fats/oils

THIS IS GREAT NEWS! But…of course, I can’t just leave it at that…

First, look over the article from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

photo by Mykl Roventine

“There’s no pleasing that Kitchen Kop Chick.”

As big an improvement as this is for the health of Californians, it would be even better if they were also requiring restaurants to switch back to frying in beef tallow like many used to – this is what McDonald’s used before switching to the cheaper trans-fat oils they use today. (Going back to beef tallow, a saturated fat, would be a miracle for sure and there’s no doubt that doctors all over America would come unglued.) Instead most eateries are switching to soy or canola oils – these are relatively NEW oils to civilization, unlike the traditional cooking oils people have used for centuries, before many of the diseases we deal with today went wild. (Heart Disease & Diabetes are two biggies.)

If all this sounds like a bunch of craziness to you, don’t take my word for it!

Read the links below for more detailed information and see what you think. It’s hard to swallow at first, I felt the same way after all that has been crammed into our brains for years about the dangers of saturated fats.

But just think…

• What have people been eating for thousands of years?
• What is more natural, or the way God made it?

Chew on those questions as you read more below…

• First read this by Ann Marie, a.k.a. “Cheeseslave” – she said it much better than I did when she wrote this post about using beef tallow to make homemade french fries. Next time I go to the farm I’m getting beef tallow and can’t wait to make these! My kids won’t believe it! (Also, great info here on “natural flavors” vs. “artificial flavors“.)
• Does fat make you fat? Read more about saturated fat, cholesterol & heart disease issues.
• Know Your Fats
• Get rid of the bad fats in your kitchen

(Many more topics & recipes along the right in the blue section!)

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Confused about fats?

Which fats are good for us, and which are detrimental to our health? They may not be the ones you think. Warning: politically incorrect nutritional information just ahead…

Since this is a Rookie Tip, I’m going to be very blunt…

Please don’t tell me you still have a tub of “I can’t believe it’s not butter” in your kitchen? Or sticks of margarine? Or “Promise spread“? Besides the fact that they’re not even real food because of how processed they are, those have trans fats: nasty hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. (Even if they say, “Zero Trans Fats per Serving”, check the ingredient label.) And if you don’t find any trans fats, I guarantee they are made with vegetable oils. (I hope you don’t have any of those around…right?)

photo by colros

What’s wrong with vegetable oils?

Sunflower, Safflower, Corn, Soybean, Canola, Cottonseed, etc. are all NEW fats to civilization, but are we all getting healthier? Nope. (Read “Do fats make us fat?” for more info on why butter is good for us, contrary to what you’ve heard.) With this topic, I try to ask the same questions when searching for the truth as always, and with fats I only have to think about what people have been eating for centuries vs. the newer products that have come out in my lifetime…and the resulting effects on our health. You don’t need to look far to find the evidence: cancer, heart disease, immune system dysfunction, sterility, learning disabilities, growth problems, osteoporosis, etc.  Elizabeth explains it well in this post listing 3 strikes against vegetable oils.

So you’re wondering, “Well then what do I cook with?”

• For baking, I use organic butter (even non-organic butter is a better choice than vegetable oils.) By the way, I do not soften it in the microwave, get this: I get out a saucepan to melt it! I know, that thought seemed dreadful to me not that long ago, too, but it’s really not difficult.
• We also use butter to fry our eggs in the morning in our cast iron pans. If you use plenty of butter, you’ll have no issues with sticking.
• For homemade salad dressings, I always use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). (The WAPF says it should be cold-pressed, because heat processing can create trans fats. Oh no – I just checked my EVOO and it isn’t cold-pressed!) (Also, if you use the darker/extra virgin olive oil, it can have a strong taste, so sometimes I’ll use half expeller pressed or cold pressed sesame oil.)
• For sauteing, I use the refined coconut oil (no taste or smell – not as good for you as the virgin, but better than no coconut oil at all), unless I’m cooking something that a coconut flavor would go with, and then I use the virgin coconut oil. Kent will sometimes use olive oil, but I’ve read that’s not as safe at high heats, so after reading Scott’s post on this topic (see link below), I’m finding us some lard to have for another option. We also sometimes use ghee (clarified butter), which means the part of butter that burns is removed.
• For deep frying I love using tallow for this.  You can render your own or you could also visit my resources page for healthy sources.  Just watch your smoke point – frying in too high a temp can cause free radicals (cancer causing) to go wild in our bodies. See the link below for a list with smoking points for various oils. (This is also why you shouldn’t eat fried foods in restaurants. You never know what oil they’re using.  You’re safe in assuming it’s a bad oil since those are cheap, and you also never know how hot THEIR oil is.)
• For popcorn, I use full flavor organic virgin coconut oil (it’s SO good for us).
• If I have a recipe that calls for shortening (I don’t have many, maybe a homemade pie crust or biscuits – good recipes for both are in Nourishing Traditions), then I’ll use Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening.
• I almost forgot about Bacon grease – I use that for frying eggs, or pancakes, or other things where a bacon flavor would compliment what you’re making. We only get bacon from our local farm where we know the animals are raised well. (Or find healthy meat on my resources page.)
• By the way, palm oil is another healthy oil that you may see on ingredient labels.
  

