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We need to eat more Lard
Maybe we're just not eating enough Lard... hey, if it was good enough for Grandma, it's good enough for me. 
Original article at: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealerts/...a20050822.html
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Original article at: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealerts/...a20050822.html
New York City Plans to Make Dining Out Less Hazardous
Pure Lard
If you're a dedicated vegetarian, prepare to be appalled.
If you're convinced that saturated fat is bad for your health, prepare to be surprised.
And if the thought of cooking with lard sounds unappetizing, prepare to be tantalized.
Wiggle room
Imagine how daunting this task would be: Try to convince the many thousands of New York City restaurant owners, managers and cooks to change the way they prepare food. And just to make it even more daunting, the change will probably raise the cost of food preparation.
You might have better luck coaxing a restaurant manager through the eye of a needle.
Nevertheless, officials at New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene are trying to make dining out less hazardous by launching a drive to encourage every restaurant in the city to voluntarily discontinue the use of hydrogenated oils. And this plan has the blessing of the New York State Restaurant Association.
As most HSI member are probably aware by now, trans fats are created by the hydrogenation of vegetable oil; a process that gives the oil a longer shelf life, making it a perfect choice for restaurants and manufacturers of processed foods. But many studies over the past decade have shown trans fatty acid intake to be associated with a significantly higher risk of artery damage, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and some cancers. A 2002 report from a National Academy of Sciences panel concluded with this recommendation: "The only safe intake of trans-fat is zero."
Not much wiggle room in that recommendation.
Babe in the city
Next January, food manufacturers will be required to list trans fat content on all nutrition facts panels. And so far restaurants have dodged this regulatory bullet. But now that New York's restaurant owners are being encouraged to face health facts and stop using hydrogenated oils, what oil should they use instead?
This is where Corby Kummer jumped in with a suggestion: lard.
Mr. Kummer, a senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly, penned a recent New York Times op-ed piece in which he sang the praises of lard (rendered and clarified hog fat). And if that sounds less than appetizing, Mr. Kummer points out that every baker knows that there is no oil that produces a flakier or tastier pie crust. Lard also produces delicious fried chicken and fish.
Obviously, a healthy diet would not include large amounts of pies and fried foods, but lard can be used in any number of ways. And for those who think that "pure lard" means "pure danger," Mr. Kummer offers this breakdown of lard's fat profile:
Lard is 40 percent saturated fat (compared to coconut oil's 85 percent and palm kernel oil's 80 percent)
Lard contains "a very respectable" 45 percent monounsaturated fat (for more on the benefits of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) see the e-Alert "Fat in the Hat" - 7/14/05)
Now, in spite of the MUFA content of lard, the medical mainstream might swoon at the thought of 40 percent saturated fat. After all, saturated fats will kill you, right? They'll clog your arteries and stop your heart, correct?
Answers: No and No.
Narrow focus
In a review of saturated fat studies that appeared last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the authors (from the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California) noted that many mainstream researchers have narrowly focused on the hypothesis that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). The UC authors write: "The evidence is not strong, and, overall, dietary intervention by lowering saturated fat intake does not lower the incidence of nonfatal CAD; nor does such dietary intervention lower coronary disease or total mortality."
Elsewhere in their review they state: "The conclusion of an analysis of the history and politics behind the diet-heart hypothesis was that after 50 years of research, there was no evidence that a diet low in saturated fat prolongs life."
And similar observations have been voiced many times by William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., in his Daily Dose e-letter. Late last year Dr. Douglass wrote: "Countless studies show that the MORE animal fats people eat, the better their heart health. Need some proof from the real world? The African Masai, North American Eskimos, Japanese, Greeks, Okinawans, and our good friends the French all consume diets that are extremely high (by mainstream American standards) in saturated animal fats. Yet these people enjoy astonishingly low rates of heart disease, hypertension, and coronary events."
So don't fear the lard. Or - as Dr. Douglass puts it in his typically direct style: "Eat your animal fats!"
*********************************************
...and another thing
As the debate over saturated fats rages on, there's another health debate raging that will probably never be completely settled: Coffee - good or bad for you?
In previous e-Alerts I've told you about some of coffee's potential effects: both the good (may help prevent Alzheimer's disease) and the bad (may contribute to rheumatoid arthritis).
Today we add another one to the "good" column.
Studies have indicated that coffee drinkers may have a reduced risk of liver cancer. So researchers in Japan recently combined data from two large studies that examined coffee consumption in more than 60,000 subjects.
As reported in the International Journal of Cancer, occasional coffee drinkers had a 30 percent lower risk of liver cancer compared to subjects who didn't drink coffee. Risk was even lower for those who drank coffee daily, which confirms the results of a recent study that found regular coffee consumption to be linked with a significantly reduced risk of developing a type of liver cancer known as hepatocellular carcinoma.
The Japanese team notes that the next step in this research will be to examine coffee consumption in subjects who are at high risk of liver cancer.
To Your Good Health,
Article by Jenny Thompson, HSI Health Alerts
Sources:
"New York City Wants Trans Fats Off the Menu" The Associated Press, 8/11/05, msnbc.msn.com
"High on the Hog" Corby Kummer, The New York Times, 8/12/05, nytimes.com
"Saturated Fats: What Dietary Intake?" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 3, September 2004, ajcn.org
"Life-Saving Lipids 101" William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., The Daily Dose, 11/1/04, realhealthnews.com
"More Evidence Coffee May Cut Risk of Liver Cancer" Dominique Patton, NutraIngredients, 8/4/05, nutraingredients.co
Pure Lard
If you're a dedicated vegetarian, prepare to be appalled.
