How the Feds Made the Country Fat

[Therapist]

Fats 65% or greater

OMG. You drink a glass of olive oil three times a day?

[DeadlySleep]

Floaters all.

[Therapist]

Gross. You just HAD to post that didn't you?

[Dogjudge]

I've worked in the food ingredient industry for 35 years.

In general, I agree with too tall's comments.

Bottom line. The "government" doesn't make anyone fat. EVER.

There a billions, if not trillions of food combinations out there. Individuals make choices.

Nutritional guidelines are just that, guidelines. They are extremely generalized and don't work for everyone. The dietary needs for a center in the NFL are totally different than a 95, female, Olympic gymnast, which are different for a sedentary 180 male who's 6'1".

My favorite thing is to watch/listen to the latest and greatest about foods. Take one item. Coffee. I can't count the number of times that studies have gone from good for you to bad for you.

You want to eat nothing but grapefruit every day? Your choice, but don't say anyone else MADE you do it.

[Janknitz]

It's a challenge getting that much fat in my diet, but no, I don't drink olive oil (but I don't shy away from using it on my food, either).

When people fail at LCHF, it's because they fear fat. There is nothing to fear from natural fats--animal and dairy fat, coconut oil and olive oil. They are nutritious (full of vitamins AD K E) and our bodies use the vitamins in our vegetables. They do NOT "clog" our arteries or damage our cardiovascular system

On the other hand, the so-called heart healthy, industrially processed Omega 6 oils are a disaster. Our government told us to swap natural fats for shortening and margarine full of transfats We are ingrained (pun?) with the idea that fat is dangerous and bad for us, in part because the fats we were told to eat were a health disaster. The USDA has pushed so-called "vegetable" oils (soy, corn, safflower, etc) because they were agricultural products, and their job was to promote agriculture. These fats are highly inflammatory, and they are particularly disastrous when combined with the huge amounts of sugar and grain Americans typically eat.

LCHF means you have to replace the carbs with something and that something is good healthy natural fat in real, whole foods. I eat whole eggs cooked in butter or ghee. Veggies taste awesome with butter or olive oil. I don't trim the fat off grass fed meats (and sometimes add fats because grassfed meat is lean). I eat the chicken skin and even render the schmaltz to mix with my chopped chicken liver (channeling my grandma). I use full fat coconut milk in my coffee and make coconut yogurt from coconut milk. I make homemade mayo and use it generously. If I could eat more dairy I'd use full fat dairy products (cream, cheese, whole milk yogurts). I snack on macadamia nuts or almond butter.

I lost 70 lbs and regained my health by eating this way instead of "following the government's guidelines".

[bv1800]

Janknitz,

Thanks for sharing. My wife and I have been investigating the affects of "yellow" oils in our diet (corn, saffron, canola, etc) and were coming to the conclusion that we needed to move to olive oil and coconut oil only. Both of us suffer from joint pain that can be managed by NSAIDs (indicating that inflamation is a significant contributor). Right now, we're a couple days into giving up the yellow oils and believe that we're noticing some benefit, but it may be placebo effects.

[Dogjudge]

janknitz,

If I understand what you are saying, you're staying away from omega 6s. Correct? BTW. They are referred to typically as Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids, or PUFAs.

Since your body does not synthesize omega 6s, and your body does need them, what are you using for a source?

[Uncle Sigh]

we needed to move to olive oil and coconut oil only

Don't forget almond oil and walnut oil. Then there's grapeseed oil - a buddy pops popcorn in grapeseed oil and swears it is delicious and more healthy. (But I guess you won't eat popcorn.)

[Uncle Sigh]

Mentioning that buddy made me think of another thing. He swears by a bread that is named after a Bible verse. Anyone know what that is about?

[bv1800]

Mentioning that buddy made me think of another thing. He swears by a bread that is named after a Bible verse. Anyone know what that is about?

Not a verse, but a phophet: is it Ezekial Bread by any chance?


