Semi OT: Dealing With Lipidophobia

[Guest guest]

http://calorielab.com/news/2007/05/21/the-lipid-phobes-guide-to-eating-fat-11-ways-fat-can-help-you-and-4-ways-it-cant-hurt-you/

or

http://tinyurl.com/2f2cq9

The lipid-phobe’s guide to dietary fat: 11 ways fat can help you

(and 4 ways it can’t hurt you)Are you a lipid-phobe? I used to

be one, too. Here’s why every woman needs to lose the fear of

fat!

Every friendship has That Conversation. You know, that one thing you

debate ad infinitum. My best friend and I have had many a tendentious

tiff over the issue of dietary fat. Like any self-respecting woman in the

prime of her dieting years (translation: life span), lipids and I have

had a rocky relationship. In high school and college I was firmly

convinced, like most people, that fat was bad. I scarfed bagels and pasta

and low-fat cookies with impunity. So did all my girlfriends. Fat was the

enemy, and we were slavishly mindful of every hidden gram. I can still

tell you the grammage of just about any food (and I bet you can,

too).

Strangely, despite my assertive fat avoidance, I kept getting … fatter.

By the time graduate school rolled around, intense migraines, mood swings

and perma-bloat were my constant companions. My friends all seemed to

suffer from similar “girl” problems: IBS, bloating, migraines, mood

swings, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Was this really just a girl

thing? To add insult to injury, I was 24 and had the complexion of a

hormonal 14-year-old. I might as well have had braces to complete my

chubby, pimply style. This would not do.

I worked as a health writer for fitness and nutrition guru

Mark Sisson (this irony is not lost on me). So, I started taking a

personal interest in all the health theories and studies Mark made me

read anyway. Like Mark, I began to question the reigning undesirability

of fat. Where did the fat loathing come from? Why, precisely, were we

women so terrified of fat? Was a nibble of cheese or a splash of cream

— or heaven forbid, a slab of butter — really the source of all my

health woes? And, more importantly, of my frumpalump figure? The research

indicated otherwise. Not only is fat perfectly healthy, it doesn’t make

you fat. Thanks, Powter. Thanks a lot.

I immediately made sweeping changes to my diet. I began living on a

deliciously greasy menu of green vegetables, salads and fish — greasy

because these vittles were smothered in all the eggs, butter, cream,

nuts, and cheese I could possibly want. After working out, I drank

half-and-half from the carton. I soaked my veggies in walnut oil. I

dunked figs in mascarpone and ate criminal amounts of avocados. To my

utter glee, I began to feel wonderful. I also cut out refined

carbohydrates and grains, save for brown rice, legumes and yams. This

wasn’t Atkins (I’m all about the greens), but it was certainly flying in

the face of conventional nutritional wisdom.

Very strange things happened. Within a few months I had dropped 20

pounds. It happened so fast, I actually got sick of buying new clothes. I

wish I could say this was all just a matter of a grown woman losing her

baby fat, but I had been skinny as a girl. Rather, I lost my fear-of-fat

fat.

My girlfriends were skeptical until they noticed my second new wardrobe

and the fact that my skin had cleared to the point that it appeared to be

permanently airbrushed. (Was it my lowered cholesterol and blood pressure

that made them jump on the chew-the-fat bandwagon? Was it the

double-digit reduction in body fat? Was it the complete and utter

disappearance of migraines, mood swings and bloat? Was it the, ahem,

newfound “regularity”? No. It was the 20 pounds and the four dress sizes.

I mean, come on.)

I was so revitalized and healthy, it created a happy ripple effect in my

little circle of influence. Okay, so I wasn’t saving orphans in Kenya,

but my friends reported amazing results from chucking the low-fat foods

and refined carbohydrates: skin perfection, IBS woes-be-gone, blessed

weight loss, better moods, better periods, sharper thinking. In fact,

we’re currently taking suggestions for a new Conversation, so if you have

any ideas please don’t hesitate to share. We’ve ruled out Hillary, Web

2.0 and wedges.

Here’s the thing: we women need fat. Fat is nutritious and essential.

There are cultures that subsist on 40, 50 and 60 percent fat and enjoy

slim figures and great health. The story you’ve been told — that fat

gives you heart disease and makes you fat — is baloney. Low-fat

baloney. And I don’t know if you’ve tasted baloney, but it’s disgusting.

(The fact that it’s reportedly our president’s favorite sandwich meat

concerns me. , you could be eating things that taste good, hombre!

You do everything else you want — why not eat tasty food? Seriously,

let’s talk.)

Things fat does:

Makes absorption of important nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants

possible. Strengthens cell linings. Improves your mood. Improves digestion and regularity. Helps to shrink blood sugar spikes and snack cravings. Reduces stress and anxiety. Helps fight headaches and hormonal imbalances. Can actually speed your weight loss. (Just mind the calories!) Gives you energy. Improves mental clarity. Helps you sleep better.

Things fat does not do:

Fat does not give you cellulite. Cellulite comes from weak, stringy

bands of fat cells. Without writing a dissertation about it, the more

likely culprit is actually sugar or processed foods. Also, as women,

we’re just prone to it. Fat does not make you fat. Sugar makes you fat. The body does not

store fat as fat — it stores sugar as fat because your beta cells get

exhausted from trying to metabolize all those carbohydrates. (Of course,

if you eat loads of calories, everything adds excess weight.) Fat does not ruin your cardiovascular health. The liver does not

release fat into the bloodstream as triglycerides — those come from

sugar. Fat does not ruin your life. Notice that the health problems many

women face all have something to do with the lack of fat consumption?

There’s a good reason for that. We’re lacking in our fat consumption.

Do your health and your body a favor. Forget the unnatural, processed

foods that replace fat with sugar, corn syrup and modified starches. We

hot mamas need fat.

Did Sara’s article help you?

If this post got you thinking about what you eat, let others know

by voting or commenting at

Digg,

Netscape, or

Reddit,

StumbleUpon, here at

CalorieLab, or at

Mark’s Daily

Apple.

Let me know how you feel and how you look if you’re bold enough to enjoy

some brie or guacamole. I’d love to hear about it (both your progress and

the food). And feel free to email me if you have any questions. I hang

out every day at the health blog

Mark’s Daily Apple, so you

can catch me there, too.

Note: It’s important to make the distinction between “good fats”

and “bad fats”. Of course, I recommend avoiding any processed

(hydrogenated) fat like the plague. But I don’t consider saturated fat to

be dangerous in moderation. I think the key is to enjoy natural fats in a

sensible ratio (more Omega-3’s than saturated). Avoid those

enfats.

Some helpful sources:

Fat helps mood (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine)

Facts about fat function from (About.com Weight Loss) Everything

you could ever want to know about Omega-3’s (Wikipedia)

Help quell depression and anxiety with good fats! (Archives of

General Psychiatry)

(Special to CalorieLab Calorie Counter News by Sara Ost of

Mark’s Daily

Apple)

—

Marilyn

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund