I like big “butt”-er slabs and I cannot lie
I like butter. Real butter. Butter from cows living naturally: wandering about freely eating the grass nature meant them to eat. Oh yeah, fat and cholesterol laced eggs are pretty darn yummy too. Eggs from chickens that roam freely, eating the things chickens were meant to eat (not some fabricated food bought at farm stores akin to dry dog food - unnatural is my point). I cook the eggs in pig lard. Yup, from pigs that wander freely eating what nature intended them to.
Are you worried I am going to keel over from a heart attack? Stroke?
Don’t. I do not.
My grandparents lived on butter, lard, eggs, pork, vegetables, and fruits, etc. from the animals and produce they raised on their own farms and gathered in the woods (think berries!). I would say I come from pretty healthy stock, sturdy people who all lived to just shy of 90.
The “don’t eat fat” craze started 60+ years ago and is backed by bad science, government cooperation with corporate America, and much “public health education” sponsored by the corporate world. There are plenty of resources to look into this crazy history of moving people away from time honored and eaten animal foods full of saturated fats to eating factory made foods. Research, Read. Learn and grow in your whole food nutrition knowledge.
On June 12, 2014, TIME Magazine published articles in favor of butter and saturated fats. Check it out: TIME: Eat butter. Scientists labeled fat the enemy. Why They Were Wrong and Ending the War on Fat.
Local NYS Butter I am VERY grateful for.
What Fat Is Needed For In Your Body, I will give a few important examples:
Satiation so you do not over eat volume of food or calories and feel satisfied longer between meals. Yes, say goodbye to all day snacking because you just feel unsatisfied, un-satiated, and low level hungry constantly.
Hormone production. Your hormones rely on fat, saturated fat included, to be produced. You need hormones for every bodily function. Exactly, hormones are important. By the way, Vitamin D is actually a hormone. You need fat to manufacture “vitamin” D when you are loving up some sunshine on your skin.
The actual transportation of hormones about your body. If the hormones cannot get where they need to go in your body, they are useless.
Your cell membrane is made up of fats. Live on a low fat diet?… unhealthy cell membranes. The cell membrane needs to be healthy to transport nutrients, oxygen, hormones, and other body “chemicals” into the cell. Your cell membrane needs to be healthy to move the waste products of metabolism out of your cells and into elimination (breath, urine, feces, sweat, etc.). Metabolic waste products stuck inside the cells will make you feel lousy.
Fat soluble vitamins are in fat. We need these. Think Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, and yup, Vitamin D gets categorized here but remember that Vit D is actually a hormone. See above. ^^
The key is to eat healthy, non processed fats, fats in their natural states. This means eating whole foods and avoiding processed / packaged / factory made foods unless every ingredient in that packaged food is whole / unrefined.
local & organic sources. This does not have to be USDA certified organic. Many farmers opt not on certification because it is a paperwork hassle and expensive. Ask them everything you can think of in regards to healthy raising of food. Your health & life depends on it. The health & life of the Earth does as well.
when eating animal fat sources make sure they are from naturally raised animals eating what nature intended them to eat.
non GMO foods
What you need, fat wise, in your diet is an individual thing. Some people thrive on a higher fat content in their diets. Other people thrive on and prefer less fat in their diet. Listen to your needs. You are the best expert on yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Educate yourself around every aspect of human and environmental health. Trust me when I say they are one and the same. You are a micro of the macro. When we take care of the Earth, we are ultimately taking care of ourselves. Read & Learn. It is a way to work towards self healing.
There are so many wonderful internet sources for good information on fats, health, nutrition, etc. This happens to be a few that I would recommend:
Mercola.com
Price Pottinger Foundation
Sally Fallon
Healthy Home Economist
Dr. Axe
Dr. Hyman
I also use my School of Applied Functional Medicine’s site but this is available only to clinical students enrolled or subscribed.
Know your fat. Quiz your each & every farmer about every farming practice they use. Your health depends on it. Eat your fat. You will be satiated - ly glad you did. XOXO
A week after I wrote this post, my Functional Medicine Professor dug up this 2012 “fat” article and posted it on our School Of Applied Functional Medicine FB page:
Heart surgeon speaks out on what really causes heart disease