More reason to skip skim

UPDATE:  Crazy to see all the frenzy over the news that the FDA is going to stop allowing trans-fats in food. What you aren't hearing is exactly how the oils suggested to be substituted are in fact trans-fats with low smoke points and damaging to the heart.

Here are a few articles to help you consider the finer facts, and accurate ones as well.

Trans Fats   Trans Fats   Con-ola

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In the 80s when the trend went to no fat and low fat diets we advised our clients and students to keep healthy fats alive in their diets. 

FAT FACTS written in 2002

This quote is from May 2013

"Skim milk is not helpful for losing weight, as numerous studies have revealed, and in a recent study of 10,500 school-age children, it was actually harmful in terms of weight gain and loss of calcium absorption as a result of the “skimming” process. The fat content in whole milk slows sugar absorption and improves calcium uptake."

UPDATE: 4 Nov, 2013 - Now it seems everyone is again jumping on my wagon when it comes to sound nutrition information regarding healthy fat.

Oscar Will lll wrote this in 2011

Cut to the present, and the idea that corn, soy and other vegetable oils are preferred for optimal health continues to be dominant, yet the United States still has high rates of cardiovascular disease. We are overweight and unhealthy despite five decades of low-fat and no-fat health advice and faddism. How could the medical community, our Food and Drug Administration and so many others be so wrong about dietary fats? Read his full article here.

But even more apropos is a recent piece by UK doctor John Briffa, MD.

Briffa calls mainstream medicine to task on this faulty fat fiasco, and I am with him 100%.  He too combines the faulty fat fiasco right along with a great new expose on the great cholesterol caper.  Yes there is fallacy in the drug dictate that you all need cholesterol drugs and low cholesterol (NOT).

Last Saturday, The Times newspaper here in the UK carried a piece I wrote about the relative merits of butter, margarine and cholesterol-reducing spreads. I think it’s great we have got to the point where a major, ‘serious’ newspaper is commissioning and publishing pieces that challenge nutritional orthodoxy and do not swallow food industry misinformation […] Complete article

And he says more of what he has already said about cholesterol, as have I for many years, (use the search box for my cholesterol posts).  

So, won't you agree, it is now about time for the about face.

Selections from more than 30 articles at Natural Health News

 

Ever Think That Your LOW-FAT or NON-FAT Diet Craze Might Lead

Jul 08, 2006

Review finds current vitamin D recommendations insufficient to achieve healthy blood levels. A review published in the July, 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which sought to determine the optimal ...

Natural Health News: Support for Healthy Fats

Dec 22, 2011

It's no longer enough for top-line chefs and adventurous home cooks to eat grass-fed steaks; those steaks need to be finished with duck fat or real butter. ... Nutrition science is beginning to turn the idea that all fat is bad for you on its head, with high-profile nutritionists like Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, working to debunk the idea that low-fat diets are ...

Natural Health News: Cholesterol: Another Wrong Conclusion

Feb 21, 2011

The comes the low-fat/non-fat diet and all kinds of health problems reach new, high levels. More drugs, less benefit, more cases, no recovery, lack of prevention too! High levels of cholesterol do not predict the risk of stroke.

Natural Health News: Jogging Your Memory

Aug 10, 2006

The along came the no-fat and low-fat diet schemes, so along came behavioral and glandular problems because we had not fat to feed the brain, hormone production and strong healthy cell walls (yes indeed, these are made ...

Support for Healthy Fats

For years I have been educating about the need for healthy fat in your diet, and for the sake of your health.

I haven't been alone in this effort as you may know if you follow Weston A. Price and others who know the real benefits of fat.  And yes, lard counts.

And remember that canola is not considered a healthy fat and it is a trans fat, even if the following article suggests it is not.  Canola is also toxic to your liver and too monounsaturated for health as well as being for the most part a GMO substance. Please read our articles about canola or request the mot recent issue of our newsletter fmi.