More reminders about fats/saturated fats:

• The fats in meat & poultry are healthy as long as they’re from animals raised in healthy environments, more on in this healthy meat post.
• Eggs are good for you!
• Don’t forget to take your cod liver oil to get natural omega-3’s, along with the healthy, natural forms of vitamin A & D.
• Whole milk dairy only! Preferably from raw dairy sources.
• Healthy fats curb hunger and, like fiber, they slow down the insulin responses in our bodies (especially good for those with blood sugar issues or those who don’t want to gain weight.)

Great info on cholesterol & fats from Women to Women:

• Saturated fat remains stable at high heat, making it the preferred choice for cooking over unstable unsaturated fats. Generally speaking, the higher the proportion of saturated fat in an oil, the safer it is to cook with.
• Favor cooking methods that use moderate heat, and avoid cooking with unstable vegetable oils. Very high heat methods, such as grilling, can turn even good fat into trans fat.
• Store all cooking oils in the refrigerator to avoid rancidity. (I didn’t know this one, I assume this wouldn’t be as important for the oils you go through quickly.)
• Important Note: If you have hyperlipidemia or high cholesterol, you should heal these conditions before following the guidelines below. If you have been prescribed statin drugs, ask your healthcare practitioner about checking your liver enzymes. Eat real, natural fat and cholesterol every day as part of every meal. But do so safely and within reason. Put real butter or cold-pressed olive oil on your potato — it will fill you up and help slow your digestion of carbohydrates. (Better yet, have a sweet potato instead — it has a lower glycemic index and higher nutritional value.) Dip your bread in olive oil. Snack on nuts, nut butters, & olives. Have a moderate amount of protein at every meal — it’s usually a great source of real, natural fat.

Share your comments below. 

• Read the related post by Scott at Modern Forager: Ten oils and how to use them
• Here is a helpful, handy chart from Bryan with the Percentage of Classified Fats for Different Fats and Oils (tells how much omega 6’s, omega 3’s, saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and monounsaturated fat in each)
• Another site full of good info on fats – this was actually the first site I ever read on the topic years ago and I was blown away – it was the first time I’d heard that butter was good for me!
• More in-depth reading on the Cholesterol Myth
• People with high cholesterol live the longest
• Smoking points for various fats/oils (temperature at which formation of free radicals could occur)

(Many more topics along the right in the sidebar.)

DISCLAIMER:
As with anything and everything you see on this blog, be sure to do your own research and talk with your doctor before you make any drastic changes in your life. I don’t know what your specific health issues might be and I don’t know your health history. However, don’t JUST talk to your doctor without researching it yourself, too. Most doctors’ main area of expertise is in the field of medicine. I’m not saying that is all bad, but nobody can know everything, so what would be especially helpful is if you had a doctor who is knowledgeable about the natural ways of looking at things, too, and who doesn’t necessarily use medicine as a first line of attack.

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Does fat make you fat? Could healthy fat actually be good for us? Believe me, I’m aware of how “politically incorrect” I am when it comes to this topic!

TWO PART SERIES ON FATS AND DIETING

• PART 1 – saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease issues (and one little tid-bit about the role of fats related to sexuality)
• PART 2 – today we’ll look at specific principles related to dieting

LET’S GET TO THE NITTY GRITTY ABOUT DIETING

It’s true; gram for gram, fat has more calories than proteins or carbs. BUT ALL CALORIES ARE NOT THE SAME! As I said before, I’m not suggesting we sit down to a meal of butter, but a diet with 35-40% of calories from fat is nothing to fear, instead we should enjoy it. NOT buy counting how many grams of fat we eat per day, either. Just don’t be shy about cooking with healthy oils, and slathering some butter on a yummy whole grain roll or your fresh veggies!

• Fat helps us to feel full, this is important for obvious reasons. It satisfies us – we crave cholesterol and fat because they’re essential to our health and they help our bodies to digest and USE what we’ve eaten.
• What do fats, protein and fiber all have in common? They all slow down the insulin response in our bodies, which is spiked after eating carbs (bread, pasta, rice, any sugary foods, including fruit, etc.)

WHAT DOES INSULIN HAVE TO DO WITH WEIGHT-LOSS?

Read some excerpts from this Diabetes Health article by Jamie Bailes, MD, The fat-free fallacy, obesity’s enabler?:

• “I researched and relearned the physiology and biochemistry behind low-carb diets. As I began to take a closer look, my findings were not what I expected. It all came back to insulin. Insulin is what causes fat storage. Insulin is what drives weight gain. Insulin is what is secreted when we eat carbohydrates.”
• “Let me say this again: insulin promotes the production and storage of fat. That’s right, even without eating fat, our body produces fat from sugar.” (All carbs convert to sugar in our body.)
• “In the appropriate amount, insulin keeps the metabolic system running smoothly and everything in balance. However, in great excess it becomes a dangerous hormone wreaking havoc through the body. Mountains of scientific evidence implicate insulin as the primary cause or significant risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, arteriosclerosis and high cholesterol. It may also have a causative role in type 2 diabetes.”

