The story continues...
Mark and I then spent the next few years trying to eat unprocessed foods. That is to say we tried to make everything we could from scratch. But it was hard to say the least and I felt like we were missing big pieces of the puzzle. It was as if the book The Makers Diet gave us great introductory information but not enough to sustain us on this lifestyle.
Then one day Mark came home for work with a recommendation from one of his veterinarians. She (the vet) told him about a cookbook that she thought I would love called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (click title for link). Sally Fallon? Hm, I have heard that name before but where? I finally realized that the few recipes that are included in the book, The Makers Diet came from someone named Sally Fallon.
I ordered the book immediately as I was immediately in need of reinforcements.
It must be said that this is beyond just being a cookbook. Compiled within these pages lies the best conglomerate I've seen of basic nutrition for the novice and not so novice health-seeker. But since we are on a kick about fat, let's see what "old Sally" as we call her in our house, has to say about fat.
Is saturated fat and cholesterol causing the heart disease epidemic in America?
1. Heart disease now causes 40% of deaths in America yet cholesterol consumption in the last 80 years has only increased 1%. However, the consumption of vegetable oils in the form of margarine, shortening, and refined oils has increased 400%.
2. Several studies aiming to prove a low fat and low cholesterol diet will decrease your chances in heart disease often show an increase in mortality in from cancer, stroke, violence, and suicide.
3. Eskimos live off of fat from land and marine animals and are virtually disease free as long as they live on their native diet and not a modern one.
4. Several Mediterranean cultures have low rates of heart disease in spite of the fact that 70% of their caloric intake comes from fat (mostly from goat, lamb, sausage, and cheese).
5. A study in Soviet Georgia revealed that those that ate the fattiest meat lived the longest.
6. Japanese who are known for averaging the longest life span do not eat a low fat diet. It is true that they do not consume dairy. However they do consume animal fats from eggs, pork, chicken, organ meats, beef, and seafood. The do not consume large amounts of vegetable oils, white flour, and processed foods. The Swiss live almost as long as the Japanese and they have the fattiest diet in the world. Fondue anyone?
7. And now to my favorite, the French. Butter, cream, eggs, cheese, foie gras, and pates are a standard. And yet they have 1/2 the rate of heart disease as the US. Now that just makes me mad that they are eating much better food and are healthier. Meanwhile we eat slop, pretend we are craving it and that it's a treat, then die from it! Why do Americans suffer through low quality fast food?
8. Several government and public health agencies also claim that animal fat is linked with not only heart disease but cancer as well. The University of Maryland analyzed the data these agencies used to back these claims and the university found that vegetable fats, not animal fats, correlated with the high rates of cancer.
I could go on but you get the idea.
The truth is, people have eaten animal fats for thousands of years. Once upon a time we died from infection instead of heart disease and diabetes (lifestyle diseases). Now that we are able to prevent and treat infections we should be much healthier but we are not. In fact you may think because people are living longer that we are in better health. Once again, the disappointing truth is we are able to keep unhealthy people alive longer with medications. Living longer in this case is not indicative of good health.
With the onset of the low fat diet another culprit came into our food supply, an unnatural dramatic increase in vegetable oils never before ingested by mankind at such a rate. Throw margarine and hydrogenated oils into the mix and you have a deadly concoction. Thus we began to eat man-made foods instead of God-made foods. Food scientists mutilated tasteful and nourishing whole foods until it fit this new mold of low fat without ever thinking of the repercussions.
Once again mankind's arrogance screws up God's plan. What made us think we could improve upon the food God put on this planet for us? We are human and by definition we make mistakes. It is actually impossible for us to be perfect. From that realization the motto for our household was born, "We will eat food in it's natural state as God made it. We will also eat a food if it is close to the state that God made it in as long as it is prepared in a way that people have eaten it for thousands of years." This is the motto we live by MOST of the time. After all, we too are only human.
If you would like a list of the studies I sited I would be more than happy to provide them to you with a dozen more added. If you are looking for more information consider purchasing the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. The Makers Diet by Jordan Rubin is an informative and interesting read as well. Both are available on amazon.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
A Quick Retrack of My Journey
Have you ever known an elderly person that defies all odds? You know they type, they are teetering on their 100th birthday and there's not one prescription drug in their medicine cabinet. They have no diagnosis of diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure yet they have never bought a low fat product in their life. Usually they live out in the country and drink milk from their cows, eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, and fry food in lard. Have you ever met someone like that?
