Pure Lard

[Guest guest]

" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch

HSI e-Alert - Pure Lard

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 07:00:00 -0400

HSI e-Alert - Pure Lard

 

 

 

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

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August 22, 2005

 

 

Dear Reader,

 

If you're a dedicated vegetarian, prepare to be appalled.

 

If you're convinced that saturated fat is bad for your health, prepare

to be surprised.

 

And if the thought of cooking with lard sounds unappetizing, prepare

to be tantalized.

 

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Wiggle room

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Imagine how daunting this task would be: Try to convince the many

thousands of New York City restaurant owners, managers and cooks to

change the way they prepare food. And just to make it even more

daunting, the change will probably raise the cost of food preparation.

 

You might have better luck coaxing a restaurant manager through the

eye of a needle.

 

Nevertheless, officials at New York City's Department of Health and

Mental Hygiene are trying to make dining out less hazardous by

launching a drive to encourage every restaurant in the city to

voluntarily discontinue the use of hydrogenated oils. And this plan

has the blessing of the New York State Restaurant Association.

 

As most HSI member are probably aware by now, trans fats are created

by the hydrogenation of vegetable oil; a process that gives the oil a

longer shelf life, making it a perfect choice for restaurants and

manufacturers of processed foods. But many studies over the past

decade have shown trans fatty acid intake to be associated with a

significantly higher risk of artery damage, heart disease, Alzheimer's

disease and some cancers. A 2002 report from a National Academy of

Sciences panel concluded with this recommendation: " The only safe

intake of trans-fat is zero. "

 

Not much wiggle room in that recommendation.

 

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Babe in the city

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Next January, food manufacturers will be required to list trans fat

content on all nutrition facts panels. And so far restaurants have

dodged this regulatory bullet. But now that New York's restaurant

owners are being encouraged to face health facts and stop using

hydrogenated oils, what oil should they use instead?

 

This is where Corby Kummer jumped in with a suggestion: lard.

 

Mr. Kummer, a senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly, penned a recent

New York Times op-ed piece in which he sang the praises of lard

(rendered and clarified hog fat). And if that sounds less than

appetizing, Mr. Kummer points out that every baker knows that there is

no oil that produces a flakier or tastier pie crust. Lard also

produces delicious fried chicken and fish.

 

Obviously, a healthy diet would not include large amounts of pies and

fried foods, but lard can be used in any number of ways. And for those

who think that " pure lard " means " pure danger, " Mr. Kummer offers this

breakdown of lard's fat profile:

 

* Lard is 40 percent saturated fat (compared to coconut oil's 85

percent and palm kernel oil's 80 percent)

* Lard contains " a very respectable " 45 percent monounsaturated

fat (for more on the benefits of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs)

see the e-Alert " Fat in the Hat " - 7/14/05)

 

Now, in spite of the MUFA content of lard, the medical mainstream

might swoon at the thought of 40 percent saturated fat. After all,

saturated fats will kill you, right? They'll clog your arteries and

stop your heart, correct?

 

Answers: No and No.

 

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Narrow focus

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In a review of saturated fat studies that appeared last year in the

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the authors (from the

Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of

California) noted that many mainstream researchers have narrowly

focused on the hypothesis that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol

and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). The UC authors write:

" The evidence is not strong, and, overall, dietary intervention by

lowering saturated fat intake does not lower the incidence of nonfatal

CAD; nor does such dietary intervention lower coronary disease or

total mortality. "

 

Elsewhere in their review they state: " The conclusion of an analysis

of the history and politics behind the diet-heart hypothesis was that

after 50 years of research, there was no evidence that a diet low in

saturated fat prolongs life. "

 

And similar observations have been voiced many times by William

Campbell Douglass II, M.D., in his Daily Dose e-letter. Late last year

Dr. Douglass wrote: " Countless studies show that the MORE animal fats

people eat, the better their heart health. Need some proof from the

real world? The African Masai, North American Eskimos, Japanese,

Greeks, Okinawans, and our good friends the French all consume diets

that are extremely high (by mainstream American standards) in

saturated animal fats. Yet these people enjoy astonishingly low rates

of heart disease, hypertension, and coronary events. "

 

So don't fear the lard. Or - as Dr. Douglass puts it in his typically

direct style: " Eat your animal fats! "

 

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....and another thing

 

As the debate over saturated fats rages on, there's another health

debate raging that will probably never be completely settled: Coffee -

good or bad for you?

 

In previous e-Alerts I've told you about some of coffee's potential

effects: both the good (may help prevent Alzheimer's disease) and the

bad (may contribute to rheumatoid arthritis).

 

Today we add another one to the " good " column.

 

Studies have indicated that coffee drinkers may have a reduced risk of

liver cancer. So researchers in Japan recently combined data from two

large studies that examined coffee consumption in more than 60,000

subjects.

 

As reported in the International Journal of Cancer, occasional coffee

drinkers had a 30 percent lower risk of liver cancer compared to

subjects who didn't drink coffee. Risk was even lower for those who

drank coffee daily, which confirms the results of a recent study that

found regular coffee consumption to be linked with a significantly

reduced risk of developing a type of liver cancer known as

hepatocellular carcinoma.

 

The Japanese team notes that the next step in this research will be to

examine coffee consumption in subjects who are at high risk of liver

cancer.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

 

 

 

 

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Sources:

 

" New York City Wants Trans Fats Off the Menu " The Associated Press,

8/11/05, msnbc.msn.com

" High on the Hog " Corby Kummer, The New York Times, 8/12/05, nytimes.com

" Saturated Fats: What Dietary Intake? " American Journal of Clinical

Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 3, September 2004, ajcn.org

" Life-Saving Lipids 101 " William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., The Daily

Dose, 11/1/04, realhealthnews.com

" More Evidence Coffee May Cut Risk of Liver Cancer " Dominique Patton,

NutraIngredients, 8/4/05, nutraingredients.com

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Frank,

 

While advocating animal fat we must also be aware that the African

bushmen who consumed a lot of meat also exercised a lot. Meat was

their traditional food that they had consumed for many generations

and thus their bodies have adapted to the diet. Also they knew of

various herbs that would " soften " the meat just as Indians use Papaya

in their meat preparations which makes it more digestible.

 

Any diet must conform to what the person's ancestors have been

taking. It has always been observed that traditional diets have never

affected the native populations. It is only when, due to a foreign

influence or otherwise, that the diet changes that problems occur.

 

One man's meat.....

 

Regards,

Jagannath.

 

, " califpacific "

<califpacific@g...> wrote:

> " HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch@h...>

> HSI e-Alert - Pure Lard

> Mon, 22 Aug 2005 07:00:00 -0400

> HSI e-Alert - Pure Lard

>

>

>

>

> Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

> ****************************************************

> August 22, 2005

>

>

> Dear Reader,

>

> If you're a dedicated vegetarian, prepare to be appalled.