“BUT I LOST WEIGHT ON A LOW-FAT DIET!”

We all may know someone who has great self-discipline and lost weight on Weight Watchers or other low-fat diets. But what if it had more to do with how they were cutting down on portion sizes and sweets consumption and had nothing do with dietary fat? What if they instead had watched their carbs and portions, ate enough healthy fats (to slow down the insulin response in the carbs), and were sure to include exercise into the plan, could they have had an easier go of it? And a better chance of keeping the weight off? Not to mention a healthier body overall with a stronger immune system, better regulation of insulin levels (as discussed above), healthier liver function, etc.

An excerpt from this article, “The fat that can make you thin”:

• “The simple truth is that low-fat diets don’t work-not permanently. You can lose weight on them if you starve yourself. You’re hungry and miserable the whole time. In order to keep the weight off you must continue to limit what you eat and go hungry. Few people are willing to live a life of constant discomfort. For this reason, low-fat dieting is difficult to maintain for any length of time. Consequently, most people eventually revert back to old eating habits. When they do, the weight comes back.”

BOTTOM LINE FOR WEIGHT LOSS

If you want to drop extra pounds and enjoy great health, here are 7 suggestions:

1. Try to get over your fat phobia and add healthy fats back into your diet. Don’t hesitate to put them on things like plenty of yummy local, preferably organic, veggies! (Healthy fats are traditional fats such as: full fat dairy products – preferably from grass fed cows, egg yolks, cod liver oils, animal fats, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, butter, and small amounts of sesame or peanut oil. Unhealthy fats include: all hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils/trans fats, margarine, corn, safflower, rapeseed/canola, sunflower, and soybean oils, especially when refined or heated.)
2. Watch your carbs and portions – I’m not always great at this part either, but I try to keep an eye on the scale and when I see I’m creeping up a little, I’ll make the decision (often the toughest part), then watch the carbs for a couple weeks, and that’s all it takes to get me back where I need to be. I never cut out meat or healthy fats. (Self-control is never easy, but I try, with God’s help, to control my body, and not let cravings, desires, etc. control ME. I fail often!)
3. When you do eat carbs, make sure they are whole grain.
4. AVOID trans fats and high fructose corn syrup! If you find items in your cupboards or frig with those ingredients, if at all possible, I suggest you toss them straight into the trash. Start reading labels so you can avoid them.
5. Limit or eliminate the sweets! (And hopefully you’re better about this one than I am!)
6. DON’T FORGET YOUR OMEGA-3′S, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE PREGNANT OR NURSING! Cod liver oil is a great source! These are very important for everyone, but especially for proper brain development in your baby and the avoidance of childhood illnesses! Here’s one more article from Newsmax on the importance of omega-3’s for pregnant Moms and children for proper brain development.
7. Exercise – find something you love to do! I may not limit the sweets as much as I should, but I am going for a run in a few minutes on this gorgeous spring day!

DISCLAIMER:

As with anything and everything you see on this blog, be sure to do your own research and talk with your doctor before you make any drastic changes in your life. I don’t know what your specific health issues might be and I don’t know your health history. However, don’t JUST talk to your doctor without researching it yourself, too. Most doctors’ main area of expertise is in the field of medicine. I’m not saying that is all bad, but nobody can know everything, so what would be especially helpful is if you had a doctor who is knowledgeable about the natural ways of looking at things, too, and who doesn’t necessarily use medicine as a first line of attack.

RELATED POSTS/LINKS:

• Harmful ingredients to avoid
• Kelly’s yummy popcorn recipe with coconut oil
• My 7 favorite kitchen gadgets
• Life changes, 5 ways they’re all the same
• What if it was all a big fat lie? - New York Times writer, Gary Taubes, takes on the “low-fat is good for you” mentality.

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The last post discussed how researchers are learning that diet foods make us fat. Today I want to explore a similar topic, this time regarding the issue of dietary fat itself.

• PART 1 – we’ll look at saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease issues in this post (and one little tid-bit about the role of fats related to sexuality)
• PART 2 – specific principles related to fats & dieting

“KELLY, YOU’RE A FREAK, YOU’RE TELLING ME I SHOULD TRY TO EAT MORE FAT?”

If there is ONE thing I want to get across to you through this blog, it’s the fact that healthy fat is needed for our bodies to be well and it doesn’t make you fat! I know, I know, you’ve been taught that for so many years, it is very difficult to wrap your brain around the fact that it may all be a farce, from someone like me no less – you must wonder how I could dare to make such a claim, but I hope you’ll keep reading so I can attempt to convince you.