Thanks for the additional oil choices. We still eat popcorn. It's the processed oils that seem to be the issue, not the grain itself.

[Dogjudge]

bv1800,

Could you clarify what you mean by processed oils?

Technically, if you grind a grain extremely fine, then crush everything under pressure, you're processing it.

[Janknitz]

If I understand what you are saying, you're staying away from omega 6s. Correct? BTW. They are referred to typically as Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids, or PUFAs.

Since your body does not synthesize omega 6s, and your body does need them, what are you using for a source?

Yes, PUFA's but not everybody understands that term and most people THINK PUFA's are healthy.

There's really no such thing as a pure form of fat in nature. Even though olive oil is mostly a monounsaturated fat, it has some saturated fat and some PUFA in it. Likewise for other natural fats--they all have some PUFA. Chicken skin is particularly high in PUFA, so while I enjoy it, I don't eat a LOT of it.

Prior to this era of manufactured fats, people survived for tens of thousands of years (with very little heart disease, diabetes, and cancer I might add). We managed to get this far without industrially processed oils. Humans did not evolve eating safflower, soy oils in large quantities and canola (what the heck is a "canola" anyway--it's a blend of oil seeds that Canada has cleverly perpetrated on western countries).

Throughout history, from natural fats in the diet, the ratio of O6 to O3 has been almost 1:1. Now, with these manufactured fats, it's often 20:1 or MORE. That serious imbalance is one of the reasons our health is at risk.

BV1800--if the oils alone don't fix the problem, try 30 days without grains. I truly did not think I had any issues with grains but I gave the 30 day elimination a try. I still didn't think it was a big deal until I added grains BACK. OH. Skeletal pain that plagued me for years went AWAY during the 30 day trial, and I didn't notice until it came BACK when I added grains back in. I, too, was on NSAIDs all the time and did serious damage to my digestive tract. Now I'm pain free and take no pain relievers at all. I wish I could take back all those years on NSAIDs--if only I had known!

[Janknitz]

Don't forget almond oil and walnut oil. Then there's grapeseed oil - a buddy pops popcorn in grapeseed oil and swears it is delicious and more healthy. (But I guess you won't eat popcorn.)

They all have a good amount of PUFA, especially grapeseed oil. Coconut oil is great on popcorn. I don't eat much popcorn these days, but if I did, I'd choose butter mixed with coconut oil.

[palerider]

Don't forget almond oil and walnut oil. Then there's grapeseed oil - a buddy pops popcorn in grapeseed oil and swears it is delicious and more healthy. (But I guess you won't eat popcorn.)

They all have a good amount of PUFA, especially grapeseed oil. Coconut oil is great on popcorn. I don't eat much popcorn these days, but if I did, I'd choose butter mixed with coconut oil.

+1 on the coconut oil for popcorn. fun stuff, solid at room temp, just barely.

[SleepWrangler]

Bottom line. The "government" doesn't make anyone fat. EVER. Nutritional guidelines are just that, guidelines. They are extremely generalized and don't work for everyone.

The government subsidizes production of low cost food items such as corn and soy. Nutritional guidelines, and with a strong marketing push from food companies, promote these food items. Cheap and plentiful so of course they are promoted. Funny how subsidized food products are promoted as healthy by the government and included in the standard food pyramid in significant quantities. Just coincidence I guess.

You want to eat nothing but grapefruit every day? Your choice, but don't say anyone else MADE you do it.

Problem is the feds are making the country fat through subsidizes and recommendation of "healthy" foods. Food guidelines were never based solely on good science but instead driven by politics. The corresponding policies invade everything from government recommendations and funding, food industry advertising, medical insurance, and medical establishment dietary guidance. Maybe an informed consumer can untangle the mess but doing so requires overcoming a lot of entrenched dogma.

As a kid I loved reading the book Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I especially admired Milo who planned to get rid of his overstock of cotton by having mess halls feed it to the men. “Chocolate-covered cotton". Genius!