If you're convinced that saturated fat is bad for your health, prepare to be surprised.
And if the thought of cooking with lard sounds unappetizing, prepare to be tantalized.
Wiggle room
Imagine how daunting this task would be: Try to convince the many thousands of New York City restaurant owners, managers and cooks to change the way they prepare food. And just to make it even more daunting, the change will probably raise the cost of food preparation.
You might have better luck coaxing a restaurant manager through the eye of a needle.
Nevertheless, officials at New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene are trying to make dining out less hazardous by launching a drive to encourage every restaurant in the city to voluntarily discontinue the use of hydrogenated oils. And this plan has the blessing of the New York State Restaurant Association.
As most HSI member are probably aware by now, trans fats are created by the hydrogenation of vegetable oil; a process that gives the oil a longer shelf life, making it a perfect choice for restaurants and manufacturers of processed foods. But many studies over the past decade have shown trans fatty acid intake to be associated with a significantly higher risk of artery damage, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and some cancers. A 2002 report from a National Academy of Sciences panel concluded with this recommendation: "The only safe intake of trans-fat is zero."
Not much wiggle room in that recommendation.
Babe in the city
Next January, food manufacturers will be required to list trans fat content on all nutrition facts panels. And so far restaurants have dodged this regulatory bullet. But now that New York's restaurant owners are being encouraged to face health facts and stop using hydrogenated oils, what oil should they use instead?
This is where Corby Kummer jumped in with a suggestion: lard.
Mr. Kummer, a senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly, penned a recent New York Times op-ed piece in which he sang the praises of lard (rendered and clarified hog fat). And if that sounds less than appetizing, Mr. Kummer points out that every baker knows that there is no oil that produces a flakier or tastier pie crust. Lard also produces delicious fried chicken and fish.
Obviously, a healthy diet would not include large amounts of pies and fried foods, but lard can be used in any number of ways. And for those who think that "pure lard" means "pure danger," Mr. Kummer offers this breakdown of lard's fat profile:
Lard is 40 percent saturated fat (compared to coconut oil's 85 percent and palm kernel oil's 80 percent)
Lard contains "a very respectable" 45 percent monounsaturated fat (for more on the benefits of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) see the e-Alert "Fat in the Hat" - 7/14/05)
Now, in spite of the MUFA content of lard, the medical mainstream might swoon at the thought of 40 percent saturated fat. After all, saturated fats will kill you, right? They'll clog your arteries and stop your heart, correct?
Answers: No and No.
Narrow focus
In a review of saturated fat studies that appeared last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the authors (from the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California) noted that many mainstream researchers have narrowly focused on the hypothesis that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). The UC authors write: "The evidence is not strong, and, overall, dietary intervention by lowering saturated fat intake does not lower the incidence of nonfatal CAD; nor does such dietary intervention lower coronary disease or total mortality."
Elsewhere in their review they state: "The conclusion of an analysis of the history and politics behind the diet-heart hypothesis was that after 50 years of research, there was no evidence that a diet low in saturated fat prolongs life."
And similar observations have been voiced many times by William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., in his Daily Dose e-letter. Late last year Dr. Douglass wrote: "Countless studies show that the MORE animal fats people eat, the better their heart health. Need some proof from the real world? The African Masai, North American Eskimos, Japanese, Greeks, Okinawans, and our good friends the French all consume diets that are extremely high (by mainstream American standards) in saturated animal fats. Yet these people enjoy astonishingly low rates of heart disease, hypertension, and coronary events."
So don't fear the lard. Or - as Dr. Douglass puts it in his typically direct style: "Eat your animal fats!"
*********************************************
...and another thing
As the debate over saturated fats rages on, there's another health debate raging that will probably never be completely settled: Coffee - good or bad for you?
In previous e-Alerts I've told you about some of coffee's potential effects: both the good (may help prevent Alzheimer's disease) and the bad (may contribute to rheumatoid arthritis).
Today we add another one to the "good" column.
Studies have indicated that coffee drinkers may have a reduced risk of liver cancer. So researchers in Japan recently combined data from two large studies that examined coffee consumption in more than 60,000 subjects.
As reported in the International Journal of Cancer, occasional coffee drinkers had a 30 percent lower risk of liver cancer compared to subjects who didn't drink coffee. Risk was even lower for those who drank coffee daily, which confirms the results of a recent study that found regular coffee consumption to be linked with a significantly reduced risk of developing a type of liver cancer known as hepatocellular carcinoma.
The Japanese team notes that the next step in this research will be to examine coffee consumption in subjects who are at high risk of liver cancer.
To Your Good Health,
Article by Jenny Thompson, HSI Health Alerts
Sources:
"New York City Wants Trans Fats Off the Menu" The Associated Press, 8/11/05, msnbc.msn.com
"High on the Hog" Corby Kummer, The New York Times, 8/12/05, nytimes.com
"Saturated Fats: What Dietary Intake?" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 80, No. 3, September 2004, ajcn.org
"Life-Saving Lipids 101" William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., The Daily Dose, 11/1/04, realhealthnews.com
"More Evidence Coffee May Cut Risk of Liver Cancer" Dominique Patton, NutraIngredients, 8/4/05, nutraingredients.co
But what about the WHALES??!!?? 
...Was in HEAVEN -got to 150, for awhile, then got too busy, and gave in too much... and... OK holding pattern "keep it together..." 
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