned, as in spearing, herding in to dead-end traps... maybe even using hair or spiderweb or tough plant filaments to make fishing line. going out right now, later.

 

[sleepy]

Those are indeed clever methods. I'm not sure that I could maintain the production on my own just foraging for food, or the problem of getting wet during the late Fall, Winter, and early Spring seasons.

It could be very nice in the Summer though, and I think I would end up migrating closer to The Equator, or towards a lower sea level.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

well, every animal alive seeks the appropriate situation and set of solutions.

 

[StevOz]

I've always thought aquaponics is an under utilised form of food production.

http://www.aquaponics.com.au/

Also the greenhouse CO2 effect may not be such a great thing either...

http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/05/increasing-co2-may-threaten-human-nutrition/

 

[elton]

You have to use animal fats to properly cook bacon and eggs. Vegetable oils just don't do it

Beef dripping is the man! :)

A full English would not be the same without

 

[StevOz]

I'm not so sure Elton a good olive oil is rather better then spinach, just ask Popeye!

 

[elton]

I'm not so sure Elton a good olive oil is rather better then spinach, just ask Popeye!

Never! Did stay at the Rydges Hotel Kensington for almost 12 months and the chef there was using Olive Oil .... until the Welsh brigade taught him the error of his ways

[Perhaps it is an Australian thing? the hotel was Aussie owned at the time ]

 

[StevOz]

IT took you 12 months to gather such???

...nudge, nudge, say no more...hello doorway, what's this door thing then? :D

 

[elton]

Took a week of shit breakfasts ... say no more.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

it's a mediterranean thing, elton.

 

[sleepy]

I might try a blend of olive and corn oil on some Ortega Green Chilis with salt.
Steamed fire-roasted Jaliscos. Verde.