Thursday, August 7, 2008

Real Food in The Post

Are the foodies at The Washington Post reading The Slow Cook?

A little more than a month ago I wrote about my father's quadruple bypass and Nina Planck's book "Real Food" under the heading "Is Cholesterol a Myth?" The question was whether the fetishistic approach to eliminating all traces of animal fat from the diet, fanatical exercise and a prescription for Lipitor are really the path to good health.

Nina Planck lays out the case for embracing traditional foods such as whole milk, yogurt, eggs and pastured meats and rejecting the industrial diet of factory-made foods and processed fats. This week the lead story in The Washington Post's food section is titled "The Great Divide: Who Says Good Nutrition Means Animal Fats?" and it's all about the growing number of consumers following the lead of advocates such as Planck and Nancy Fallon of the Westin A. Price Foundation. Fallon, along with unorthodox nutritionist Mary Enig, authored the book "Nourishing Traditions." Both Fallon and Enig are frequently cited by Planck, who also is a follower of Westin Price.

There's also plenty in here about our local raw milk contingent. I read the piece while spooning from a dish of the yogurt I made this week from our delivery of unhomogenized whole milk and heavy cream from South Mountain creamery.

Naturally, the medical profession does not approve of Planck, Fallon or the Westin Price Foundation, calling the evidence traditionalists rely on "antiquated." Fallon, who lives here in the District of Columbia and enjoys eggs and a thick layer of butter on her bread for breakfast, gave this retort: "Would you jump off a building because the law of gravity was discovered 300 years ago? This is good science."

3 comments:

Molly Day said...

I'm with you.

Eliminating all fat from the diet is as foolish as all the normally healthy people who refuse to have one grain of salt or sugar.

I often wonder what the goal of these extreme measures is? Living to 100, avoiding disease? Curious.

Ed Bruske said...

Molly, we're not trying to eliminate fat any more so much as being choosey about the fats they eat. Look for natural fats, not processed.

christina said...

There are so many theories out there about how to control cholesterol that it becomes daunting for many who suffer from high LDL cholesterol. The health issues in America have turned just as bad as fad weight loss diets into fad medical practices. There is also a lot of people who don't understand what cholesterol even is and how it impacts your life. A year ago I went from going to the doctor for a routine check up and being told that my cholesterol level was through the roof (315) for a woman my age (31) with a family history of heart attacks. The doctor was amazed if I didn't have a heart attack within the next 5 minutes and immediately told me I needed to change my diet and get on Lipitor. I decided to do my research and weigh my options as I have never been a fan of the pharmaceutical companies and try to take as few medications as possible. This past year has been a real eye opener as to all the horrible things I've put my body through. I'm amazed it doesn't hate me. I cut out all fast foods, processed foods, anything high in saturated fats and watched my cholesterol level go down without the use of Lipitor (173). Basically, if I couldn't pronounce it or if it didn't exist in nature I didn't eat it. If it sounds questionable, maybe we should question it. It can be done.