  

submitted by Emily Main   -    Olive oil is sooooo five minutes ago. People who are into healthy cooking oils and fats have moved on to duck fat, real lard, goose renderings, and coconut oil, according to a new report published by the market research firm Packaged Facts and the food trend spotters at the Center for Culinary Development.
Interest in these long-forgotten, more traditional fats is all part of the back-to-the-land movement that has triggered the growth of farmer's markets and reconnected people to whole fruits and vegetables, grass-fed dairy products, and pasture-raised meats, the report's authors note. It's no longer enough for top-line chefs and adventurous home cooks to eat grass-fed steaks; those steaks need to be finished with duck fat or real butter.
And it's not just the fact that these fats are traditional or come with a sense of nostalgia. Nutrition science is beginning to turn the idea that all fat is bad for you on its head, with high-profile nutritionists like Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, working to debunk the idea that low-fat diets are healthier. Many of the recommendations that we all follow regarding fat, he's found, are based on rather weak science that has been repeatedly questioned over the decades. That type of diet is also depriving people of a variety of nutrients found only in the animal fats and other cooking oils that have been demonized under the assumption that saturated fat is bad for you.
As a general rule, whatever kinds of fat you buy, keep your chemical exposures to a minimum by buying certified-organic plant oils and pastured or grass-fed animal fats.
Olive oil remains one of the healthiest oils you can drizzle over a plate of veggies, but if you're interested in branching out, here are 6 other healthy varieties of cooking oil now gaining traction in the culinary world:• Ghee. Also known as "Indian clarified butter" or "drawn butter," ghee is butter that has been melted over a low temperature so that all the water content has boiled away and the milk fats have been skimmed off (check out our instructions on how to make your own ghee). What remains is a nutty, intensely flavored fat that withstands higher cooking temperatures than butter and can even be stored in your cabinets, rather than in the fridge (it won't go rancid). Indians believe it has healing qualities. And it's even more nutritious than butter: The process of creating ghee concentrates the conjugated linoleic acid—a healthy cancer-fighter that also prevents atherosclerosis (hardening of the heart's arteries)—found in the butter.
• Rice bran oil. Rice bran oil is quickly becoming the "go-to oil for fried food," the report found, particularly in high-end, independent, and ethnic restaurants. It tolerates a much higher cooking heat than canola or peanut oil, and like both of those, it's trans fat free. Health-wise, animal studies have shown that rice bran oil (which is made from the inner husks and germ of rice) can lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, but it contains high levels of polyunsaturated fat, which go rancid quickly and need to be refrigerated to maintain shelf life.
• Lard & schmaltz. The prime example of fats we all thought were bad for us, lard and schmaltz (rendered chicken, pork, or goose fat) may have been wrongly demonized for years. The main fat in lard—oleic acid—is a monounsaturated fat linked to decreased risk of depression, says Drew Ramsey, MD, coauthor of The Happiness Diet (Rodale, 2010). Those same monounsaturated fats, which make up 45 percent of the fat in lard, are responsible for lowering LDL levels while leaving HDL ("good") cholesterol levels alone. Lard and schmaltz also tolerate high cooking temperatures—they're often recommended for frying—and have long shelf lives.
• Duck fat. Like lard, duck fat is high in monounsaturated fats, which make up 50 percent of its total fat content, with saturated fat making up just 14 percent (less than butter). Most of that fat is healthy linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that keeps cells healthy, boosts calcium absorption, and aids in kidney function. Though it's still used mostly in high-end restaurants, it's showing up on specialty food store shelves and even some bigger retailers, such as Williams Sonoma. It can tolerate high cooking temperatures and has a long shelf life, but, like ghee, it has an intense flavor, so it's not a great all-purpose fat (and, considering the prices it goes for, you wouldn't want to use it every day, anyway!).
• Coconut oil. As with the other fats here, coconut oil's high saturated fat content (92 percent) has earned it an—undeserved—bad reputation over the years. "But there are a lot of health benefits that go beyond just what kind of fat it is," says Trevor Holly Cates, ND, a naturopathic physician with a practice in the Golden Door Spa at the Waldorf Astoria in Park City, Utah, and a board member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. For instance, coconut oil is high in lauric acid, a nutrient our bodies need to help our immune systems. One of the only other major dietary sources for lauric acid is breast milk. Coconut oils are very common now in regular and specialty grocery stores, so keep an eye out for them.
• Nut & seed oils. Rounding out the report's trendy fats are nut and seed oils, such as walnut, avocado, pecan, and pumpkin seed oils, which are showing up not just in regular grocery stores, but in chain and fast-food restaurants, as well. Each different nut or seed oil has its own unique chemical makeup, but most of them, with the exception of avocado oil, have high levels of polyunsaturated fats compared to the healthier monounsaturated fats. They're good for salad dressings, but they do go rancid quickly and shouldn't be used for cooking.
Source: Sustainable Food News (16 Dec. 2011).