FIRST, WHAT ABOUT SATURATED FATS, CHOLESTEROL, AND HEART DISEASE?!

I’ve heard many analogies about the role of cholesterol in our bodies. One is that when we’re prescribed statin drugs, it’s like “shooting the messenger” – high cholesterol isn’t the problem, it’s just a symptom of a problem going on somewhere else in your body – such as damage to your arteries from eating unhealthy fats, like highly processed vegetable oils, trans fats, margarine, etc. (By the way, statins are known for their many side-effects: often turning a healthy person into a “patient” rather quickly.)

From “The Truth About Cholesterol and Fat“:

“America has been on a low-fat diet for over 30 years. Yet we’re fatter than ever, we have an epidemic of diabetes, and our cholesterol levels are rising, not falling.”

“If you deprive yourself of cholesterol (and make up those calories in carbs and sugar), your metabolism goes into famine mode and your liver overproduces cholesterol to make up the difference and stock up. This overdrive state can’t shut off until you start eating cholesterol again. So, a low-cholesterol, high-carbohydrate diet can actually lead to high cholesterol!”

From Nina Planck in “Real Food, What To Eat And Why“

“The modern habit of eating chicken breasts and other lean cuts trimmed of all offending fats is new, an aberration in three million years of human history. Most people never ate protein without fat for the simple reason that in nature, protein and fat go together.”

Now an excerpt from an article titled, Why Butter Is Better (notice the many references listed at the bottom of the article at this link):

“Heart disease was rare in America at the turn of the century. Between 1920 and 1960, the incidence of heart disease rose precipitously to become America’s number one killer. During the same period butter consumption plummeted from eighteen pounds per person per year to four. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in statistics to conclude that butter is not the cause. Actually, butter contains many nutrients that protect us from heart disease. First among these is vitamin A which is needed for the health of the thyroid and adrenal glands, both of which play a role in maintaining the proper functioning of the heart and cardiovascular system.”

“A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine.4″

The article goes on to explain more:

• “Butter has anti-cancer properties.”
• “The vitamin A in butter is essential to a healthy immune system.”
• “Butterfat contains glycospingolipids, a special category of fatty acids that protect against gastro-intestinal infection, especially in the very young and the elderly. For this reason, children who drink skim milk have diarrhea at rates three to five times greater than children who drink whole milk.12 Cholesterol in butterfat promotes health of the intestinal wall and protects against cancer of the colon.13 Short and medium chain fatty acids protect against pathogens and have strong anti-fungal effects.14 Butter thus has an important role to play in the treatment of candida overgrowth.”
• “The notion that butter causes weight gain is a sad misconception. The short and medium chain fatty acids in butter are not stored in the adipose tissue, but are used for quick energy. Fat tissue in humans is composed mainly of longer chain fatty acids.15 These come from olive oil and polyunsaturated oils as well as from refined carbohydrates.”

WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR FATS ON?

I’m not talking about sitting down to a meal of butter. I’m just suggesting you use it when cooking or on your veggies, etc., without the guilt. As Sally Fallon (from the Weston A. Price Foundation) has said, “You should worry more about what you’re putting your butter ON (carbs), than about the butter itself.”

SO WHICH FATS ARE HEALTHY?

I’ve eaten healthy fats (animal fats, dairy fat, coconut oil, olive oil, eggs, etc.) liberally…yes, I said it, liberally, for years and my cholesterol numbers are great and my weight stays fairly stable. (Now if I could just curb those sweets a little more, maybe I could lose 10 pounds or so, too…)

LOW SEX DRIVE?

I’ll end with this last excerpt, related to sexuality and fertility, since I’m amazed at how often I hear women complain about this: “Very few of us recognize the connection between nutrition and libido. A lifetime of nutritional deficiencies creates the preconditions for hormonal imbalance. Chronic dieting has a terrible impact on your energy and self-image, and therefore on your sex drive. Low-fat diets are a special problem, because your body needs lipids to make its hormones, including the testosterone needed for sexual response.”

Photo by Carey Tilden

DISCLAIMER:

As with anything and everything you see on this blog, be sure to do your own research and talk with your doctor before you make any drastic changes in your life. I don’t know what your specific health issues might be and I don’t know your health history. However, don’t JUST talk to your doctor without researching it yourself, too. Most doctors’ main area of expertise is in the field of medicine. I’m not saying that is all bad, but nobody can know everything, so what would be especially helpful is if you had a doctor who is knowledgeable about the natural ways of looking at things, too, and who doesn’t necessarily use medicine as a first line of attack.

RELATED POSTS/LINKS:

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Since some of you may not be ready or able to make the switch to raw milk yet (the most healthy milk), I thought I’d try to help you find the next-best choice when choosing which milk to buy for your family. Keep in mind that milk is a healthy food! But as with all things, there is a big difference between the various options available.

