According to the conventional wisdom fostered by government agencies, public health organizations, the overwhelming majority of medical doctors and registered dietitians, animal fats and cholesterol-laden foods are the major cause of obesity and heart attacks. In my early twenties, I became a follower of the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. I though I had two compelling reasons to do so. First of all, both my father and paternal grandfather died of heart attacks while only in their forties. Secondly, in 1970 during a routine annual physical, my blood work showed a high uric acid reading. Since I had no symptoms, I was diagnosed with a tendency towards gout. It was explained to me that my body didn't digest proteins completely. I was told by my doctor to go on a low-protein diet, and to avoid foods high in purines, since they increase the uric acid content of the blood. This meant that I had to eliminate sardines, organ meats such as liver, heart, and kidneys. I also had to reduce my consumption of red meat by substituting chicken for beef and lamb. I was encouraged to eat salads. I was also prescribed Zyloprim.
I didn't have the prescription filled because I didn't want to be dependent upon a drug for the rest of my life. Instead, I became an "almost vegetarian". I ate a lot of fruit especially at breakfast, generally ate salads twice a day and grains with a preference for whole over refined. Dairy products like plain yogurt and cottage cheese were consumed regularly. Eggs were also consumed, but not on a daily basis. Chicken was eaten only twice a week, which was considered just enough to prevent a vitamin B-12 deficiency. Red meat was only indulged in on holidays and special occasions. My digressions from what is generally considered 'healthy eating' were quite few. I preferred to eat butter sparingly than touch margarine at all. My two weekly portions of chicken were always dark meat with the skin on. During my rare indulgences of red meat, I made sure never to trim off any fat. At my next annual physical, I was over twenty pounds lighter and my uric acid level was normal. Diet, without drugs, had proved to be very effective.
I stayed on this diet for some twenty years. During this time my blood work was always normal. My systolic blood pressure was consistently a little high 130-135, but my diastolic blood pressure was always 80 or under. My weight was generally normal, even though I have always had a tendency to gain weight. In order to avoid substantial weight gain, I would have to cut my consumption of bread and jog three times a week for a period of four to six weeks. This regimen would have to be repeated three to four times a year.
In 1991 my weight began gradually to rise and my waist started to widen. I had generally worn a 36" or 38" size pair of pants depending upon their cut. During the next decade, I put on an additional sixty-five pounds and my waist expanded to fifty inches. My blood uric acid level was again high. Now I had symptoms of gouty arthritis and needed indomethacin to control the pain and increased range of motion during flare-ups. I developed hypothyroidism. My triglycerides were high. My blood pressure had risen. I was frustrated and disappointed. I tried desperately to make "improvements" in my diet. I cut out meat entirely and became a "true" vegetarian. I ate grains and legumes always whole and mainly organic to get my protein instead of flesh foods. I cut down on dairy products. I also bought expensive mega vitamins to complement my dietary improvements. Following this new regimen for many months brought neither improvement in health nor a decrease in weight. In fact my gout attacks were more severe on a vegetarian diet. I was completely exasperated.
In mid-April 2006, more out of desperation than conviction, and more interested in empirical results than in theoretical suppositions, I decided to test on myself the efficacy of a high animal fat low-carbohydrate dietary regimen. I began consuming a daily dietary that averaged about 2,500 calories. About two-thirds of the calories came from fat and the remaining third was divided more or less evenly between protein and carbohydrates. An attempt was made to consume as many unprocessed nutrient-dense foods as possible. I tried to completely avoid white flour products, white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, and commercially bottled polyunsaturated oils. My dietary consisted of the following foods.
Fruits: Bananas, strawberries, blueberries were consumed in smoothies or yogurts. Avocados and olives were added to salads. Grapes, apples, and watermelon were served for dessert.
Vegetables: A wide variety of vegetables were eaten. I tried to eat one large salad daily. Broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, were steamed and served with lots of butter. Vegetables were also stiir-fried in extra virgin olive oil or organic expeller expressed coconut oil. I also bought or made my own lacto-fermented pickles, sauerkraut, and beets.
Dairy products: Whole raw milk unprocessed from pastured cows, acquired through a cow-share program, formed the base of all shakes and smoothies. This milk is full-fat which means that it is 20% cream by volume. Raw cheeses were added to salads. I made my own raw cream cheese from whole raw milk. A plain whole milk yogurt without additives from a biodynamic farm in Pennsylvania was purchased in a health foods store.
Grains: Bread was limited to two sometimes three slices a day. Only breads made from organic whole grains that were either sprouted or genuine sourdough were eaten. Bread was primarily used as a platform upon which to spread butter or as a sponge to soak up egg yolks, gravy, and grease. Rolled oats after being soaked for seven to twelve hours were cooked for porridge on days when I abstained from eating bread.
Flesh foods: I tried to eat liver from pastured beef or pastured chicken on a weekly basis. Beef liver with onions were served at dinner on a weekday. Chopped chicken livers were eaten as an appetizer on the weekends. Beef tongue was eaten occasionally. Organic or pastured chicken was eaten twice a week. Legs and thighs were the preferred cuts and always eaten with the skin. Hamburger meat was eaten on a weekly basis. Lamb shoulder cuts were eaten occasionally. Beef pot roast from chuck or brisket was eaten on some weekends and holidays. Canned fish (sardines, tuna without additives, and wild salmon) was eaten several times during the week.
