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.