I told you I was a freak

I can be a real crazy-woman on this topic, in case you haven’t figured that out already. I was checking out at Meijer one day and saw a woman in front of me buying 4 half gallons ($3.29 each) of Meijer organic ultra-pasteurized milk. It was burning inside of me and I wanted to tell her that she was paying more for something that is not even nutritious! To top it off, she had FAT FREE milk! It took everything in me to keep my mouth shut (no big surprise to those of you who know me), but I pulled it off.

The “organic” part was great, but there were two main issues with what she was buying:

1. The date on the milk was ALMOST TWO MONTHS FROM NOW!! An obvious hint that this is very UNNATURAL milk! When the date is that far out, that means the milk is “ultra-pasteurized” (which is also stated on the label), whereas most milk you get at the store is only “pasteurized” and the date is about a week or two out. Ultra-pasteurized basically means that they kill the milk at an even higher heat than with normal pasteurization, so it no longer even resembles milk! (They later add synthetic ingredients back in, like vitamin A & D.) The milk is so dead, it doesn’t even need refrigeration, but stores sell it in the refrigerated section or else no one would buy it, they’d be so turned off. This processing technique for milk is ONLY to lengthen the shelf life and therefore increase profits for the milk companies. Especially watch for this on those little one-cup cartons of whipping cream, which I use to make whipped cream when I don’t have enough raw cream from the top of our milk – never use “Cool Whip”! Real whipped cream is so easy to make, it only takes a few minutes and is much healthier! Thankfully, Meijer still sells it just pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized, but most companies don’t now. (I called Meijer and asked them to continue this, and you might want to do the same so it remains available.)
2. The other screaming issue was that she was buying the fat-free milk! I shudder at the thought that she may have children she was buying it for. I know, I know, your doctor told you to drink low fat milk, and he even told you that once your child is a certain age, they should drink low fat milk, too. I will not tell you to go against your doctor’s advice, however I will BEG YOU to please do your own research on this and see if there might be another side to the story that they aren’t aware of! We all, especially our children, need healthy fats in our diet, and dairy fats the way God designed them are healthy fats! It’s common sense: God didn’t make whole milk cows and skim milk cows! For centuries people would drink their milk whole, unless they were taking the cream off the top to make butter, to stir into their coffee, or to put on their oatmeal or strawberries. Try to let go of the “low fat” mentality that has been beat into us. I know this is difficult since we’re still being bombarded by that rhetoric, but just think in terms of common sense. What is more natural? How did God design it? (Here is a great article on that topic, and in doing research for this post, I also found this article showing that intake of high-fat dairy products is linked with a lower risk for infertility!)

photo by Conor Lawless
“But it tastes too thick!”

Some people tell me they just don’t like the consistency of whole milk, I used to be the same way, I loved my skim milk! This shows how not just our thinking, but even our taste buds have become warped. If I can get over this, believe me, you can too. At first it might taste a little heavier, but it wasn’t difficult at all to get used to it (give it a couple days, tops), especially once I realized how much healthier it is. (By the way, whole raw milk tastes much lighter than store-bought whole milk.) Another idea I haven’t tried, but I’d love to hear from someone who has (leave a comment below please!): add a little water to your whole milk to make it taste lighter.

Here’s more information on why to avoid low fat dairy, the following information in quotes below is from Nina Planck in her book, “Real Food: What to Eat and Why” (anything not in quotes are my words):

• Q: But won’t I gain weight drinking whole milk? A: No! “Unlike polyunsaturated fats, which the body tends to store, the saturated fats in milk are rapidly burned for energy.” Not only that, we absorb more calcium from whole milk, which helps us lose weight: “The butter fat found in milk helps the body digest the protein, and bones require saturated fats in particular to lay down calcium.” “The cream on the milk contains the vital fat-soluble vitamins A and D. Without vitamin D, less than 10% of dietary calcium is absorbed.” (Nina Planck also explains that calcium absorption may be the key to why recent studies show that people who consume more milk, yogurt, and cheese lose fat, especially belly fat, and gain lean muscle. She quotes a nutrition professor, Michael Zemel, who found that calcium from dairy foods is “strikingly more effective than calcium from fortified foods or supplements” for stimulating weight loss.)
• Q: Won’t drinking whole milk give me heart disease? A: If that were true, then why in the first half of the twentieth century did the incidence of heart disease rise, as consumption of saturated fats fell? (Dairy fat, butter, coconut oil, etc.) In recent years, the more “they” convinced us that low fat was where it was at, the unhealthier we have become! And get this: reduced fat or fat-free milks lose their milky consistency when the fat is removed, so to give the consistency back that everyone expects in their milk, dry milk powder is added. This contains oxidized (damaged) cholesterol, so the milk you thought you were drinking because it was better for your heart, turns the milk into a BAD FAT after all!
• “Skim and 2% milk must, by law, be fortified with synthetic vitamin A and synthetic vitamin D. There is some evidence that both synthetic vitamins are toxic in excess.”
• “Whole milk contains glycosphingolipids, fats that protect against gastrointestinal infection. Children who drink skim milk have diarrhea at rates 3-5 times higher than children who drink whole milk.”