Eggs: I consumed eggs from either pasture-raised or free-range chickens. At least two eggs were at most breakfasts, which consisted of soft-boiled eggs on toast, fried sunny-side up or as an omlette. Hard-boiled eggs were sliced and mixed in a salad at lunch or dinner. One or two raw egg yolks were tossed into a milk shake or smoothie. It was not uncommon to eat up to four eggs plus two raw egg yolks during a single day.
Broths: Chicken broth made from scratch was consumed often, especially during cold weather. Fish broth from heads and carcasses was eaten occasionally.
Beverages: Water, either from the tap or bottles, was the major beverage. Sometimes I made beet kvass. Kombucha was purchased at a health food store.
Fats and Oils: Organic butter from pastured cows was used prodigiously. A tablespoon was used to butter a slice of bread. One to two tablespoons were used to fry eggs, added to a bowl of oatmeal porridge, melted on a portion of broccoli, asparagus, and baked potato. I consumed about one pound of butter a week. Organic expeller expressed coconut oil was used to stir fry vegetables, brown meat, and put in shakes and smoothies. Extra virgin olive oil was mixed with either raw organic apple cider vinegar or organic red wine vinegar with non-irradiated spices to make a salad dressing.
Sweets: Only raw unheated and unfiltered honey was consumed sparingly.
On the above dietary regimen, I lost fifty pounds in six months without exercising. I started on April 15, 2006 weighing 262 pounds and ended on October 15, 2006 weighing 212 pounds. I lost at a rate of ten pounds a month during the first two months, then eight pounds a month during the third and fourth months, and six pounds a month in the fifth and sixth months. During this period, I really enjoyed the taste of my food. I was fully satiated and did not experience pangs of hunger, food cravings, or periods of bingeing. This was an unusual experience for me. In the past, dieting was always a tenacious struggle requiring the marshaling of every bit of will power possible never lasting longer than six weeks. I continued this high animal fat low carbohydrate diet another two months, not so much to lose further weight, but to prevent gaining back weight I had already lost. During the next two months my weight remained the same, but I continued to lose girth. At the end of eight months my pant size had gone from a tight size 44 to a loose size 38. I was still fifty pounds thinner. The severity of my gouty arthritis had lessened. My consumption of indomethacin tablets had declined. I was very happy with these results. However, I was concerned about what my blood lipids labs might during my upcoming annual physical on December 20, 2006.
According to the American Heart Association web site, total fat intake should be twenty-five to thirty-five percent of the caloric intake of one's daily diet. Saturated fat should be no more than seven percent of caloric intake. One should not consume more than 300 mgs of cholesterol. Just one egg alone contains 213 milligrams and it is all in the yolk. That is why they fat-free or low-fat dairy products, lean cuts of meat, skinless chicken breasts, omlets made only from egg whites. Yet my total fat intake was around two thirds of my daily calories. Most of it saturated, cholesterol-laden animal fat. I was eating a pound of butter from grass-fed cows, a gallon of raw whole milk with a cream line that was twenty percent by volume, a quart of biodynamic whole plain yogurt with a layer of cream on top, two dozen eggs from free range or pastured chickens on a weekly basis. On a day that I had eggs on buttered toast for breakfast, a sixteen ounce smoothie for lunch, and liver and onions plus a salad for dinner, I calculated my cholesterol consumption at 1930 mgs. This was nearly six and one-half times the recommended amount The total of 1930 mgs of cholesterol is probably understated, since on the cholesterol food chart that I used there was no calculation for whole raw milk, which is 20% cream by volume. I used the number for pasteurized, homogenized "whole milk" which is only 4-7 percent cream. My lipid panel blood work taken during my annual physical on 12/20/06 is compared with results taken the previous year on 6/1/05.
Lipid Panel 6/1/05 12/20/06
Total Cholesterol 204 214
Triglycerides 110 71
HDL Cholesterol 26 42
LDL Cholesterol 156 158
My total cholesterol rose 10 points, but my triglycerides dropped 39 points. HDL cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol which carries cholesterol away from the arteries, rose 16 points. My LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol which clogs the arteries, could only rise just 2 measly points after eight months of "gorging" myself on traditional animal fats.
I have now followed this way of eating for almost three and one-half years. I have instituted a few changes. I cut out all gluten grains completely. I no longer eat bread or oatmeal porridge. I rarely eat tropical fruits like bananas. Starchy root vegetables are hardly ever eaten. I have also increased my consumption of red meat to an almost daily basis. Being 75 inches tall and weighing 185 pounds, my BMI is 23.2. My weight is now normal. My weight had risen to 292 pounds five years ago. I am now back to wearing 36 inch waist pants. I accomplished this without going on a semi-starvation diet or engaging in prodigious amounts of exercise. Instead of cutting calories, I cut down on carbohydrates (which in my case meant cutting down on whole grains, sweet fruits, and starchy vegetables) and replaced them with traditional animal fats. My last Total Cholesterol reading was 187, nearly the lowest it has ever been.
Myron Jackler is a weight-loss counselor in Oak Park Michigan. He also gives one-on-one online weight-loss counseling at eatthefatoftheland.com eatthefatoftheland.com
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