Have you noticed lately that the
dietary Dictocrats have declared “sugar, salt and fat,” (in any order) the new
trio of “bad boys”? Notice they are linking sugar to the previously demonized
salt and fat. Adding sugar is a clever way for them to pivot and I commend them
for that, but salt and saturated fat have never been on my “bad
boy” list.
Mary Enig had trumpeted the dangers
of artificial trans fats since
the McGovern Select Committee hearings of 1977. In that, of course, she was “spot
on,” as the government finally acknowledged in 2003. But, not without wrongly
linking the danger of artificial
trans fats (made from corn and other vegetable oils) to saturated fats
from animals. They also conveniently ignored the natural trans fat (conjugated linoleic acid or CLA)
that is found in animal fats and is very good for our health. Chemically these
two fats are very different. Natural CLA is good.
Further differentiation among fats
has occurred more recently: our government has declared that SOLID FATS (again
lumping together both the naturally occurring saturated fats and the
artificial trans fats) are “bad,” but VEGETABLE OILS, which are highly
processed food products, made from seeds and grains, are “good” for you.
You’re asked to ignore the fact that the United States Department of
Agriculture is the federal agency responsible for both promoting corn and
soybeans, the mainstays of the U. S. agricultural and food
manufacturing industries, and protecting the public health, in that
order. It’s pretty scary, when you think about it.
Anyway, sugar has now been added to
this nefarious group and with good cause –sugar is indeed a “bad boy.” Note,
however, that sugar is not identified as a carbohydrate. It is a simple
carb, either a mono or disaccharide. Glucose is the most common component of
the molecule. It is easily used for energy. The body “prefers” to burn glucose
first so it can conserve fat in storage for the coming famine.
Don’t we all know this? If we become “sugar burners” by grazing on carbs all
day, we (our body, through the action of insulin) will not burn any
of our stored body fat. As long as there’s sugar aplenty, it will pile
more fat on our bodies to prepare for the “lean times” ahead.
Fructose is another component of the
common sugar molecule sucrose. Consumed in large amounts it is also a “bad
boy.” A chronic toxin, it isn’t burned like glucose. It is shunted to the liver
to be detoxified. If the liver can’t handle the load, it converts it, in steps,
to fat by lipogenesis, and we get NAFLD – nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
So, what’s wrong with the new
triumvirate the government has created? If you believe that salt and saturated
fats are bad for you, then nothing. The government has invested billions in
vilifying salt and fat, and lumping sugar (sorry) together with salt and fat
condemns it by association. The problem is that salt and saturated fats are not bad for you, but excessive simple
sugars are. And if you’re a Type 2 diabetic, as I have been for 33 years, then anything
that becomes glucose in the blood (simple or complex carbs) has
to be eaten in very limited quantities.
I hew to the injunction articulated
for me by Kurt Harris, MD, in his defunct Archevore Diet: avoid as much as
possible the “NADs (Neolithic Agents of Disease): wheat, excess fructose and
excess linoleic acids.” The latter are “the grain and seed derived oils
(cooking oils): Eat
or fry with ghee, pastured butter, animal fats, or coconut oil. Avoid temperate
plant oils like corn, soybean, canola, flax, walnut, etc. Go easy on the nuts,
especially soy and peanuts.” For me, this translates to a different
triumvirate: Wheat, corn and soy. And legumes, except green beans.
Harris adds: Eat
“whole foods from animals. Favor grass-fed ruminants like beef and lamb for
your red meat. Animal fats are an excellent dietary fuel and come with lots of
fat-soluble vitamins. It can work very well to simply replace
your sugar and wheat calories with animal fats. If you are not diabetic, you
can eat more starch and less animal fat. A low carb diet can rely more on
ruminant fat and pastured butter.”
I add salt to most
things. An argument in favor of this practice is made by Michael Eades, MD, and
by Volek and Phinney in their excellent book, “The Art and Science of Low
Carbohydrate Eating.” See Retrospective #74.
So, by all means, avoid
sugar, but not salt and saturated fat. Both are good and necessary for your
health.
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