After
graduating from chiropractic school, I made my way to a small Inuit village at
the northern tip of Alaska to begin my first practice as a chiropractor. One of
the most impressive memories I have of my time in northern Alaska was watching
the natives haul a 20-foot whale onto the beach and divide the muktuk
(whale blubber) into three by three sheets, one per family. I learned that the
natives chopped these sheets of whale blubber into small pieces, about the size
of small grapes, to be eaten raw and sometimes dipped in seal oil. In addition
to whale blubber and seal oil, the natives continued to eat traditional staples
such as whale meat, caribou meat, fish, and goose meat.
My
observations in rural Alaska are congruent with the studies of Weston A. Price,
a Harvard-trained dentist who traveled around the world in the 1930s, visiting
many indigenous populations and observing their diets and health. Dr. Price found
that the foods of isolated primitive peoples contained at least ten times the
fat-soluble vitamins A and D found in modern diets. He also found that all healthy
populations had at least one source of animal fat and protein in their diets,
such as fatty fish, wild game, organ meats, eggs, and butter. These healthy populations
did not suffer from heart disease, digestive problems, cancer, or obesity at the
rates that we do.
For
the past twenty years, we have been encouraged to believe that saturated fats
and cholesterol, both found in animal fats, are the main causes of chronic degenerative
diseases. Ask the average North American what they know about saturated fat, and
the majority will answer that it causes heart disease. Ask the average high school
student what they know about cholesterol, and they will tell you that it is bad
for you. For years, I would have answered the same. Are these views on saturated
fat and cholesterol with merit?
Here
are some facts about saturated fats:
They
make up at least 50 percent of our cell membranes, providing essential rigidity
and strength
They
enhance the immune system
They
help incorporate calcium into our bones
Some
of them have antimicrobial properties that protect us against harmful microorganisms
in our digestive tracts
And
here are some facts about cholesterol:
It
contributes to cell membrane rigidity and strength, just as saturated fats do
It
is used to make hormones that help us deal with stress, as well to make sex hormones
It
is converted to vitamin D, essential for proper growth, healthy bones, a healthy
nervous system, muscle tone, and proper immune system function
It
is used to make bile, needed for digestion of fat in our foods
It
acts as an antioxidant, actually protecting us against cellular damage that leads
to heart disease and cancer
It
helps maintain a healthy intestinal lining, offering protection against autoimmune
illnesses
Clearly,
saturated fat and cholesterol are needed for many vital processes. We need both
in our diets to be as healthy as possible. The danger comes when we eat fats and
cholesterol that have been damaged by heat, oxygen, and unnatural farming practices.
Damaged fats and cholesterol can lead to injury to the walls of our blood vessels,
promoting a build-up of plaque that heals the injured areas. It is this build-up
of plaque that impairs blood circulation and paves the way to heart disease and
other chronic illnesses.
The
following foods are likely sources of damaged fats and/or damaged cholesterol:
Pasteurized
dairy products this includes cheese and ice cream that have been made from
pasteurized milk
Powdered
milk
Powdered
eggs
Meats
that have been cooked at high temperatures, especially those that have been fried
or deep-fried
Most
vegetable oils
All
hydrogenated oils
The
following foods are concentrated sources of healthy fats and/or healthy cholesterol:
Avocado
Nuts
and seeds
Cold-water
fish
Organic
eggs
Organic
chicken
Grass-fed
beef
Virgin
Coconut Oil
Red
Palm Oil used throughout Africa
Cold
Pressed Olive Oil
The
difference in organic and non-organic animal foods is significant. As an example,
lets look at the difference between organic and non-organic eggs. We function
best when we eat an equal balance of two fatty acids: omega-6 and omega-3. Having
too much omega-6 and too little omega-3 leads to numerous health problems, including
generalized inflammation, high blood pressure, depressed immune function, weight
gain, an irritated intestinal tract, and a tendency to form blood clots. An organic
egg, one that comes from a hen allowed to eat green plants and insects, contains
an optimal ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids of 1:1. A commercial supermarket
egg from a hen that is fed mainly grain in a factory-farm environment has a ratio
closer to 15 or 20:1.
Virgin
coconut oil and red palm oil are the best oils to cook with because they contain
a large percentage of saturated fats that remain stable and undamaged with heat.
All other vegetable oils are damaged easily with heat exposure. This is why cold-pressed
olive oil is best eaten raw.
Getting
back to my time in rural Alaska, I remember being impressed with stories that
some of my elderly patients told me about how strong and healthy their parents
and grandparents were. For Inuits living before the mid 1900s, it was a regular
occurrence to use small, homemade kayaks to go hunting in cold arctic waters.
Every spring and fall was time to go out on the ice or water for several days
to weeks at a time to hunt for whales. Although hunting and eating traditional
foods are still a part of the Inuit culture, some of my older patients remarked
how sad it was to see todays generation of Inuits suffering from numerous
health problems like cancer, heart disease, horrible dental health, and crippling
arthritis. By all accounts, these ailments were very rare in the recent past.
Of
course, it was no surprise to discover that soft drinks and fast food have become
staples in the Inuit diet. Planes flew in to our village everyday, carrying many
cases of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Doritos, and most processed convenience products found
in regular supermarkets. As a special treat, many people who were returning from
trips to Anchorage and Seattle brought back boxes from Pizza Hut and McDonalds
for their families and friends.
I
can only hope that populations like this one will not mistakenly group their pizzas
and Big Macs with their traditional animal foods as fatty foods that cause chronic
disease. Many people I have worked with over the years have made this mistake
and ended up developing health problems that were partly due to a deficiency of
healthy fats in their diets. I made this same mistake for five years.
To
learn more about the difference between healthy fats and cholesterol and damaged
ones, I recommend that you read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
or The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnskov.
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