Bring back the butter and cheese

So glad I never gave up my butter and cheese! Weston A. Price was right ... all those years ago when he observed the ill-effects of modern diets (refined, white and sugar-laden) on communities around the world, he maintained the importance of the fat component of the diet, as it contained the fat-soluble Vitamin A which he considered an activator!

Weston Price noted that the traditional diets of every community under study (and these ranged from Pacific Islanders to Inuits of the Arctic plus many in between) contained at least ten times as much vitamin A as the American diet of his day. His work revealed that vitamin A is present only in animal fats and necessary for the assimilation of minerals in the diet. He noted that the foods held sacred by the peoples he studied, such as spring butter, fish eggs and shark liver, were exceptionally rich in vitamin A.

It’s only taken scientists 80 years to come (partly) to their senses. Sadly, during that time, several generations have been guided to inappropriate choices of poly-unsaturated vegetable oils and refined carbohydrates as a low-fat, reduced-fat substitute for saturated animal fat (and coconut oil) in the mistaken belief these were healthier choices. 

It's such a simple mantra, but one I keep repeating ... "healthy food from healthy soil"! Still amazes me that we could honestly think the man-made rubbish could improve on nature’s natural bounty - whether that bounty be plant, animal, bird or fish. 

Remember when nuts were a no-no?

Now nuts are good for us and so is fat. Or to be more specific, almonds and their skins may selectively boost bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in the gut, and of course most folk now distinguish between good fat and bad fat and those good fats include nuts, avocado, butter, olive oil, coconut oil (oh and yes, you will probably remember when that was a bad guy too)!

So if you’re confused you can bet your life you’re not nearly as confused as the marketing teams who have been flogging the no-fat, low-fat, reduced-fat horse for years and who are now required to put a different spin on things.

My advice...nature has put everything your body and brain need into the whole food, so a diet of whole, unadulterated food, grown on healthy soil, eaten fresh and when the food is in season. But how many of us can truthfully say our meals tick all of those boxes?

Therefore nutritional supplements definitely have a place, at any age or life stage, since they provide an ‘insurance policy’ when the reality of modern diets falls short of the ideal. And when you’re choosing supplements, you also need certainty about the research supporting the formulation, the source of the raw materials and the credentials of the manufacturer. I've blogged about a few of my very favourite products through the years - check 'em out!