When I worked in the hospital setting I would meet people like this from time to time. Usually they were brought in for something small like a urinary track infection. One specific patient comes to mind. She was a small lady in her late 90's who still went out and chopped her own wood everyday. She had no chronic disease in spite of eating a back woods and medically-deemed-suicidal-fat-filled diet. You might think of her as a red neck for never buying into the more "advanced" way of eating. Low fat and low cholesterol were not in her vocabulary. She ate what she grew be it greens, eggs, or beef. She didn't buy the "healthiest" thing on the Mc Donalds menu. She didn't go to Mc Donalds.
Funny thing is what was once looked down upon as being "back woods" is now trendy! This brings new meaning to the Hank Williams Jr song, "Country Boy Can Survive." ;)
My fascination with old folks started during my internship in graduate school. I use to listen to a man on the radio who was a veterinarian who also studied people who lived to be 100. He found that most people who lived to be 100 lived out in the country, usually in very primitive cultures, they did not go to a doctor, and they did not eat the Standard American Diet (SAD). As a dietitian I began to take notice of my patients.
Prominent people (much much younger than my little old healthy 99 year olds)who could afford costly "health" food were still developing heart disease. I can remember being consulted several times to educate patients on the cardiac diet who were at their ideal body weight and ate a low fat and low cholesterol diet yet they were having open heart surgery. And I would ask the doctor, "Just what exactly do you want me to tell them?" And even worse the patients were asking me, "Where did I go wrong? I thought I was doing everything right." I was beginning to figure out there was a big hole in this ideal.
Fortunately my Dad recommended the book, The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. His story is one that should be read by everyone. His passion for nutrition came from being sick himself. I won't go deep into his story but I will say that he grew up in a family that only ate food from health food stores and he was very ill. He began to research they way Jews ate in the old testament. After all, as a christian we want to live by the bible. Why then are we not eating by the bible?
Once he got ALL processed foods out of his diet-even processed "health" foods- he was cured from a previously thought incurable intestinal disease.
What he did not cut out of his diet was fat - even saturated fat - and cholesterol.
Next into our lives steped Westin A Price (http://westonaprice.org/). Let me tell you, we have hit Fat City at this point in my jouney. It's time to get down to the hard facts on fat. But, my baby just woke up so we will continue this story in another post soon.
When I worked in the hospital setting I would meet people like this from time to time. Usually they were brought in for something small like a urinary track infection. One specific patient comes to mind. She was a small lady in her late 90's who still went out and chopped her own wood everyday. She had no chronic disease in spite of eating a back woods and medically-deemed-suicidal-fat-filled diet. You might think of her as a red neck for never buying into the more "advanced" way of eating. Low fat and low cholesterol were not in her vocabulary. She ate what she grew be it greens, eggs, or beef. She didn't buy the "healthiest" thing on the Mc Donalds menu. She didn't go to Mc Donalds.
Funny thing is what was once looked down upon as being "back woods" is now trendy! This brings new meaning to the Hank Williams Jr song, "Country Boy Can Survive." ;)
My fascination with old folks started during my internship in graduate school. I use to listen to a man on the radio who was a veterinarian who also studied people who lived to be 100. He found that most people who lived to be 100 lived out in the country, usually in very primitive cultures, they did not go to a doctor, and they did not eat the Standard American Diet (SAD). As a dietitian I began to take notice of my patients.
Prominent people (much much younger than my little old healthy 99 year olds)who could afford costly "health" food were still developing heart disease. I can remember being consulted several times to educate patients on the cardiac diet who were at their ideal body weight and ate a low fat and low cholesterol diet yet they were having open heart surgery. And I would ask the doctor, "Just what exactly do you want me to tell them?" And even worse the patients were asking me, "Where did I go wrong? I thought I was doing everything right." I was beginning to figure out there was a big hole in this ideal.
Fortunately my Dad recommended the book, The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin. His story is one that should be read by everyone. His passion for nutrition came from being sick himself. I won't go deep into his story but I will say that he grew up in a family that only ate food from health food stores and he was very ill. He began to research they way Jews ate in the old testament. After all, as a christian we want to live by the bible. Why then are we not eating by the bible?
Once he got ALL processed foods out of his diet-even processed "health" foods- he was cured from a previously thought incurable intestinal disease.
What he did not cut out of his diet was fat - even saturated fat - and cholesterol.
Next into our lives steped Westin A Price (http://westonaprice.org/). Let me tell you, we have hit Fat City at this point in my jouney. It's time to get down to the hard facts on fat. But, my baby just woke up so we will continue this story in another post soon.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
More shop talk
Now that my weekend break from blogging has ended it's time I continue on with our Fun Fat Week. And I must get this blog up soon or I fear you will all start calling me Paula Dean and picture me at home licking sticks of butter in light of my last post.
