Grease is the word

The era of fat phobia may be coming to an end.  Avoiding it like the plague may, after all, not have been necessary all this time. In an earlier blog, I complained about my friend the dietitian who continued to use butter while the rest of us switched to margarine. It wasn’t until margarine was exposed for its trans-fat transgressions that many of us switched back to butter – in moderation.

Fish and vegetable oils are the new health food because they contain those all important Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are also found in whole grains, olive oil and garlic and are thought to be the reason behind the healthiness of the Mediterranean Diet.

And this year a new book, aptly titled Fat, by Jennifer McLagan and Leigh Beisch espoused the virtues of fat. A vocal supporter of animal fat, Jennifer McLagan says it contains more flavour, is more stable (doesn’t turn rancid as quickly as vegetable fats), and contains no trans fats. She points to the French, who seem to have a healthier relationship with fat than do we North Americans. She feels it’s because they take time to prepare their own food and sit down with family to eat it. People will flock to purchase this book when they find out it contains recipes for bacon mayonnaise and bacon baklava.

In another interesting look at the upside of dietary fat,  Dr. Jay Wortman of the UBC Faculty of Medicine initiated a study he called “My Big Fat Diet.” Dr Wortman hypothesized that many First Nations people are suffering from obesity and Type II diabetes because they no longer consume their traditional diet which was high in fat and low in carbohydrates. They have adopted, instead, a less healthy diet full of carbohydrates.  In his study 60 First Nations people from the BC village of Alert Bay consumed a diet that was more in-keeping with their traditional food – meat, fish and non-starchy vegetables such as berries and leafy greens. Those in the study not only lost weight, but experienced an improvement in their cholesterol and diabetic problems. (To find out more, go to Dr Wortman’s blog .)

It seems to be common sense that our traditional diet - free of processed and modified ingredients –  shared with family and friends, may be the best way to a healthy, happy life.