Why is milk (and meat) from “grass-fed” animals so important?

If you can find grass-fed dairy products, you’ll be getting even closer to healthy raw milk. From “Real Food: What to Eat and Why” (I love that book, can you tell?): “Cows on grass contain more omega-3 fats, more vitamin A, and more beta-carotene and other antioxidants. Butter and cream from grass-fed cows are a rare source of the unique and beneficial fat CLA…CLA prevents heart disease, fights cancer, and builds lean muscle. It aids weight loss in several ways: by decreasing the amount of fat stored after eating, increasing the rate at which fat cells are broken down, and reducing the number of fat cells. (More on grass-fed meat benefits.)

Avoid milk with synthetic growth hormones: rBGH (or rBST)

Most store-bought milk comes from cows given synthetic growth hormones to increase milk production and profits for the dairy industry. Don’t worry, the FDA claims it is safe for us to drink, and we all trust them, right? (Wrong.) Not only is it uncomfortable, inhumane and unhealthy for the cows, it has also been linked to cancer, and early puberty in girls – this is highly debated, but it’s a no-brainer as far as I’m concerned. If it makes cows more prone to illness (and shortens their lifespan by half), can it be good for us to drink? So whether or not the claims of increased cancer and early puberty are true, why risk it by ingesting something unnatural?

Non-homogenized milk

My friend, Debi, recently told me where she found non-homogenized milk that is from grass-fed cows, it is local (from nearby in Michigan), contains no growth hormones, and it is only $4/gallon! (For local readers: get it at Heffron Farms by MC Sports on Plainfield. “Mooville Creamline” Milk.) It is still pasteurized (obviously, or else we couldn’t buy it at a store, but don’t forget the cigarettes while you’re there), but that is the only difference from our farm-fresh milk. When I can buy milk at a store that is only one step away from the best, I’m thrilled! You’re wondering why it matters, since we drink raw milk. The answer is because we usually run out of our raw milk each week and need some store-bought milk to hold us over a day or two until we get more from the farm. (And I also need store-bought milk to give to my day care kids.) OH, and some who think whole milk is too thick, really like this whole milk.

WHAT TO BUY

I’ll list them in order of the healthiest milk to the least healthy milk. I won’t add raw milk or low fat milk to this list, but just know that raw milk is the healthiest choice and low fat milks are the least healthy as explained above. Also, remember local is always best, and NEVER buy ultra-pasteurized anything! To find information about the milk you’re thinking about buying, you’ll probably need to go to their website and/or call the company, I’ve done this often!

1. Organic, hormone-free (all organic is), grass fed. Two brands to look for: Organic Valley or Natural By Nature. (I can’t find those brands by us.)
2. Non-organic but non-homogenized, grass fed, hormone-free. (To find milk like Mooville’s Creamline, mentioned above, in your area, try asking around at health food stores or maybe at meat markets that you know sell more natural meats. Another idea, you may even want to contact Mooville and ask if they know of other grass-fed dairies around the country – hopefully they’ll also offer non-homogenized milk, too.)
3. Non-organic, homogenized, grass fed, hormone-free.
4. Non-organic, not grass fed, hormone-free. Country Dairy brand or Meijer’s new milk is in this category.
5. Non-organic, not grass fed, growth hormones given to cows – this is typical “conventional” milk, and I recommend it the least.

As always, if you have any good information to add, please leave a comment. (Or if I’ve confused you more than before, let me know and I’ll try to clarify for you.)

• Do fats make us fat? Read more about the myths surrounding saturated fats
• I came across this good post on milk substitutes
• Here’s a link to more info on oxidized cholesterol in dairy powders.
• Eating healthy on a budget
• My Dark Secrets
• A report on which dairies are healthiest. (If you click on “full report” at the bottom of this site and go to pg. 35, it explains the criteria used.)
• Easy chicken recipe: better than chicken nuggets!
• Healthy school lunch alternatives
• Meatless/Lenten/Vegetarian meal ideas
• An article by Nina Planck on homogenized milk

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WHERE TO BUY organic virgin coconut oil.

Or keep reading for more info…

“COCONUT OIL IS THE HEALTHIEST OIL ON EARTH”

Coconut oil is a healthy fat that can help to kick-start your metabolism and assist you in weight loss – it is very different from other fats because it turns into instant energy and isn’t stored in fat cells. (Remember not all fats and calories are alike!) It is a lot like butter, cod liver oil and olive oil when you’re thinking of traditional fats and oils that have been used for thousands of years. Compare them to newer fats and oils like margarine, soy, canola, safflower, corn, sunflower and any of the others that you’ve only heard of in the past few decades, and think of how heart disease, diabetes and other issues are on the increase; whereas people have consumed coconut oil in many parts of the world for centuries. You may not have heard what a healthy fat coconut oil is due to it’s high saturated fat content, but coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids and does not have a negative effect on cholesterol, it actually can help protect your heart. Coconut oil is also rich in lauric acid. Read more at this “new look at coconut oil” link about the benefits of coconut oil and lauric acid and also find out about the latest studies on coconut oil.

photo by Koshyk

This post would go on forever if I tried to cover each topic at length, so here’s what I suggest: Google it! Whatever your issue is, type that in along with “coconut oil” and you’ll find all sorts of research and help. (If you need my help, leave a comment below.)

