Kinda cheesy: Sat fats, Nourishing Traditions, real food

Provocative article in New York Times last week about how an industry-promoting arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is pushing more and more cheese consumption, even as the USDA itself (urged on by all sorts of health and anti-obesity groups nationwide) is trying to get Americans to eat less saturated fat. The industry arm, Dairy Management, paid $12 million (that’s taxpayer money, natch) to devise and implement an advertising campaign for Domino’s Pizza — among a lot of other unseemly things.

So, yeah, we’ve heard that story before: Government is hypocritical, and our farm and health policies are managed by big corporations and support their interests only. Yes. Agreed.

But it’s worth mentioning that the Times article takes at face value the assumption that consumption of saturated fat has been unequivocally linked to heart disease. Whereas the truth is that the science on that is pretty shaky: The studies that support such conclusions do not sufficiently account for other lifestyle/diet factors.

I’m not saying, “Eat as much cheese and saturated fat as you like.” I am urging people who eat a generally healthy diet to include saturated fat in their meals, as they are in part responsible for transmitting the full nutrient value of vegetables and other foods to your system. What’s paramount is the right balance of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. That balance is maintained in animal fats (cheese, full-fat milk, butter, and also animal flesh; extra-virgin olive oil places close second), while it’s out of whack (too much Omega-6) in so-called “healthy” fats such as canola oil.

In my own experiences with various diets (vegan, vegetarian, omnivorous, macrobiotic, Ayurvedic), my health, balance and well-being have been best maintained by inclusion of significant saturated fats that derive from clean, all-natural sources. This means that cheese on a Domino’s extra-cheese pizza (indeed, the Times article shows that Domino’s normal pizza now has a lot more cheese than it used to) is not the way to go. Instead, eat cheese made from cows you know were raised right, feeding on grass if possible. You may want to experiment with raw milk for straight consumption as well as for your cheese consumption. I know that my digestive system is taxed by pasteurized dairy much more than it is by raw.

For what it’s worth, Rosemont‘s kitchen does not use canola and other imbalanced oils. We sell a broad variety of healthy saturated fats: all-natural meats from calmly raised animals, raw dairy from several local producers, and more.

Also, this is not one-size-fits-all. I’m skinny, am generally in good health, and metabolize quickly. If you are overweight or have high cholesterol, or simply feel terrible after eating cheese or using butter, don’t use those ingredients!

As always, trust your own body, and do the real research (rather than sharing the assumptions of the New York Times). For starters, you might want to check out the work of Sally Fallon (her book is “Nourishing Traditions”) and the Weston Price Foundation. If you do, make sure you don’t start taking that at face value. Triangulate all information with your own experience and conversations with friends (whose body needs may differ from yours and therefore can provide more insight).