FEATURE NOVEMBER 2011
Food without fat is like life without love. Modern Proverb
Diet and Fats:
The Biggest Health Blunder in History
By Christine Cronau
M
any health experts encourage us to eat a healthy diet, full of whole grains and low in fat; this is the biggest con, the biggest lie and the worst dietary mistake in history. There is a long lost hidden agenda behind these health mandates. The whole concept is a huge case of mistaken consensus; fat was never actually the problem whole grains are the culprits that make us fat. For the last 50 years, we have been indoctrinated with food myths that actually keep us fat and unhealthy; I am busting some of those food myths with a few little known facts about fat.
of whole grains and low in fat, is an absolute recipe for weight gain and illness. In the majority of cases, the body will store most of it as fat. This process is documented in biochemistry textbooks, so is not a secret, yet few people know about it and understand what it means from a dietary perspective. It also means that more people are suffering from chronic fatigue, adrenal fatigue and many other man-made illnesses that are completely preventable.
Fat cannot actually make you fat
Saturated fat has become the most demonised food of our time as it has been touted as being responsible for heart disease, stroke and high cholesterol. In 1953, American scientist Ancel Keys came up with a theory that saturated fat intake increased the risk for heart disease. His theory was never proven with a complete, scientific study, but it started a snowball, and became the newest big thing. There were actually many scientists at the ti me that disagreed, but as the idea gained more and more momentum, and was taken on board by governments, those who opposed were disregarded. We now have loads of evidence discrediting the theory however, it is very slow for people to take it on. I am sure nobody wants to admit to such a blunder. It is so ingrained in our society that it would take a lot of guts to say, ‘Hey, we were wrong; we need to change our entire diet.’ In fact, many studies have been conducted over the years and they have all proved that saturated fat does not cause heart disease, but the results have been swept under the rug. The Minnesota Coronary Study was done as early as 1972 and showed that people on a cholesterol-lowering diet had significantly greater mortality than those on a regular diet. The results were not published until 1989, 17-years later! When interviewing one of the researchers,Ivan Frantz Junior, journalist Gary Taubes asked why the results were not published in 1972, and the response was, ‘We did not like the results’. Interestingly, Ancel Keys was a collaborator for the study. In 1988, the surgeon general’s office, which is responsible for health mandates in the United States, decided to gather all the evidence linking saturated fat to heart disease, to prove the theory once and for all (probably to quieten people like myself), but in 1999, after 11-years of research, they were unable to prove it and killed the project. No report was ever released however, I spoke to Gary Taubes, who interviewed the responsible parties.
One of the world’s most hated substances does not cause weight gain, and is actually good for us. Our bodies are designed to thrive on fat, and we have been doing so for thousands of years, prior to fat becoming taboo in the 1950s. In fact, it has been proven that the true link to heart disease is sugar and not fat. It is physiologically impossible for fat to make us fat. Think about how farmers fatten cattle. If they were following the common dietary guidelines, they would feed them fatty food, right? They do not; rather they feed them low-fat grain. That is because the only food that prompts the body to store fat is one that produces insulin and the only food that produces insulin is a carbohydrate - mainly grains and sugars. We are designed to eat carbohydrates in the form of vegetables, fruits and a small amount of grain, but today, we are on carbohydrate overload, which means we are being fattened. Insulin is essential, especially when we are subject to feast or famine. If sugar in the blood is higher than normal, the body stores the extra nutrients for later use. Insulin is the hormone responsible for storing the extra sugar as glycogen, but the body is only able to store small amounts at one time. When we eat too many carbohydrates, the body has to decide what to do with the extra glycogen. It has two options: in most cases, it stores the excess in the fat cells, which means we become overweight; or, in some cases, the thyroid can deal with the excess, which means we stay thin, but become fatigued. Eventually, the body gets sick of the process, and gives up making insulin entirely; the result is Type II Diabetes. This all means that the recommended carbohydrate-rich diet, full 12 www.InsightMagazine.com.au
Saturated Fat Does Not Cause Heart Disease
NOVEMBER 2011 FEATURE