HOW TO GET MORE COCONUT INTO YOUR DIET

If you’re like me and don’t like the flavor of coconut (unless it’s in smoothies or in my popcorn), it’s trickier getting it into your diet, but usually you can find some recipes you like it in. Just Google “coconut recipes” and you’ll find a ton. If you find one you like, PLEASE leave a comment below and share it with us!

Also, if I’m making a recipe that I know I don’t want the flavor of coconut in, then I’ll use the unflavored, but that’s refined. From what I’ve been able to figure out, this coconut oil is no where near as beneficial as the unrefined virgin coconut oil that I’m talking about in this post, but it’s still better than none at all. See this post for info on where to get that at the best price.

WHERE TO GET THE BEST PRICE AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• More info from Carrie about eczema!
• First, if you’re wondering about whether or not I make any money if you end up buying the below products, read #3 at my FAQ post and I’ll answer that question.
• Click here for the BEST PRICE on a good brand of organic virgin coconut oil
• Ways to get more coconut into your diet – ideas from YOU
  
• I highly recommend this book, Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats, for more information on the benefits of coconut oil, especially as it relates to weight loss, along with some recipes to help you find ways to get more into your diet – and don’t forget to check out my popcorn recipe! Also, see the link below for more on coconut oil and weight loss.
• If you suffer from eczema, read the comment section at my cod liver oil post (scroll to the bottom) for more detailed information on that topic.
• You can also get the benefits of coconut oil through your skin when applied topically. Unless I’m going right to bed, I like the coconut oil cream on my skin because it soaks in better than the oil. It works well to help heal cuts or painfully dry skin, and is great on my hands after a day of changing diapers and washing a lot – they always heal quicker with this cream. Here’s what I use:
  Tropical Traditions Organic Virgin Coconut Oil Moisturizing Cream – Unscented – 4-oz. I also get this for dry lips:
  Tropical Traditions Organic Virgin Coconut Oil Lip Moisturizer – Unscented. And I really like their coconut oil/tea tree oil soap, which I tried based on Nina Planck’s recommendation. (I love her book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why.) Just do a search at the same link as above (for the cream or lip moisturizer) for “Tropical Traditions soap” and it will come up.
• For more interesting reading, especially for you skeptics out there, be sure to scroll down and check out the RELATED LINKS below!

Related Links/Posts:

• Think this is all a bunch of bunk? Check out this page full of coconut research links
• The fat that makes you thin
• Here’s a good overview on coconut oil benefits, and even though this site sells it (makes my radar go up), everything you read here is information found in many other places, this site just happens to explain it the best
• Some typical questions and misconceptions on fats and oils
• How coconut oil can help your heart!
• More here on coconut oil and weight loss
• Do diet foods make you fat?
• Healthy milk
• More info on coconut oil & dieting, along with the recipe that is mentioned in the comments below
• Coconut oil lowers cholesterol and improves thyroid function!
  

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Click here for the BEST PRICES on good brands of organic virgin coconut oil.

You now know about the health benefits of incorporating some coconut into your diet, but if you’re like me and don’t like the flavor or taste of coconut, don’t worry, there’s help for us! I have a couple good ideas to get you started below. (Find out where to get coconut oil with no flavor or smell, and although it’s better than no coconut in your diet at all, it’s not AS nutritious and beneficial as the virgin coconut oil.) I really wanted to like the virgin coconut oil, but in most recipes I just can’t do it. However, I found 2 ways that I really did LOVE it!

1. My yummy popcorn made with coconut oil - this really IS good, and tastes like old-fashioned movie theatre popcorn!

2. Smoothies – I got ideas for the ingredients in the book over on the right hand side and bottom of my home page, but I also pulled a couple different recipes together and use whatever frozen or fresh fruit I have on hand. (I use organic as much as possible.) Throw all this into the blender (I love the BOSCH BLENDER):

• 1/2 can organic coconut milk or 2 T. organic virgin coconut oil (but I prefer the milk, because depending on the temp of your other ingredients, the oil will clump up when it’s cold)
• 1 c. raw milk yogurt (you wouldn’t believe how easy this is to make) OR any whole milk yogurt (hopefully you’re with me by now and know that low-fat anything is bad!)
• frozen pineapple, strawberries, peeled apple, peeled kiwi, or any fresh or frozen fruit you have on hand – organic is best
• 2 raw egg yolks (if this freaks you out, read about what a superfood eggs are, these are so good for you and for your kids – full of healthy enzymes! Make sure they’re from a good source though, don’t do this with grocery store eggs. Don’t worry, you don’t even taste them or know they’re in there.)
• juice from 1 lime
• real maple syrup to taste (from your local health food store, bulk food store or farm)

These are so delicious and taste like a pina colada. I pour them into fancy glasses for my kids and they feel extra special. With the leftovers I make popsicles so they can have a healthy treat anytime! (I got some inexpensive Tupperware popsicle makers on e-bay.)

