perhaps we can orchestrate a trade of some sort:)

The Eskimo and Masai are isolated meat-eating populations (as are the Maori, who show similar rates of heart disease). The study I’d like to see would feed the Masai the Eskimo diet and vice versa. Is it animal products they’re optimized for, or just those particular animal products?

Another question is the make-up of the animal fat. Eskimos eat fish fat, which is high in omega-3 fats. Free-ranging, grass-eating cattle, the staple of the Masai, are also much higher in omega-3 fats than modern, corn-fed meat. It may very well be that a diet high in saturated fat from animals grown the old-fashioned way has health implications different from those of a modern high-fat diet.

What we do know is that modern humans who participate in controlled studies show increased markers for heart disease when they eat more saturated fat, and that high plant intake correlates with decreased disease risk for all kinds of nasty things. “Getting most of your calories from plants” is a prescription that is supported by a great deal of empirical data and one that, I think, is not unduly restrictive.

And I count myself fortunate in that my readers are not easily bored.

Of course all of this is uncontrolled data, for which there is always an alternative explanation to hand. Who knows? Maybe red wine wards off heart disease, like wolfbane and vampires. But at some point the anomalies accumulate to the point where the explanations begin to look like Ptolemy’s epicycles. I think that’s about where we are with the saturated fat hypothesis.

I think my finances decide what moderation is for lamb chops!

AML — It’s not the cholesterol in eggs that makes them a food to be eaten in moderation, it’s the saturated fat. And the preponderance of the epidemiological evidence seems to come down on the side of a Mediterranean-style diet, which has a fair amount of fat, but little of it from dairy or meat. But, as you know, it’s tough to glean nutritional truths from population data.

What’s easy to lose sight of is that, over and over, compounds linked to decreased diseaese risk (fiber, antioxidants, some vitamins) are found primarily or, in the case of fiber, exclusively in plants. The trouble with a diet high in animal products is what you’re NOT eating.

A couple of people have mentioned the M-word. Moderation makes anything okay, but I still don’t know how many lamb chops that is.

Lot’s of the fat and eggs debate is centred round the cholesterol debate – and there’s a whole separate issue contended by some scientists that actually having high cholesterol isn’t a problem (it’s other factors that cause it to become a problem).

Really don’t worry about the eggs – eggs got a bad rap as scientific research done by the cereal board (at about the time they were trying to get people to switch from eating eggs at breakfast time) concluded they were high in cholesterol. What everyone seems to miss to this day is that this was done before they differentiated between different cholesterol types – eggs are high in the good cholesterol (HDL), so plenty of eggs is perfectly fine.

Trans fats do nasty things to your cholesterol levels unless they are from animal meats – the form of the trans fats in animal meats can be beneficially converted by the human body, so again you shouldn’t worry about the animal meat too much. The main other trans fat source (the bad one) though is soy bean oil, also known as, or found in, hydrogenated vegetable oil, vagatable oil, margerine, shortening, almost all processed foods etc etc. Since this raises bad cholesterol levels (whereas saturated fat also raises good cholesterol levels), this is why butter is actually better for you, on balance, than margerine.

In my view, unless you are worried about your cholesterol levels, then saturated fats aren’t really a big concern – there’s lots of epidemiological research suggesting that higher fat diets are better for you, and saturated fats from natural sources, like you have, are going to be best.

I recently did lots of research on cholesterol for someone and did a post on it, if you’re interested in the technical stuff behind this:
http://www.njamworld.com/2009/09/28/the-cholesterol-story/

I add corn to my chickens’ diet when the weather turns bad unless I’ve got lard or lamb fat. And it’s a great way to use up what’s been hanging around in your cupboards – any seeds, dried fruits, stale crackers, nuts, bits of bread etc. Throw it in a blender til it’s small enough for them to peck at and add it to melted lard, let it cool and feed it to the chickens.

Once shoot season gets going and our dogs are working lots, some of them find it hard to hold their weight. Then I add lard to their food too, but only in small amounts or the results are too horrible to describe.

We eat far too much of the ‘bad for you’ food, and I convince myself because it’s cooked from scratch that it’s better than processed store bought stuff, but you’re right it’s still calorific and increases risk of disease. And it wouldn’t hurt me to shed a few pounds this side of Christmas.

-J

Lard is definitely “real food,” but “real food” is a seductive concept — plenty of it will clog your arteries and up your cancer risk.

I had no idea our chickens would like lard! I’m pretty sure there’s some in their future.

I’m with you on the doughnuts. I’m a sucker for a good doughnut — or even a lousy one.