My personal review for the movie Food Inc.

Last night for the first time I watched Food Inc. along with my husband and sister and I’m surprised it took me this long! Going into the movie I knew I wasn’t going to be shocked with the images because I read it about it all the time. Although I know about the brutal and terrible living conditions of the animals and how farmer’s are mistreated, it never ceases to amaze me how this could be happening in our country. How people have been taught to put all their trust into a government that really is crooked. How can someone who worked for Monsanto be allowed to work in the FDA? Isn’t there something wrong with that?

I’m not a violent person by any means nor do I think violence ever fixes a situation but while watching that movie you can’t help but want to punch Monsanto, the founder of Tyson, Perdue and all those other “Big Ag” corporate companies in the face. Hmm.. I wonder why they all declined to be filmed in the movie…. Can you hear my sarcastic tone from where you’re at?

A lot of people I think, like to turn a blind eye to this because they may think they would not be able to make a change or they simply don’t want to know- it’s easier that way. It’s unfortunate people think that way because everyone can make a difference with an end result of change we want to see. It’s just a matter of getting off your butt and doing something about it. While it may be easier right now to not help make a change, I guarantee it won’t be easier 10, 15, 25 years down the road when everyone is suffering because of the chemical water run off, improperly fed animals, genetically modified foods and no safety testing.

I think Food Inc. is a wonderful introduction to the cruelty animals face every single day and makes you question: How good is that really  for you? How can it be okay for cows to live in crowded conditions, ankle deep in their own manure, eat food that is not naturally meant for them and be deprived of what is meant for them; green grass and space? What about chickens? They are designed to be out in the fresh air with the sun shining on them. How can sheds with no walls and no sunlight be okay? And pigs? Check out this little insert from Michael Pollan’s book the Omnivore’s Dilemma:

“Simply put, there are no pigtails in industrial hog production. Farmer’s “dock,” or snip off, the tails at birth, a practice that makes a certain twisted sense if you follow the logic of industrial efficiency on a hog farm. Piglets in these CAFOs are weaned from their mothers ten days after birth (compared with thirteen weeks in nature) because they gain weight faster on their drug-fortified feed than on sow’s milk. But this premature weaning leaves the pigs with a lifelong craving to suck and chew, a need they gratify in confinement by biting the tail of the animal in front of them. A normal pig would fight off his molester, but a demoralized pig has stopped caring. “Learning helplessness” is the psychological term, and it’s not uncommon in CAFOs, where tens of thousands of hogs spend their entire lives ignorant of earth or straw or sunshine, crowded together beneath a metal roof standing on metal slats suspended over a septic tank. It’s not surprising that an animal as intelligent as a pig would get depressed under these circumstances, and a depressed pig will allow his tail to be chewed on to the point of infection. Since treating sick pigs is not economically efficient, these under performing production units are typically clubbed to death on the spot.

Tail docking is the USDA’s recommended solution to the porcine “vice” of tail chewing. Using a pair of pliers and no anesthetic, most-but not quite all-of the tail is snipped off. Why leave the little stump? Because the whole point of the exercise is not to remove the object of tail biting so much as to render it even more sensitive. Now a bite to the tail is so painful that even the most demoralized pig will struggle to resist it.”

 Any normal person with a heart can see that the living conditions of these animals is no way in ANY way right.

At the end of the movie, I almost cried because of how thankful and blessed I am to be able to feed my family the right type of food- real food. I am so thankful that I am not oblivious to the system because that can only make me a better person for myself and for my family.

The only criticism I have about the movie is they really did not touch on the importance of buying locally (only at the end)- whether it be from a local farmer, farmer’s market, CSA, herd share, buying club, etc. My husband made a good point by saying they probably could not fit it all into one movie because the concept of the importance of buying from small farmers is a whole other subject. I think Food Inc. should come out with a second documentary about the small farmer’s and the importance of buying locally. More people need to understand how crucial it is for everyone involved including Mother Earth.