My dear friend Katy has asked a plethora of questions to begin our week with. I think we will kick off this post with a few of those.
She and her husband have recently watched the documentary FOOD INC (which I highly recommend) and it has left her disgusted with the America's current food supply but still full of questions. Such as, "Now that I know all of this, where do I get my food?" The documentary ends before before addressing that very question of what to do next. Sounds like a good place for us pick up.
Katy also asks if meat and dairy are the most important place to start when beginning to eat healthy. My disappointingly unscientific answer is, "Sounds good to me." The truth is if you are eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) any change is good. Just please start somewhere. Anywhere. I chose fat to discuss first on my blog because it is probably the most misunderstood part of our diet. And well, it's fun! We will hit other American phobias including those scary carbs somewhere down the line. But for now let's get back to the fun world of fat.
If you are like Katy and disgusted by the meat and dairy products at your grocery store you are probably in search of alternatives. You may remember in an earlier post I recommended shopping in grocery stores as little as possible. When you shop at a store and buy prepackaged food, the only information you have is what is posted on the label. And in trying to read the label you may find it so full of nutritional lingo and mambo jumbo that it is about as helpful as trying to read an organic chemistry text book with no chemistry background.
Our favorite places to shop in lieu of the store are:
Texas Daily Harvest (Their products are available at Coppell's Farmer's Market)
Bear Dairy
Our local Farmer's Market
Lucky Layla's (A dairy located in the middle of Plano I kid you not!)
Martin's Berry Patch
Produce stands along back country roads
Food from friends and relatives kitchens and gardens
The forests of East Texas where my husband hunts
My in-law's farm (we harvest a cow from there every year or two)
My own backyard
True Fields
and many more I am forgetting at the moment but you get the idea.
I cannot state this often enough, I am not perfect. I still have to go to the store for a few things. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that. But we try. And with that effort about 75% of our food does not come from a grocery store.
Animals aloud to roam free and eat grass have more omega 3 fatty acids in their meat vs an animal only being fed grains (the ones at your local grocery store) which leads to meat with more omega 6 fatty acids. Likewise the eggs from free roaming chickens are also higher in omega 3 fatty acids. Did you think God intended only fish eating Eskimos up north to benefit from omega 3's? We once had a source until we decided to change the natural food chain and mass produce food.
Look for ranches near you that provide grass fed meats on eatwild.com and localharvest.org. Be sure to ask them if you can purchase a whole animal from them to have butchered. It is usually much cheaper than buying it piece by piece over the year.
If you and your husband don't hunt (wild animals are naturally grass fed) find someone who does. The south is full of trophy hunters who don't plan to eat their meat.
Ah, and then there is farm fresh milk and dairy products. I just have to let out a big yummmmmm after typing that. Aside from the fact that they taste awesome they too benefit the cows munching grass instead of grain. I won't go any further in explanation than that right now because dairy deserves it's own post. Maybe it's own week. Look for sources on the websites listed above and realmilk.org. This is another one to ask around on. Sources may be closer than you think.
As a side note, it took me forever to write this post. I have so much information I want to share but I am trying not to be overwhelming. And I have a love of science so reining in my scientific explanations is harder than one might think. On that note I think I will stop here today even though I feel like I have only written a brief introduction to the subject of fats in grass fed animals.
My dear friend Katy has asked a plethora of questions to begin our week with. I think we will kick off this post with a few of those.
She and her husband have recently watched the documentary FOOD INC (which I highly recommend) and it has left her disgusted with the America's current food supply but still full of questions. Such as, "Now that I know all of this, where do I get my food?" The documentary ends before before addressing that very question of what to do next. Sounds like a good place for us pick up.
Katy also asks if meat and dairy are the most important place to start when beginning to eat healthy. My disappointingly unscientific answer is, "Sounds good to me." The truth is if you are eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) any change is good. Just please start somewhere. Anywhere. I chose fat to discuss first on my blog because it is probably the most misunderstood part of our diet. And well, it's fun! We will hit other American phobias including those scary carbs somewhere down the line. But for now let's get back to the fun world of fat.
If you are like Katy and disgusted by the meat and dairy products at your grocery store you are probably in search of alternatives. You may remember in an earlier post I recommended shopping in grocery stores as little as possible. When you shop at a store and buy prepackaged food, the only information you have is what is posted on the label. And in trying to read the label you may find it so full of nutritional lingo and mambo jumbo that it is about as helpful as trying to read an organic chemistry text book with no chemistry background.
Our favorite places to shop in lieu of the store are:
Texas Daily Harvest (Their products are available at Coppell's Farmer's Market)
Bear Dairy
Our local Farmer's Market
Lucky Layla's (A dairy located in the middle of Plano I kid you not!)