ENJOY!

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We’re having family over for our daughter’s birthday party, so for today here are a couple very important topics and a couple tid-bits for you to read up on – I hope you’ll take the time to check them out.

• This page explains the dangers of MSG and it’s many hidden names on ingredient labels - avoid it! It is a nerve toxin that over-excites your brain and can cause a wide-range of health problems, especially in children. (You’ll need to scroll down to get to the good MSG info on this page, the first part talks about Chinese food.) If you’d like to read more about this, I’ve heard this is a good book on the subject. (If you have trouble getting on the Mercola link above, here’s another link to a page with hidden names for MSG listed.) EXCERPT FROM MERCOLA.COM: “Food manufacturers are not stupid. They’ve caught on to the fact that people like you want to avoid eating this nasty food additive. As a result, do you think they responded by removing MSG from their products? Well, a few may have, but most of them just tried to “clean” their labels. In other words, they tried to hide the fact that MSG is an ingredient.”
  
• Check out both posts I did on healthy fats. Also read: What if it was all a big fat lie? – New York Times writer, Gary Taubes, takes on the “low-fat is good for you” mentality.
  
• Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes suggested I read this book called, “Real Food, What to Eat and Why“, by Nina Planck. I’m only part-way into it and love it already, it’s easy to read and very interesting. I’ve added it to my list of book suggestions. It’s great seeing more of the truth about nutrition becoming well-known and written about, even compared to early 2004 when I first began trying to cook healthier.
• Read here about an awesome local restaurant, Marie Catribs. Their site explains how they use mostly local foods and organic when they can, but they focus on taste as well and make everything fresh daily – I had their strawberry spinach salad the other day and it was the best I’ve ever eaten! A suggestion though: if you’ve always been more familiar with fairly traditional “Americanized” foods (whether you’re cooking or eating), be sure to print out the menu first. There are a few funky items on there and if you’re like me, you may need some time to pick from all the unique and yummy sounding menu items they offer. (Note: If you don’t live near the Grand Rapids, MI area, then just do a Google search – type in your city name along with the words “organic restaurant” or “all natural restaurant” and see what you come up with.) We need to frequent the places that are trying to serve those of us who are more health-conscious, especially when they’re serving foods as delicious as Marie Catribs’!
• Do you know of restaurants in YOUR city offering healthier menu options?  Tell us about it!
  

• My Dark Secrets
• Do diet foods make you fat?
• Trans fat dangers
• Eating healthy, without sacrifices – there’s also a link here to another great article on how we’ve been duped into thinking ALL fats are detrimental to our health
• Are supplements necessary for good health?
• My “Food Conversion” story
• Is Fluoride safe?

MORE HEALTH & NUTRITION TOPICS ALONG THE RIGHT IN THE SIDEBAR!

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You’ve all heard about the dangers of trans fats, but did you know that an ingredient label can say “zero trans fats“, but still have plenty of partially hydrogenated oils in it?

No real surprise

Artificial trans fats were originally thought to be a healthy alternative to saturated fats. Surprise surprise, the natural fat turned out to be healthier after all. (Think of what people have eaten for centuries – butter, eggs, whole milk, meat, etc. from their family farms!) Now it is widely accepted that partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (“trans fats“) have been strongly linked to a higher incidence of certain health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, psoriasis, infertility, learning disabilities, and many others.

They hope we won’t look

Trans fats are highly processed and much cheaper than healthy fats, therefore I’m sure the food manufacturers were not happy when in January 2006 it began to be required for them to list it on their ingredient labels. However, they only have to state the amount if there is more than 0.5 grams per serving, so they can change their serving size and still list “zero trans fats” on the label!

Trans fats are listed as “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” on the ingredient list, so the only way you really know if it’s in there is to…yep, read the label! (You’d be amazed how fast your eye gets at spotting that in the ingredient list!)

It’s much easier than it used to be

Not very many years ago, even in 2004 when I began eating healthier, the only way to avoid trans fats was to buy organic, and there weren’t many options – some didn’t taste great either. I’m very thankful that now it is MUCH easier to find foods (yummy ones too) without it and that it has become more widely recognized as the terribly unhealthy ingredient that it is.

• Read about healthy fats
• Dieting/my “food conversion”
• Cod liver oil - answers to common questions
• Popcorn recipe with info on a healthy oil to cook with
• Eating healthy, without sacrifices!
• Are supplements necessary for good health?

• Read more about trans fat dangers
• Harmful effects of trans fats

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