I’ve always had a burning desire to do something memorable and never knew what it was. I think last night it really clicked in my head that this is what I’m meant to do- teach and inspire people to wake up and make better decisions in not only the food they eat but the type of lifestyle they live. I 100% believe the quality of food you eat directly correlates with the quality of life you will live (even if you feel okay as of right now eating junk). But not only do I want to help people, I want to do my part in making sure the animal is treated the way it’s supposed to and live the way nature intended it to. It should be a blessing that we have meat to feed our families but now it’s become so uprooted most people have never even seen blood come out of a package of meat (and quiver at the sight of it).

Before I go any further I want to say that I fully respect any person’s decision to not eat meat. My aunt has chosen to be vegetarian because she loves animals way too much to want them to be slaughtered simply because she wants meat. I understand where she is coming from and I don’t think any less of her because of it. But with that, I personally feel like if people chose to eat pastured animals and supported small farmers it would make a greater impact on the food industry. I almost feel like when you choose to not purchase meat anymore you get taken out of the equation. But maybe now since some vegetarians rely on processed food the companies that are subsidizing the corn (because corn is in EVERYTHING) profit either way because the demand for processed food goes up. What I’m basically trying to say is maybe a bigger impact can be made when someone chooses to buy steak from a local farmer instead of Walmart.

Either way, we need to start putting our money in other places instead of putting it into the hands of people who truly do not care. Every little thing counts.

You can buy Food Inc by clicking here.

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul 

This post is part of: Fight Back Friday

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The Right to Know Act is Now Officially "Proposition 37"

A couple months ago I posted about the Money Bomb Against Monsanto which was a campaign that started as a result of the Right to Know Initiative. The goal of this initiative was to collect 850,000 valid signatures statewide for the labeling of GMO’s in order to get the required 550,000. On May 2, 2012 a historic day took place in California as 971,126 signatures were delivered to the 58 county registrars throughout the state.

The Money Bomb against Monsanto was then formed with intentions to raise $1 million dollars (by people donating) within a matter of a couple weeks to help fight against the anti-GMO labeling propaganda by the bio-tech bullies. With the goal of $1 million dollars being achieved a coalition of benefactors (including Mercola.com, Lundberg Farms, Eden Foods, Organic Consumers Association, Food Democracy Now and many others) then MATCHED the 1 million bringing the total to $2 million dollars to help fight Monsanto and the other bio-tech companies. While $2 million dollars seems like a lot of money, it is no where near the amount the bio-tech bullies will be putting in to prevent people from voting YES on PROP 37- an estimated of $60-100 million dollars.

June 11, 2012 the Secretary of State announced the California Right To Know Genetically Engineered Food Act qualified to be on the November 6 ballot. What an amazing victory against all odds! The fight is not over yet and that is why I am posting this. From now until November 6 we all need to do our part in educating people on GMO’s and why we should have them labeled. If (and probably will) California wins in the November ballot it will be the first, biggest step in knocking down Monsanto and finally getting our fundamental right to know what’s in our food. Even if people choose to still purchase food that has a GM ingredient in it at least we had the choice to choose. No hiding, mislabeling, misguiding information- just cold hard facts.  YES on 37 means the companies would have until January of 2014 to relabel their foods. The Anti-Labeling Campaign will and is trying to confuse Californians that labeling would drive the cost of foods up. This is completely false as companies change their labels all the time.

A little Info on what GMO’s are & how YOU can help-
This was taken from Mamavation’s blog-

So what is a genetically engineered food? According to CA Right to Know (Prop. 37 in California), “a genetically engineered food (also known as genetically modified organism, or GMO) is a plant or meat product that has had its DNA artificially altered by genes from other plants, animals, viruses, or bacteria, to produce foreign compounds in that food. This type of genetic alteration is engineered in a laboratory, and is not found in nature.”

It is estimated that 70% of our food on grocery shelves contains GMOs, compared to only 5% in Europe. The early 1990′s the FDA allowed all sorts of things into our food supply such as additives, preservatives, and GMOs. Since then we’ve had some significant changes to the health of our children. According to Healthy Child Healthy World these are stats about differences in illness in children since early 90s.

