By Jasmin Schellenberg —
HEALTHY SNACKS AND WHY
Popcorn (makes 8 cups)
¼ cup organic popcorn
2 Tbsp coconut oil
¼ – ½ cup melted butter or coconut oil
sea salt, to taste
In a skillet, heat the oil and popcorn over medium heat shaking constantly until popping starts. On lower heat, cook, shaking, until the popping dies away. Add butter or coconut oil and season with sea salt. Enjoy.
NUTRIENT DENSE MEAL
Spicy Stew (serves 4)
3 lb cubed beef (any cut), marinated overnight in the juice of 2 lemons
1 lb cubed tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cups beef stock
¼ tsp ground coriander
4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ tsp crushed green peppercorns
½ tsp ground allspice
2 tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cayenne powder
sea salt to taste
Put all ingredients in a crockpot or casserole dish and cook gently at 250 degrees F for 12 hours. Enjoy.
MYTHS UNVEILED: Why Butter, Fat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet
Fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a concentrated source of energy in the diet. They also provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances. Fats as part of a meal slow down nutrient absorption so we can go longer without feeling hungry. In addition, they act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Dietary fats are needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other processes. Animal fats and some tropical oils are saturated fats. Mother’s milk contains over 50% of its calories as fat, and much of it is saturated.
When science confirmed the fact that industrial oils—whether liquids or hardened—are bad news, the bureaucrats switched gears and told us not to eat any fats at all.
In Nina Teicholz’s book, The Big Fat Surprise, she researches new evidences. Gerald McNeill told her in an interview that the vegetable oils fast food chains are using create toxic oxidative products when heated. One of them is called aldehyde, which interferes with DNA and RNA, and another is formaldehyde, which is extremely toxic. One of the most oxidated products, called 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), is one of the most toxic ones. Another biochemist, Hermann Esterbauer, discovered the evidence that aldehydes are highly chemically reactive, causing free radicals, which promote premature aging. Other researchers found that HNE causes LDL-colesterol to oxidize, which makes that kind of cholesterol dangerous. They have also linked HNEs to the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
The solution may be a return to stable, solid, animal fats like lard and butter, which will have no mystery isomers nor clog up cell membranes, as trans fats do. They also do not oxidize, as liquids do.
Read more in Wise Traditions journal, summer 2014 issue www.westonaprice.org
A WALK THROUGH YOUR PANTRY:
GET RID OF: Hydrogenated fats
This is the process that turns polyunsaturates, normally liquid at room temperature, into fats that are solid at room temperature—margarine and shortening. To produce them, manufacturers begin with the cheapest oils—soy, corn, cottonseed, or canola, already rancid from the extraction process—and mix them with tiny metal particles—usually nickel oxide. The oil with its nickel catalyst is then subjected to hydrogen gas in a high-pressure, high-temperature reactor. Next, soap-like emulsifiers and starch are squeezed into the mixture to give it a better consistency; and, the oil is yet again subjected to high temperatures when it is steam-cleaned. This removes its unpleasant odor. Margarine’s natural colour, an unappetizing grey, is removed by bleach. Dyes and strong flavors must then be added to make it resemble butter. Finally, the mixture is compressed and packaged in blocks or tubs and sold as a health food.
Partially hydrogenated margarine and shortening are even worse for you than the highly refined vegetable oils from which they are made because of chemical changes that occur during the hydrogenation process. Under high temperatures, the nickel catalyst causes the hydrogen atoms to change position on the fatty acid chain. Before hydrogenation, pairs of hydrogen atoms occur together on the chain, causing the chain to bend slightly and creating a concentration of electrons at the site of the double bond. This is called the cis formation—the configuration most commonly found in nature.
With hydrogenation, one hydrogen atom of the pair is moved to the other side so that the molecule straightens. This is called the trans formation, rarely found in nature. Most of these human-made trans fats are toxins to the body, but unfortunately your digestive system does not recognize them as such. Instead of eliminating them, your body incorporates trans fats into the cell membranes as though they were cis fats and your cells actually become partially hydrogenated. Once in place, trans fatty acids wreak havoc with cell metabolism because chemical reactions can take place only when electrons in the cell membranes are in certain arrangements or patterns, which the hydrogenation process has disturbed.
Altered partially hydrogenated fats made from vegetable oils actually block utilization of essential fatty acids, causing many deleterious effects including sexual dysfunction, increased blood cholesterol, and paralysis of the immune system. Consumption of hydrogenated fats is associated with a host of other serious diseases, including cancer atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, immune system dysfunction, low-birth-weight babies, birth defects, decreased visual acuity, sterility, difficulty in lactation, and problems with bones and tendons. Yet, hydrogenated fats continue to be promoted as health foods. The popularity of margarine and shortening over butter represents a triumph of advertising duplicity over common sense. Your best defense is to avoid them like the plague.
REPLACE WITH: Animal fats
Use fats such as butter, tallow, lard, olive oil, and coconut oil.
Brought to you by Jasmin Schellenberg
Inspired by and resourced from “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon and www.westonaprice.org
For “Nourishing our Children” newsletters of the past visit www.thegreengazette.ca