Martin's Berry Patch
Produce stands along back country roads
Food from friends and relatives kitchens and gardens
The forests of East Texas where my husband hunts
My in-law's farm (we harvest a cow from there every year or two)
My own backyard
True Fields
and many more I am forgetting at the moment but you get the idea.
I cannot state this often enough, I am not perfect. I still have to go to the store for a few things. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that. But we try. And with that effort about 75% of our food does not come from a grocery store.
Animals aloud to roam free and eat grass have more omega 3 fatty acids in their meat vs an animal only being fed grains (the ones at your local grocery store) which leads to meat with more omega 6 fatty acids. Likewise the eggs from free roaming chickens are also higher in omega 3 fatty acids. Did you think God intended only fish eating Eskimos up north to benefit from omega 3's? We once had a source until we decided to change the natural food chain and mass produce food.
Look for ranches near you that provide grass fed meats on eatwild.com and localharvest.org. Be sure to ask them if you can purchase a whole animal from them to have butchered. It is usually much cheaper than buying it piece by piece over the year.
If you and your husband don't hunt (wild animals are naturally grass fed) find someone who does. The south is full of trophy hunters who don't plan to eat their meat.
Ah, and then there is farm fresh milk and dairy products. I just have to let out a big yummmmmm after typing that. Aside from the fact that they taste awesome they too benefit the cows munching grass instead of grain. I won't go any further in explanation than that right now because dairy deserves it's own post. Maybe it's own week. Look for sources on the websites listed above and realmilk.org. This is another one to ask around on. Sources may be closer than you think.
As a side note, it took me forever to write this post. I have so much information I want to share but I am trying not to be overwhelming. And I have a love of science so reining in my scientific explanations is harder than one might think. On that note I think I will stop here today even though I feel like I have only written a brief introduction to the subject of fats in grass fed animals.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Correction
The link for the recipe in the post Frizzled Egg Salad did not originally show up. I think it's clearer now where to find that recipe. Sorry about that.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Let's chew the fat for a while, literally
Confession #1: We have not eaten a low fat diet in years.
Scratch that.
Profession #1: We have intentionally not eaten a low fat diet in years.
Gasp! Did a registered dietitian just write that?
Proudly, yes.
In sticking with our devotion to eating only things God created (or at least very close to the way God created them) we have included fats as well. After all isn't raw whole fat milk a "whole food." Would not low fat milk, yogurt, and cheese go through intense processing to be made into such an unnatural state? They certainly do.
This is not about devotion to a principal at all costs. Science and research has failed to identify saturated fat (the supposed "bad" fat in animal products) as the cause of heart disease. Read that last sentence again because it is life changing. No, I am not kidding nor and am I crazy. Believe me it takes a lot of research, convincing, and soul searching for a registered dietitian to write that statement.
For years it has been driven into our heads (especially those of us who studied health and food in school) that saturated fat is bad and causes heart disease. But did you know that this theory started on one poorly done study in the 50's. The government then took off with the idea and spent great amounts of energy and money promoting it. Research has still failed to prove this theory. When you hear studies mention the correlation of saturated fat and heart disease 9 times out of 10 they have included hydrogenated oils into the study. These are not saturated fats. They are a man made chemical. I am talking about the hydrogenated oils that are in the heart doc's beloved margarine that have been repeatedly proven in research to cause heart disease. But we'll get back to that subject later. Maybe in another post.
So here is an official apology from me to those of you who suffered through tasteless and harmful fat free cheese in the 90's. I feel your pain. But let's look at the bright side! Read on.
For thousands of years people have consumed meats - not boneless, skinless chicken breasts - I am talking about the whole animal fat and all. But in the last 100 years for the first time in the history of mankind we have drastically changed the way we have eaten. And with every year our rate of heart disease and diabetes increases. Hmmm. I don't think the low fat diet is helping. Do you? (feel free to really reply to these questions. I love discussion.)
In the early 1900's a man invented the electrocardiograph to diagnose heart disease. His peers felt sorry for him and told him to keep on inventing because the poor guy could not find very many people with heart disease. There just wasn't a need for it at the time and he couldn't sell his machine. Keep in mind people weren't buying low fat dairy products from the store at the time. Folks were drinking milk from the cow out back and slapping homemade butter on their bread. Sounds good to me!
The news gets even better! Animal fats are the best source for your fat soluble vitamins, A, D, K, and E. Butter from grass fed cows is a great place to start for these nutrients. Check out localharvest.com to find a source near you.