400% increase in food allergies
300% increase in asthma
400% increase in ADHD
1,500% increase in autism

In America, our government says “prove it’s NOT safe”…and in Europe they had a different approach. They said “you need to prove it IS safe.” Those are two very different approaches to food safety.  Today GMOs comprise about 70% of the food supply at the grocery store, compared to 5% in Europe. Hmmm…that’s strange. I wonder why that is? In fact, American companies such as Hersheys has reformulated their products in Europe to be GMO free. And yet Hershey’s still has GMOs in their products in the US.

There has been NO independent testing of whether GMOs are safe for consumption in the US and I’ll tell you why. Testing the safety of a product requires you to have a “control group” and that is a group of people who DON’T eat GMOs. You compare that group with the group that DOES eat GMOs. With over 70% of our grocery aisles full of GMOs and no labeling on any products, that is virtually impossible. Pretty much everyone consumes GMOs, including myself. We are completely unaware of what is genetically modified and what isn’t.
We have a fundamental right to know what we are eating. We have a right to know what is in our food. Labeling is a bipartisan issue: 89% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats are FOR labeling genetically engineered foods. No matter what part of the aisle we stand in, we all eat. And we all stand for transparency and freedom.

So how can you get involved?

Would you like to join the Evangelist Team? Prop. 37 is enlisting the help of bloggers all over the United States and Canada to help educate everyone about the opportunity we have RIGHT NOW in November. If we can change the labeling laws in California we may be changing labeling all over the United States in the process. If everyone talks about the Prop. 37 online, we WILL reach most Californians.

We all have a right to know what is in our food. And supporting this proposition and reaching California voters is also a vote for the rest of the nation. Throwing some of your influence at this issue can really make a difference because it’s very likely that if this is passed in California, it will get rolled out nationwide by most companies. It would be cost prohibitive not to.

Here are some additional ways you can help.

1. Talk about this issue as much as you can from now till November. Use both hashtags #yeson37 & #labelgmos when doing so.

2. Help us get some celebrities on board. Tweet at who you think could really help us and ask them where they stand on the issue.

3. Help us recruit other Evangelists. You can tweet this message:

Passionate abt. labeling #GMOs? Join #CARighttoknow Evangelist Team to make a difference! http://bit.ly/NiCGV4 #yeson37

4. Join our twitter chat on August 10th from 10-11pm EST/7-8pm PST. SAVE THE DATE. (Post to come)

5. Write a post for us about Labeling GMOs the week of August 10th and let your audience know about our twitter chat

6. Share this post on Facebook.

The more people we can get to vote #yeson37 the more of a chance we have to winning this battle.

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul

Saturated fat is NOT the reason people are unhealthy!

If you read my prior post about saturated fats you know that I came into conflict with a family member about the issue of saturated fats being healthy or unhealthy. Since then it’s almost as if my mind has been glued on trying to really figure this out.

A week or so ago my cousin brought me a book by Dr. Sears called The Zone Diet to explain to me why he feels saturated fats were meant to be limited in the diet. He opened up to a page about why saturated fats should be limited and with an open mind, I read it. I was a little curious so I decided to continue reading and came across a paragraph saying fatty red meats, egg yolks and organ meat should be completely avoided in the diet.

What? Did I read that right? How could that be when the discoveries of Dr. Price showed that consuming red meats, egg yolks and organ meats were crucial to the diet? With organ meats considered a super food? And egg yolks essential to the healthy development of the brain?

I closed the book and told him I couldn’t keep reading because it completely contradicted what I’ve read to be true. Plus, I’m already so skeptical when it comes to these big name people with their books on diet (they always seem to be with the “politically correct” information). I decided to show him my pamphlet I got from the Weston A. Price Foundation which included information on “The Myths of Saturated Fat,” and the findings of Dr. Price.

