Does our body need fat?

Tenderloin Steak

Do you ever stand in the aisle of the grocery store and wonder which cheese should I buy? Low fat or the other one? It seems like low fat might not be a bad option but then again what’s wrong with the regular cheese. Why do we have low fat cheese? We never used to have these options. What’s the right thing to do?

Fat has a bad rap. It is considered unhealthy. Saturated fats and cholesterol have supposedly been linked to Coronary heart disease. We are led to believe a low fat diet leads to trimmer waistlines, heart health and long life. Is it true? If it is, I have a couple questions. If fat is bad for you why did God create the egg with fat in it? Why did he put fat into the very milk we produce to feed our babies?

Nathan Pritikin was a strong advocate for the low fat diet and avoided sugar, white flour and all processed foods. He recommended eating fresh raw foods, whole grains and strenuous exercise. It was known as the Pritikin diet and was very successful in reducing weight, cholesterol levels and blood pressure for a time. Problems started to arise, among the first being that it was hard to maintain. Of those that were strong-willed enough to stay fat free for a length of time developed health issues including low energy, struggling to concentrate, depression, weight gain and mineral deficiencies. Pritikin developed Leukemia and took his own life at the age of 69.

Coronary heart disease was a medical rarity before 1920. So when a young man named Paul Dudley White introduced the German electrocardiograph to his fellow students at Harvard University, he was counseled to try a more lucrative branch of medicine. The machine detected blocked arterial clogs, therefore early diagnosis of coronary heart disease was possible. Over the next 40 years however coronary heart diseased increased dramatically so much so that my the mid 1950s it was the leading cause of death in America. What changed? We are told that saturated fats cause heart disease therefore there should have been an increase in the consumption of animal fat in order to cause this result. Actually from 1910 to 1970, healthy animal fats in the American diet decreased from 83% to 62%. Consumation of butter dropped from 18 pounds per person per year to 4. Cholesterol intake had risen by only 1%. At the same time animal fats decreased in the diet, vegetable oils like margarine, shortening and refined oils rose by about 400%. Processed foods and sugar consumption rose by about 60%.

The animal and vegetable sources of fat are a packed source of energy in our digestion. Your bodies needs fat in order construct cell membranes and hormones. When fat is present in a meal it slows nutrient absorption which in turn prevents you from being hungry too soon. Fat must be present to convert carotene to vitamin A and to help the body absorb minerals. Fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K are found in healthy fats. They are carriers of these valuable vitamins.

I used to cut every morsel of fat off my steak because I thought it was gross. Now that I know my body needs fat, I eat the meat with the fat. Fat is important to the body. There’s a reason God created it and included it in the food we eat.

Steak Marinade

1/3 c. soya sauce

1/3 c. olive oil

1/3 c. balsamic vinegar

1/6 c. worchestershire

1 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

3 tbsp. basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

My information source for this article is the “Nourishing Traditions” cookbook written by Sally Fallon.