Eat plenty of fat; quality fats, especially butter and coconut oil. Eat your organic meat with the fat on. Extra-virgin olive oil is also healthy, but don’t overheat it or it will become damaged. Use olive oil for salads and when cooking with lower temperatures. All oils need to be kept below their smoking points to keep their healthy structure intact. Butter and coconut oil have a much higher smoking point, so are better for cooking. Bill Harlan, a member of the oversight committee and associate director of the Office of Disease Prevention at NIH said, ‘The report was initiated with a preconceived opinion of the conclusions, but the science behind those opinions was clearly not holding up. Obviously, the thoughts of yesterday were not going to serve us very well’. In other words, the entire idea that fat caused heart disease was flawed, and in fact, completely incorrect. A recent study, published in 2010, was done at the Oakland Research Institute in California. The researchers pooled data from 21 studies, including 348,000 subjects, and found no difference in the risks of heart disease and stroke between people with the lowest and highest intakes of saturated fat. We actually have no evidence supporting the original theory presented by Ancel Keys, and loads of evidence telling us it is wrong. Sadly, because it is so ingrained, many people do not even want to consider it. Many well-known doctors, naturopaths, and nutritionists are now reeducating people that fat never was the issue, and is actually an essential nutrient. The real culprit behind heart disease is sugar. Heart disease was almost unheard of in the 1800s, but started cropping up once sugar was introduced into the Western diet. By the 1920’s and ‘30’s, heart disease was more common and is now one of the biggest causes of death in all Western countries. Many new studies are now confirming that sugar is the problem. Sugar can be linked to heart disease in a multitude of ways, but the easiest to understand is this: diabetics often have limbs amputated because their blood vessels and arteries become so clogged that they can no longer be repaired. Excess sugar in the blood is quite sharp, so it scrapes the sides of the blood vessels; this causes holes on the inside of the vessel, which are repaired by scabs. Each scab, gets broken again by the sugar, and is replaced with a bigger scab. The process continues until the artery is completely blocked and the medical term for this process is acute thrombosis.
Cholesterol is an essential nutrient that we need to thrive. In fact, it is almost impossible for us to ingest enough cholesterol to meet our body’s requirements (we would need to eat around 8 egg yolks every day), so our liver makes the rest. Our own bodies make cholesterol so we can function. However, if you have high cholesterol it is an indication of chronic inflammation in the body; a normal bodily function designed to protect our bodies from bacteria and viruses. With an unnatural diet, the inflammatory response goes haywire, even when there is no threat to the immune system. Excess inflammation in the body is the underlying cause for most modern disease, including allergies, autoimmune disease and heart disease, just to name a few.
When we do have chronic inflammation, cholesterol becomes elevated in an attempt to heal and repair the body; the worst thing we can do is to artificially lower it by taking a cholesterol-lowering drug. The best way to deal with high cholesterol is to fix the inflammation by eliminating sugar and excess carbohydrates - anything that causes a strong insulin response in the body. Saturated fat has been the primary energy source for most of our ancestors. There are many indigenous cultures around the world, like the Eskimos, who thrive on mostly protein and fat. Fat is not the cause of most modern disease, and in fact, it is an essential nutrient. In addition to other fats, our family eats over two kilos of butter per week, and we are all fit and healthy; at 41 people often ask me for my secrets - eating fat is one of them. In reality, when you remove fat from your diet, you get fat, you get sick and you age much faster than you should. The other good news is that you do not have to exercise hard to burn it off. I love exercise, but when it comes to weight loss, it is completely unnecessary. For those who think you have to work hard to get results, think again. It is about the food we eat, not how much we do. When we constantly fatten ourselves with grains and sugars, then weight loss is hard. Weight loss and health are simple and easy with the right diet. The easiest way to nurture our loved ones and ourselves is to eat the food we were designed to thrive on. Apricot and coconut cookies Coconut and coconut oil are super foods. They contain an antimicrobial compound that destroys fungus, bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Coconut oil is often used to treat candida, ringworm, athlete’s foot and other fungal infections. Coconut also strengthens the immune system and has many other health benefits. • ½ cup dried apricots, cut into small chunks • 1¼ cup desiccated coconut • 3 eggs Beat eggs. Add dry ingredients. Roll into small balls, and place on a baking dish. Press each ball with a fork (while holding the outside with your fingers to maintain its structure). Turn the fork in the opposite direction and press the ball again. Bake at 120°C for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden.
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Christine has been studying health and nutrition for over 10 years, and has become passionate about sharing her discoveries with others. Christine exposes major food myths that are keeping people overweight and unhealthy, and shares her secrets for looking and feeling great at any age. www.christinecronau.com
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