In response to reading the pamphlet he said (paraphrased), “Well the people he studied didn’t eat sugary or refined foods so the risk of having saturated fat outweighs the dangers of eating sugary, refined foods.”

More or less what he was saying was the only reason saturated fat is good in the scenario of the people Dr. Price studied was because there weren’t a lot of other bad foods in their diet. But if you combined sugary, refined foods with a diet consisting of a lot of saturated fat then that is really bad for you.Regardless, saturated fat should be avoided. We ended the conversation there because we didn’t want to let the politics of diet get us upset. But, it was far from the end for me in my quest to better explain my reasoning on why saturated fats are essential and not dangerous.

Therefore I decided to go to who I always go to when I’m confused about things related to food- Jessica. I emailed her my concern and the answer she gave me is what I have been looking for! This is the email response-

“In my opinion, it’s best to read the information from both sides of the debate.  That being said, I eat the way I do because I agree with the research that backs up the information provided (a great deal of which came from WAPF).  If I’m not mistaken, the WAPF did a book review on the Zone Diet.  You may be able to find it on their site.  If not, I’ll look through the quarterly magazines.  My G’Mom always said “we have everything we need on this planet to nourish and/or heal ourselves.”   We just have to sort through the garbage to get to the real food.  Look at the facts.  I think you posted about this on your blog, too.  Did changing peoples fat intake make any huge health differences?  Did they suddenly stop having medical issues?  If so, we could stop the debates.  The traditional diets observed by Weston Price and the health of the people eating that way were not a questionable percentage of people.  The tribes, in their entirety, were healthy until they began to incorporate OUR way of eating.  Dr. Price helped many people recover from illness using food. 

If you are eating a diet of saturated fats and no sugary refined foods and you are healthy (as with the people Dr. Price studied) that just makes a stronger argument for the fats being healthy.  People became unhealthy as they added the foods that didn’t nourish their bodies.  These people were not barely living day to day on a traditional diet.  They thrived.  Hence, the study.  The people were so amazing in comparison that it prompted Dr. Price to dedicate years in pursuit of what made them this way.  This is a difficult concept for people to grasp.  As you know, eating this way takes time and it isn’t a commitment most will make.  Sometimes it’s easier to stick our heads in the sand and remain status quo.

If the people Dr. Price studied were going to be unhealthy from eating saturated fats, they would have been unhealthy before the sugary foods were added.  We know this because they lived generations on their traditional way of eating with no health issues.  Since they did not display ill health until the refined foods were added, it is safe to say that the latest addition is what made them unhealthy.

It’s a huge and illogical leap to say the combination is what’s wrong when their way of life prior to sugary refined foods produced an incredibly healthy group of people.  Those dots cannot be connected.”

Ahh, thank you Jessica! I truly would be lost in this world of food without you. 

I hope that if any one is still confused or questionable about saturated fat, this brings some closure to the topic. What Jessica stated in her email couldn’t have been put in a more simpler way on why saturated fat is NOT the reason people are unhealthy.

Now go get yourself some rendered pastured lard to fry your food in!

Until next time,

Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul 

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This blog is part of: Monday Mania

The Omnivore’s Dilemma- an American paradox

Yesterday Scott, myself and Andrew wanted to spend some time outside so we decided to hit up San Anselmo’s Art and Wine festival. We walked down the strip of locally made arts and crafts while soaking up the beautiful sun. As we were grazing the booths I noticed a little bookstore and made a pit stop. I’ve been searching for a new book to read-The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. But I wanted to purchase it used because well, I’d be saving a tree and usually the costs are cut in half! No need to purchase new when you can just reuse and recycle books. Anyway, I took a chance and asked the owner if they had the book and lo and behold, they did! They even had a used one so I quickly picked up and walked out of the bookstore extremely excited. I’ve been wanting to read this book for quite some time now but have just been waiting to find a good deal.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, to put it in a nutshell, is about how America as a nation is suffering from a food disorder. He goes into explaining that we have this dilemma which is, “What should we eat for dinner?” But now, as industrialized food production has sky rocketed the better question we should be asking ourselves is, “What am I eating?” and “Where does it come from?” Michael Pollan talks about how corn is in virtually everything, the slaughter of animals, the difference between the “Big” organic and the local organic, and his own personal experiences as he became a hunter gatherer for a period of time. If you have not read this book, I urge you to pick it up at a local bookstore or the library!

