The Low-Fat Debacle

We’ve been enjoying a lovely thaw with temperatures reaching 40 degrees; that's a 50 degree change since the minus 10 of last week. I took the opportunity to walk out to the “back forty” to see how the bulls and horses are fairing. They’re sharing a pasture of stockpiled grass and getting along famously.

Last night I finished a second reading of The Schwarzbein Principle, a must read for anyone puzzling over the increase of the average mid-section of our human population. Dr. Schwarzbein lays blame on the low-fat, high-carbohydrate dieting craze. She says people think they’re doing right by shunning culprits like red meat, eggs, butter and mayonnaise, and eating low-fat dairy products, pasta and breakfast cereal, but are getting fatter, sicker and more depressed. Do you disagree? Turns out eating fat doesn’t make us fat. Fat is essential for regeneration of our tissues, it keeps insulin levels in check, which in turn helps prevent cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. 

Other bad habits are familiar - stress, dieting, caffeine, alcohol, aspartame, tobacco, and lack of exercise. In short, our lifestyles are making us sick and aging us quicker than we need to. Schwarzbein says to eat a balanced diet of “real” food, nothing processed. Except for homemade bread, it’s what I was raised on, garden vegetables, pork, beef, and chicken - and everything from scratch.  

I am reminded of Jack LaLanne (remember him in his jumpsuit and ballet slippers?) who said,  “if God didn’t make it, don’t eat it.” Or Dr. Gott’s, “No sugar, No flour” diet. Even Michael Pollan preaches that if Grandma wouldn't recognize it as food, don’t eat it. 

Seth is on board now since he discovered professor Loren Cordain on the web. Cordain hails the virtues of the “paleo diet,” eating as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did and what we are uniquely adapted to. His website, http://www.thepaleodiet.com/, touting lean meats, seafood, nuts, vegetables and fruit is worth a look.

The way I see it, it’s just more favorable news for good old-fashioned beef. No processing, no additives, nutrient dense, satisfying and wholesome - beef.