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A dietician sent me an email questioning the wisdom of consuming full-fat foods due to the potential for stored toxins in the fat.
This is apparently the recommendation of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) which urges members to use low-fat or skim dairy products to reduce exposure to toxins that may be contained in the whole fat portion of those same products.
Those of you who read this blog know that I myself eat plenty of healthy fats and have for many years. During the winter months, my fat consumption approaches 60% of my caloric intake. In the summer, it is closer to 50%.
The fat I consume is primarily saturated fat in the form of whole milk, cheese, eggs, kefir, cream, butter, and the fat in the meat of grass-fed animals. This mimics the seasonal fat intake and diet of traditional Northern European cultures, from which I obtain my genetic heritage.
If you wish to determine the appropriate fat intake for your personal cultural heritage, I suggest you read the epic and groundbreaking work of Dr. Weston A. Price, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
On a side note, don’t believe the doctor-speak baloney that saturated fat will clog up your arteries and give you a heart attack.
It’s the factory fats (margarine and spreads, vegetable oils, trans fats) and sugar-laden processed foods that will cause problems, NOT whole, natural fats from grass-fed animals such as our chronic disease-free ancestors ate for thousands of years.
Remember, the saturated fat-laden egg has been exonerated for over a decade as a cause of heart attack or stroke after decades of demonization (source: American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, July/Aug 2009).
Animal Fats Contain Nutrition Not Found in Plants
Are you still eating egg white omelets? You are waayyyyy behind the times, my friend!
Saturated fat does not cause a heart attack or stroke! When will our “behind the 8 ball” medical system wake up to the facts and stop recommending the devastating, diabetes and chronic disease-promoting low-fat diet to the American public?
Ok, sorry about that digression.
Am I concerned about the EWG warnings about toxins stored in the fat of animals?
The short answer is, no, I am most certainly not. Here’s why:
- You cannot hope to be healthy for the long term without consuming plenty of whole, saturated fats. Animal fats are where all the vitamin A/D/K is located and if you avoid it, you are going to have some serious nutritional deficiencies to deal with. Supplements can never take the place of food, so opting for the supplement rather than food route doesn’t work nearly as effectively unless they are whole food-based such as cod liver oil or butter oil.
- A well-nourished body can handle the toxins that come its way, but a poorly nourished body that exists in a toxin-free bubble will fall apart anyway. In other words, you have to eat the fat whether or not it is loaded with toxins or you will become nutritionally deficient. If you get what you need nutritionally, your body will be strong and able to eliminate the toxins that come along with little problem. Trying to avoid toxins by eating low-fat is foolish, though, as you will become nutritionally deficient this way and your health will deteriorate even if every mouthful of food you ever eat is 100% organic and toxin-free! In short, always choose nutrition first. With nutrition, you have a good chance at health; without it, you have no chance even if the food choices are toxin-free.
Animal Fats can be Toxin-Free Too!
The points above about eating fat regardless of whether or not it has toxins does not mean that you should not actively seek out clean sources of fat!
I was simply outlining the worst-case scenario – if I could only get animal fat by eating SPAM, then I would eat SPAM rather than not get any animal fat at all. The good news is that you can find sources of clean, whole saturated fats from grass-fed farmers in your local area!
So, seek out clean, grass-fed sources of whole fats from farmers in your local area and get the best of both worlds: healthy, toxin-free fats! Put aside the short-sighted and misinformed warnings about the toxins in animal fats from vegetarian/vegan groups or organizations like EWG. You must consume animal fats to be healthy (and to reproduce successfully and have healthy offspring, incidentally).
Fat avoidance, particularly of animal fats, is not an option for those who seek vibrant, chronic disease-free health.
It is arrogance to believe you know it all and others are wrong. You do not have to have animal fat in your diet to be healthy.
Why would vegetarian groups misinform anyone about toxins in animal fats? They consume dairy and eggs and in turn get all the vitamin A from butter and eggs, D3 from eggs and K2 from cheese. You wrote about those foods in your other post? I also happen to think that EWG does great work lobbying for environmental reform. Omnivore or vegan, less chemicals in the environment the better.
