Eat your fats: the skinny on the new pyramid
New Connexion, October 2006
The new food pyramid is radically different from the old pyramids, but one troubling dietary restriction still remains: cut the fat from your diet. Government agencies still believe that fats are unhealthy and recommend the minutest amount in the diet, in spite of the wealth of scientific information on the benefits of dietary fat.
The new pyramid, adopted in April 2005, uses color coded vertical stripes which represent the different food groups and their base width shows their relative proportion or percentage in the diet. MyPyramid, a new web tool at www.mypyramid.gov, helps people to figure out what and how much to eat.
The unique feature of MyPyramid is that you can input your age, sex and activity level and it will calculate the amount of each food group you should eat daily. Most recommendations offer sound advice, such as eating whole grains and varying your vegetables.
Where MyPyramid falls down is the restriction on fat in your diet.
Fat is both an insulator and a very efficient storage of energy.
Historically, fat was valued (and in primitive tribes still is) because fat consumption aids in brain growth and surviving the hardships of winter. Fats give food flavor and give us satiety, a sense of satisfaction and fullness. Without fat to flavor the food, manufacturers have used sugar to compensate. Now because of the growing awareness of the detrimental consequences of high sugar consumption, manufacturers have resorted to using substitutes such as aspartame, which breaks down into toxic compounds in the body.
Fats are absolutely necessary for almost every structure and function in the body. Every single cell wall consists of a lipid (fat) membrane, responsible for cellular exchange of nutrients and waste products. Brain tissue, the nervous system and bone marrow are primarily made out of fatty tissue, and are dependent on fats to build and repair them.
Historically, we consumed animal fats high in omega 3 essential fats. Essential means it has to be obtained from the diet, we can’t manufacture it in our bodies. Omega 3 fatty acids are formed from sunshine by grasses, algae and plankton, which are subsequently eaten by grazing animals, poultry and fish, and passed on to us when we eat them. Since we feed our livestock corn and manufactured meals, they lack this essential ingredient and so do we.
Are we overeating because our sense of satiety had been robbed by low and non-fat foods or because our bodies are desperately trying to collect enough fats for our needs?
For better health, supplement your diet with omega 3 fatty acids in the form of liquid flax oil or fish oil. I recommend alternating between the two, one bottle at a time, for better coverage of essential fat types.
Dr. Johanna Budwig, a German biochemist and seven times Nobel Prize nominee for her life work on fats, had found that mixing flax oil with sulphur-containing proteins (such as yogurt, cottage cheese, and onion and leek vegetables) changes the chemical properties of the oil. As the oil becomes water soluble, it can be carried in the blood stream where it attracts more oxygen for greater energy production.
This is especially beneficial for people with chronic diseases.
Have some flax or fish oil daily—add fruits (if using yogurt), or cucumber and seasoning, or make a spread. For weight loss, add coconut oil to your diet. I recommend Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions for mouth-watering recipes to help you include the right fats in your diet.
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