This leads me to one caveat. If I were to take fat cells out of yours or my body we could find every pesticide, toxin, and chemical we have ever ingested. The same goes for our food sources. Butter that is not organic is one of the greatest concentrations of pesticides. Much much greater than anything you would find in the produce section. We only consume meats and dairy that are organic in our house.
I am trying to keep these posts fairly brief because the word on the street is that I can be overwhelming at times. My promise to you is that I will try to hold back and give you tid bits here and there that are bite size. With that said, I will go into fats, oils, and grass fed organic meats and dairy products in more detail in future posts.
Heck, I'm having so much fun let's just declare it fat week! Maybe even fat month!
So, go out and get yourself some farm fresh butter. I'm tell you, it's a freeing experience.
Scratch that.
Profession #1: We have intentionally not eaten a low fat diet in years.
Gasp! Did a registered dietitian just write that?
Proudly, yes.
In sticking with our devotion to eating only things God created (or at least very close to the way God created them) we have included fats as well. After all isn't raw whole fat milk a "whole food." Would not low fat milk, yogurt, and cheese go through intense processing to be made into such an unnatural state? They certainly do.
This is not about devotion to a principal at all costs. Science and research has failed to identify saturated fat (the supposed "bad" fat in animal products) as the cause of heart disease. Read that last sentence again because it is life changing. No, I am not kidding nor and am I crazy. Believe me it takes a lot of research, convincing, and soul searching for a registered dietitian to write that statement.
For years it has been driven into our heads (especially those of us who studied health and food in school) that saturated fat is bad and causes heart disease. But did you know that this theory started on one poorly done study in the 50's. The government then took off with the idea and spent great amounts of energy and money promoting it. Research has still failed to prove this theory. When you hear studies mention the correlation of saturated fat and heart disease 9 times out of 10 they have included hydrogenated oils into the study. These are not saturated fats. They are a man made chemical. I am talking about the hydrogenated oils that are in the heart doc's beloved margarine that have been repeatedly proven in research to cause heart disease. But we'll get back to that subject later. Maybe in another post.
So here is an official apology from me to those of you who suffered through tasteless and harmful fat free cheese in the 90's. I feel your pain. But let's look at the bright side! Read on.
For thousands of years people have consumed meats - not boneless, skinless chicken breasts - I am talking about the whole animal fat and all. But in the last 100 years for the first time in the history of mankind we have drastically changed the way we have eaten. And with every year our rate of heart disease and diabetes increases. Hmmm. I don't think the low fat diet is helping. Do you? (feel free to really reply to these questions. I love discussion.)
In the early 1900's a man invented the electrocardiograph to diagnose heart disease. His peers felt sorry for him and told him to keep on inventing because the poor guy could not find very many people with heart disease. There just wasn't a need for it at the time and he couldn't sell his machine. Keep in mind people weren't buying low fat dairy products from the store at the time. Folks were drinking milk from the cow out back and slapping homemade butter on their bread. Sounds good to me!
The news gets even better! Animal fats are the best source for your fat soluble vitamins, A, D, K, and E. Butter from grass fed cows is a great place to start for these nutrients. Check out localharvest.com to find a source near you.
This leads me to one caveat. If I were to take fat cells out of yours or my body we could find every pesticide, toxin, and chemical we have ever ingested. The same goes for our food sources. Butter that is not organic is one of the greatest concentrations of pesticides. Much much greater than anything you would find in the produce section. We only consume meats and dairy that are organic in our house.
I am trying to keep these posts fairly brief because the word on the street is that I can be overwhelming at times. My promise to you is that I will try to hold back and give you tid bits here and there that are bite size. With that said, I will go into fats, oils, and grass fed organic meats and dairy products in more detail in future posts.
Heck, I'm having so much fun let's just declare it fat week! Maybe even fat month!
So, go out and get yourself some farm fresh butter. I'm tell you, it's a freeing experience.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
TURKEY ALERT!!!!
True Fields in Jefferson Texas is taking orders now for Thanksgiving turkeys. If they don't have enough interest then they won't order any so they need to know ASAP. These turkeys will be free roaming therefore their meat will be higher in omega 3's from eating grass and bugs with less omega 6s like pinned up grain fed turkeys are. Plus no hormones, antibiotics, or additives.
Email Jerica to let her know you are interested info@truefields.com and check out their website while you are at it, truefields.com.
I'm not sure if they will be shipping turkeys or if they are for pick up only. Ask Jerica if you are interested.
Email Jerica to let her know you are interested info@truefields.com and check out their website while you are at it, truefields.com.
I'm not sure if they will be shipping turkeys or if they are for pick up only. Ask Jerica if you are interested.
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