Although I’ve only just read a few pages I’m already intrigued and can not wait to dig deep into this book. As I was reading the introduction he stated something that really made me think:

“Nor would such a culture be shocked to discover that there are other countries, such as Italy and France, that decide their dinner questions on the basis of such quaint and unscientific criteria as pleasure and tradition, eat all manner of “unhealthy” foods, and lo and behold, wind up actually healthier and happier in their eating than we are. We show our surprise at this by speaking of something called the “French paradox,” for how could a people who each such demonstrably toxic substances as foie gras and triple creme cheese actually be slimmer and healthier than we are? Yet I wonder if it doesn’t make more sense to speak in terms of an American paradox- that is, a notably unhealthy people obsessed by the idea of eating healthy.”

I put in bold the last sentence because this is what really hit me. It is so true! I mean, think about it for a second. Americans are all about trying to eat healthy and go on these crazy diets just because they have been “proven” for something or another. Nutrition seems to always be changing and every few years some new kind of “fad” comes out and everyone jumps on the band wagon. Americans automatically assume whatever new thing comes out is something that will lose their unwanted weight and make them feel better about themselves.

What happened to the thinkers in this country? This goes back to same old, old saying “Just because somebody tells you to jump off the bridge doesn’t mean you have to jump.” Come on people, since when did we allow people to dictate what is right and wrong? Especially when it comes to the food we nourish our loved ones?

I feel America became unhealthy when we started letting “politically correct” information rule our world and when we stopped thinking for ourselves. When food became more complex (like in the forms of processed foods), that’s when America began an eating disorder. Why not settle back into our roots? In a world full of complex things, why not simplify our lives and eat things that the earth intended us to eat?

These are the type questions we need to be asking ourselves! We shouldn’t need to spend our lives chasing the newest “fad” of weight loss because all we end up with is unhappiness and obesity. Open your eyes and look around you because obesity is becoming the norm. We should instead be digging deep into our roots to search for simple, healthful ways of living. There is nothing complicated about preparing a meal from a grassfed animal, and some whole, fresh vegetables accompanied with some wholesome, saturated fat. All it takes is a little time and preparation. Since when did we become so lazy?

You are what you eat. So what are you actually eating?

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul

We love saturated fats and we are proud to say it!

Last night a heated conversation stirred up when a family member told me I should watch what I feed Andrew.

If you know Andrew personally, you know that he is a GOOD eater. When I mean good, I mean he eats more than me sometimes good. If you know me personally, you know that I do not feed Andrew any kind of processed, junk food (this includes goldfish, cheerios, cheese puffs, etc)- Andrew only gets organic, raw, whole foods. In reply to what he told me, I mentioned that I don’t need to worry because I feed him right including lots of saturated fats.

Wooo! That turned the heat up a little. The topic immediately got directed towards saturated fat with me for saturated fat and my family member against it. He actually laughed at me when I said saturated fats were good and I make sure I give them to Andrew every day. Unfortunately, since I’m still learning about all of this (and I take in a lot of different information every day) it was difficult for me to reinforce why I made sure Andrew ate saturated fats. You know how sometimes when you get so frustrated/angry that you let your emotions get to you so you can’t think straight? Yeah, that’s what happened to me and I had no logical, legitimate proof to defend why I believed saturated fat is necessary. I told him I would get back to him after I did a little more research so I could back myself up. When I got home after dinner I immediately went online and started reading up on it. I wanted to share with you what I learned about saturated fat.