Hi Anonymous, LOTS of healthy fats keeps me at the same weight as in my 20's .. without all the fat I eat I would be 30-40 lbs heavier for sure especially at my age and after 3 kids. The mistake I see many folks make is that when they start incorporating the healthy fats into the diet they do not correspondingly reduce the grain based carbs (especially the refined carbs which will seriously bulge the backside in a hurry). You will have to be patient with the hormones coming back into balance as this will take time. I don't really watch my portions at all; I just eat until I am full – if that is a lot then that is fine as other times, I maybe don't eat as much. I do eat a very calorie packed breakfast – probably 1000 calories or more. I find I would gain weight if I don't eat breakfast. I don't snack at night either most of the time(except parties and special occasion) which makes a big difference I think.
This is a really great post. I'll be bookmarking it for sure.
I meant "ignorance" hee,hee
Sarah, you are so beautifully thin…I need to lose 35 pounds. What do you suggest? Can you give me a sample menu of your daily eating so that I have an idea? My family is new to traditional eating…we are eating fats but how do you balance eating fats and weight loss? I tried the eat fat lose fat, guess I need to pick it up again…I also have a feeling that my hormones are out of whack which contributes to the difficulty in weight loss, but like I said we are new to this and it is a process. Any help you can provide would be wonderful. I am assuming by your beautiful, thin frame, that your portions must be pretty small. Thanks again so much. Pardon my ignoriance…like I said we are new to this new, wonderful, nourishing lifestyle. We enjoy the help you provide on your blog so,so much!
My hormones were wack!!! Until I read ‘Lights Out’ by TS Wiley. You especially will love it and find it very useful… worked for an anxiety stricken 20 year old like me! Of course with added protein and fats… I borrowed a copy at the library! =)
I like how you clarified choosing nutrition first. I've often wondered how to slowly "convert" someone over to a WAPF lifestyle. I think first, wrap your mind around the nutrition aspect and then secondly, tackle the purest/cleanest/toxin-free aspect of it. Food is a sensitive subject with people so I think if there's something they can keep doing that they are already doing (consuming animal meats), then gradually transitioning them over to grassfed would be a lot easier (than bridging the gap from vegetarian to grassfed). Just thinking aloud…
Carla, that is a good point about the effects of lowfat on children. There is a child in one of my kids' classes and he gets a fantastically healthy lunch every day .. nothing processed BUT there is NO FAT in that lunch at all. Despite the healthy individual items in that lunch, a child that gets no fat like this will have a lot of trouble learning and concentrating and staying still in his seat! Our brains are over 60% fat after all.
I grew up in a fat free home and as a parent, I think it is almost equivalent to torture to deprive your child of fats they need to grow and develop. I mean, we had nearly no fat at all. I didn't realize why I would be drawn to sneak foods like an extra bite of meat (which Mom trimmed) or a spoon of peanut butter or "butter" (what Mom called margarine, which was probably also very low in fat). Life was miserable until I started low carbing and realized how amazing I felt when I ate lots of fat (I didn't keep up with low carb but I'm now trying to find the balance I need). I actually never had real butter until after I had kids and I will never turn back! I don't even feel guilty anymore when I eat a spoon of mayo, as long as it's the good stuff ;). We can't get raw dairy anything here so we have to make do but I refuse to feel guilty about the best I can do.
I spent the first 15 years of my adult life working in fitness. Back then, I got all of my diet advice from fitness mags. I worked out for hours upon hours every day carefully monitoring my fat intake. I kept my fat consumption down to no more than 20% of my daily calories. I was chronically tired and even with all the exercise I was soft. Also my blood pressure was low and my skin was very dry. A few years ago, I started eating organic, free range, and grass fed, including real cream, butter, cheese, coconut oil, and raw, full fat milk. And I will tell you that I look and feel better than ever!! Fat in the diet does NOT equal fat on the body! Its the sugar that'll kill ya!