from Rodale News

Clear association between obesity and vitamin D deficiency

Calcium, parathyroid health, and obesity

Endocrinology: http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/jc.2009-2822v1

More on a study conducted at Uppsala University has demonstrated that obese people often suffer from serious vitamin D deficiency and poor calcium metabolism. The findings have been published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. According to the researchers, the problem is under appreciated by the health care establishment.

YES, You Need Saturated Fat for Health

Ever notice that all the health promoting FAT SOLUBLE VITAMINS - A,D,E,K - are in the news because your health has been suffering, and weight gain is every one's concern, as you haven't had enough fat to absorb them over the last 20-30 years?

The HeartScan Blog offers supporting information.

Worried About Your Waistline? Get More—Not Less—of This Saturated Fat
Health News By VRP Staff

If you’re trying to shrink your bulging waistline, you’ve probably been cutting fats—and especially those notoriously heart-harming saturated fats—from your diet every chance you get. But believe it or not, this is one piece of “common sense” you may want to reconsider.

As it turns out, recent research is flying in the face of that age-old wisdom…at least where one natural source of saturated fat is concerned.

A new study examined the effects of coconut oil supplementation on women with abdominal obesity—that is, a waist circumference greater than 34 ½ inches—one of the leading risk factors in both heart disease and diabetes. Researchers followed 40 subjects between the ages of 20 and 40—half receiving 30 mL of coconut oil per day and half receiving 30 mL of soybean oil—over the course of 12-weeks.1

The study participants were instructed to follow a balanced low-calorie diet and to walk for 50 minutes per day. Lipid levels—including total cholesterol and HDL/LDL cholesterol ratios—were evaluated at both the beginning and end of the trial.

After 12 weeks, results showed that carbohydrate and overall caloric intake—as well as body mass index (BMI) measurements—decreased in both groups. But only the subjects taking coconut oil ended up with smaller waistlines—not to mention increased HDL (that is, “good” cholesterol) levels and an improved LDL to HDL ratio.

The patients taking soybean oil, on the other hand, weren’t so lucky. Not only did the total cholesterol levels increase in this group, but LDL (“bad” cholesterol) levels did as well. Health-boosting levels of HDL, however, did drop—resulting in a higher LDL to HDL ratio, and the increased heart risk that comes with it.

The study authors’ conclusion? Saturated fat or not, coconut oil doesn’t negatively impact your cholesterol levels. It does, however, appear to fight belly fat… a benefit that reaches well beyond a closet full of smaller clothes.

Organic, Virgin Coconut Oil provides a minimally processed product that offers a light coconut taste and facilitates the assimilation of fat-soluble vitamins derived from foods and dietary supplements.

Reference:

1. Assunção ML, Ferreira HS, Dos Santos AF, Cabral CR Jr, Florêncio TM. Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity. Lipids. 2009 May 13. Published Online Ahead of Print.