What is saturated fat and what foods contain it?
There are 3 types of classifications when it comes to fatty acids; saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Saturated fat is the most stable of the 3 because all of the carbon bonds are occupied by hydrogen atoms. This is great because they normally do not go rancid and are great for cooking. They are hard in cooler climates and liquify with warmer climates (this is why you may notice your coconut oil become solid or liquify due to house temperatures).

Saturated fats are found in animal fats like duck and goose fat, chicken fat, lard, beef and mutton tallow. It can also be found in tropical oils like coconut oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil and red palm oil.

You can obtain forms of saturated fats (monounsaturated fats) from food like avocados, olive oil, cashews, and peanuts.

When saturated fat became evil
In the late 1950’s a theory called the “Lipid Hypothesis” was proposed by a researched named Ancel Keys. The theory proposed that there was a direct relationship between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of coronary heart disease. The articles became very well known in the media and industrialized food manufacturers started to help funding for further research. The popular study that “experts” tend to cite is from The Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trail.

From the article “The Skinny on Fats” Weston A. Price Foundation states this about the study:

“The Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial (LRC-CPPT), which cost 150 million dollars, is the study most often cited by the experts to justify lowfat diets. Actually, dietary cholesterol and saturated fat were not tested in this study as all subjects were given a low-cholesterol, low-saturated-fat diet. Instead, the study tested the effects of a cholesterol-lowering drug. Their statistical analysis of the results implied a 24% reduction in the rate of coronary heart disease in the group taking the drug compared with the placebo group; however, nonheart disease deaths in the drug group increased—deaths from cancer, stroke, violence and suicide.⁷ Even the conclusion that lowering cholesterol reduces heart disease is suspect. Independent researchers who tabulated the results of this study found no significant statistical difference in coronary heart disease death rates between the two groups.⁸ However, both the popular press and medical journals touted the LRC-CPPT as the long-sought proof that animal fats are the cause of heart disease, America’s number one killer.”

And don’t forget, before 1920 coronary heart disease was extremely rare in the United States. Coronary heart disease was so rare that a young internist named Paul Dudley White introduced the German electrocardiograph to his colleagues at Harvard University, they advised him to concentrate on a more profitable branch of medicine.[1] To put it in a nut shell the machine showed blockages in arteries but because clogged arteries were a medical rarity the young internist had to go looking for patients that could try out his new machine.

Unfortunately over the next 40 years coronary heart disease sky rocketed making it the leading cause of death in the United States. If saturated fat was the main cause of heart disease one would think during that period of time (1910-1970) the consumption of saturated fat would have risen dramatically. The opposite is true though. Actually, the proportion of traditional animal fat in the American diet declined from 83% to 62%, and butter consumption plummeted from eighteen pounds per person per year to four. During the past eighty years, dietary cholesterol intake has increased only 1%. During the same period the percentage of dietary vegetable oils in the form of margarine, shortening and refined oils increased about 400% while the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased about 60%.[2]

As we all know now margarine is far from a better substitute for butter. Margarine contains dangerous hydrogenated oils that create trans fatty acids. But remember, the same people (the Diet Dictrocrats) that told you margarine was healthier than butter also told you that saturated fat causes heart disease. So what am I trying to get at? Don’t automatically believe everything you hear and jump on the band wagon. It’s extremely important to educate yourself and read into the subject. Just because someone from a “reputable” stature tells you it’s safe to do something doesn’t automatically deem it safe.

A few statistics for you-
From the article “Skinny on Fats” Weston A. Price states some statistics that challenge the lipid hypothesis:

“Numerous surveys of traditional populations have yielded information that is an embarrassment to the Diet Dictocrats. For example, a study comparing Jews when they lived in Yemen, whose diets contained fats solely of animal origin, to Yemenite Jews living in Israel, whose diets contained margarine and vegetable oils, revealed little heart disease or diabetes in the former group but high levels of both diseases in the latter.¹⁴ (The study also noted that the Yemenite Jews consumed no sugar but those in Israel consumed sugar in amounts equaling 25-30% of total carbohydrate intake.) A comparison of populations in northern and southern India revealed a similar pattern. People in northern India consume 17 times more animal fat but have an incidence of coronary heart disease seven times lower than people in southern India.¹⁵ The Masai and kindred tribes of Africa subsist largely on milk, blood and beef. They are free from coronary heart disease and have excellent blood cholesterol levels.¹⁶ Eskimos eat liberally of animal fats from fish and marine animals. On their native diet they are free of disease and exceptionally hardy.¹⁷ An extensive study of diet and disease patterns in China found that the region in which the populace consumes large amounts of whole milk had half the rate of heart disease as several districts in which only small amounts of animal products are consumed.¹⁸ Several Mediterranean societies have low rates of heart disease even though fat—including highly saturated fat from lamb, sausage and goat cheese—comprises up to 70% of their caloric intake. The inhabitants of Crete, for example, are remarkable for their good health and longevity.¹⁹ A study of Puerto Ricans revealed that, although they consume large amounts of animal fat, they have a very low incidence of colon and breast cancer.²⁰ A study of the long-lived inhabitants of Soviet Georgia revealed that those who eat the most fatty meat live the longest.²¹ In Okinawa, where the average life span for women is 84 years—longer than in Japan—the inhabitants eat generous amounts of pork and seafood and do all their cooking in lard.²² None of these studies is mentioned by those urging restriction of saturated fats.

The relative good health of the Japanese, who have the longest life span of any nation in the world, is generally attributed to a lowfat diet. Although the Japanese eat few dairy fats, the notion that their diet is low in fat is a myth; rather, it contains moderate amounts of animal fats from eggs, pork, chicken, beef, seafood and organ meats. With their fondness for shellfish and fish broth, eaten on a daily basis, the Japanese probably consume more cholesterol than most Americans. What they do not consume is a lot of vegetable oil, white flour or processed food (although they do eat white rice.) The life span of the Japanese has increased since World War II with an increase in animal fat and protein in the diet.²³ Those who point to Japanese statistics to promote the lowfat diet fail to mention that the Swiss live almost as long on one of the fattiest diets in the world. Tied for third in the longevity stakes are Austria and Greece—both with high-fat diets.^24″

A few reasons why the Weston A. Price says saturated fat is good for you-

• Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what gives our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.
• They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.³⁸
• They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.³⁹ They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol.⁴⁰
• They enhance the immune system.⁴¹
• They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
  Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats. ⁴²
• Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated.⁴³ The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.
• Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.

The scientific evidence, honestly evaluated, does not support the assertion that “artery-clogging” saturated fats cause heart disease.44 Actually, evaluation of the fat in artery clogs reveals that only about 26% is saturated. The rest is unsaturated, of which more than half is polyunsaturated.⁴⁵

The golden conclusion?
Eat your saturated fat and love that you are eating it. Slather butter on everything because you all can’t deny that it makes everything taste great! Incorporate as much coconut oil as you can in your diet. Use coconut oil in place for baking and cooking with. Use olive oil for homemade dressings and eat lots of avocados! Fats are good for you and are essential for a healthy life.

Just remember to make sure you get your food from trusted sources that have cows grazing on green grass throughout the year. How the animal has been raised makes the difference between a nutrient loaded butter vs butter that came from an industrialized unhappy dairy cow. Raw is always best but if you don’t have access I recommend Organic Valley pastured unsalted butter or Strauss pastured unsalted butter. Always make sure your butter only has one ingredient which would be cream.

One last tid bit to think about. Why trust something that was made in a laboratory than something that has been around for hundreds of years?

Until next time,
Loriel – Healthy Roots, Happy Soul

Resources:
1. The Skinny on Fats, http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/skinny-on-fats#lipid
2. Enig, Mary G, PhD, Trans Fatty Acids in the Food Supply: A Comprehensive Report Covering 60 Years of Research, 2nd Edition, Enig Associates, Inc, Silver Spring, MD, 1995, 4-8

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This post is part of Monday Mania