Dr. Weston Price, a dentist, published the book ‘Food and physical degeneration’ in 1939: he used it to pub- lish his findings related to several studies among traditional population groups. He visited the Polynesian islands for example and found that those who stuck to the traditional diet, in which coconut – chockfull with saturated fats – played an important role, were in fact healthy and displayed al- most no degenerative or western diseases. Those who started eating more ‘refined’ foods started developing western illnesses, including tooth decay. It was clear to Weston Price: The cause of an irregular set of teeth, as well as tooth decay, is related to (refined) food.
An Indian study showed that if one starts replacing saturated fats with refined sun flower or safflower oil, that one’s chances of developing age-related diabetes will increase (40). Studies conducted in countries where (the rich source of saturated fats) coconut (oil) is an important part of the traditional diet, show that in contrast to what was expected, there is no relation with cardio vascular disease. There are even fi gures that show that life expectancy is longer in re- gions that use more coconut (oil) than others within the same country. (44) The traditional population of Sri Lanka according to the United Nations at one time had one of the lowest mortality rates due to cardiovascu- lar disease (and plaque). Since co- conut consumption has dropped in this country by more than 35% the mortality fi gures have changed considerably. (45)
Dr. G. Blackburn of Harvard Univer- sity already stated in 1988: ‘coconut oil does not have a negative impact on cholesterol levels, not even when co- conut oil is the only source of fats.’ (107) On the other hand it has also been shown that: The consumption of hardened and refined industrial vegetable oil is proportional to the increasing number of people suffering cardiovascular disease (USDA-HNI). When scientists started feeding rats refi ned vegetable fats instead of natural pork fat their life expect- ancy decreased by 17%. In human terms this might equate to 12 years less. (Dr W. Douglass, The Milk Book).
Dr. R. McCarrison used clinical studies to show that animals that ate refined fats became infertile. Dr. C. McCay of Cornell University confirmed these results and stated that animals that were not fed natural food became infertile. Infertility in humans is also increasing at a fast pace. 1 in 6 couples will have to resort to assisted procreation. (The Great American Tragedy, D. Conrad). We need to ban refined foods from our lives.
Extra virgin olive oil is healthy because this oil has been treated respectfully and still has its numerous nutrients. The process itself is quite simple. After harvest the olives are washed, without solvents, stones are mechanically removed, and then the olives are mechanically pressed and fi ltered, stored in stainless steel vats and then fi lled in dark bottles. An extra virgin olive oil is pressed with the aim of maintaining maximum food value and taste.
Industrial supermarket oils have generally undergone a process that is destructive for our health. The objective is to make them as cheap and odourless as possible, with a long shelf time. The nuts or stones are often washed using solvents, pressed (extraction) using a chemical solvent, for more yield. Afterwards they are degummed, refined with highly basic substances, bleached, deodorized at temperatures up to 270°C, chemical preservatives are added, they are defoamed and possibly hardened. What remains is not only completely worthless, but also extremely damaging…
‘Margarine is plastic butter’, says Sally Fallon in her book ‘Nourishing traditions’. Even organic margarine is often made of refined and thus unhealthy fats! If you look up the word margarine in the dictionary you will find: ‘ersatz’ butter! In the Van Dale dictionary margarine is even described as artificial butter.
The starting point in production is totally different: A pro- ducer of extra virgin or traditional oil will strive to achieve health, taste and respect for what nature has to offer. Margarine manufacturers are interested in a longer shelf life, a product that is easy to spread, a cheaper imitation of nature. There can be no doubt: Traditional fats and extra virgin olive oils are much healthier than margarines.
An article published in Nutrition Week (22/3/91) stated that margarine users run up to two times more risk to contract cardio- vascular disease than butter users. Extra virgin fats and oils are better for you than (organic) margarine. Dr. D. White, one of the most renowned cardiologists, already demonstrated in 1950 that replacing butter, pork fat and eggs by refi ned vegetable oils led to an increase in the incidence of cardiovascular disease. (112)
Natural fats such as extra virgin coconut oil, palm oil and butter were banned to the trash bin. While synthetic fats such as margarines, refi ned supermarket fats ad oils as well as partially or fully hardened baking fats were praised.
The contrary would be much better. Because fats naturally have unique components which foster our vitality and health. While all refined fats are also responsible for illnesses.
The villains are the (over)consumption of Refined soya , sunflower, peanut, safflower and rapeseed oil…
Hidden studies: Dr. S. Malhotra of Mumbay, India, has performed a lot of research into the relation between diet and cardiovascular disease. He surveyed more than 1 million Indian railway workers. He came to the conclusion that workers who hailed form Madras, where a lot of ‘refined’ vegetable oils are used, tended to have an incidence of car diovascular—related deaths that was up to 7 times higher than Punjabi workers, who tended to consume more animal fats (48).
In contrast to what was expected heart attacks were more frequent in populations in Puerto Rico and Honolulu that tended to consume more refi ned vegetable oils. (49) Dr. K. Carroll, a biochemist, already demonstrated in 1975 that an excessive con- sumption of PUF (polyunsaturated fatty acids) increased the risk of breast cancer. He established that coconut oil is the fat most suitable to combat cancer. (73)
An other study showed that if animals are given 14% coconut oil or 14% saffl ower oil, the cholesterol stored is up to 6 times higher with refi ned saffl ower oil, than with coconut oil (100). B. Henning in 2001 stated in a publication that excessive consumption of refi ned omega-6 fatty acids (for example, refi ned sunfl ower or saffl ower oil) can contribute to changes in cell walls and the blood vessel, which in turn can contribute to contracting cardiovascular disease. (Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2001).
A study demonstrated that if 10% of rats’ calorie intake consists of extra virgin coconut oil, or 10% refi ned sunfl ower oil, that there is a signifi cant difference as re gards the cholesterol level. Refi ned sunfl ower oil increased the (‘bad’) LDL cholesterol and reduced the (‘good’) HDL cholesterol, unlike extra virgin coconut oil (99). Since Americans started consuming more refined PUFs such as soya, corn and peanut oil, and less saturated fats, the incidence of cardiovascular disease has risen. As a result of their consumption of refined unsaturated fatty acids, the US has also become the world’s fattest nation.
Many people think that only these substances were lost and that as a result refined food is not that unhealthy. But that is not the case.
In order for your body to be able to process these empty refi ned nutrients, your body needs to use its own stocks of enzymes, minerals, vitamins, proteins, etc. In other words, the more refi ned foods you consume, the more your body, brain, skin and any other organ in your body are robbed of their essential stock of healthy substances. You will be literally sucked dry. Gone is the vital- ity, gone is the immunity and gone is your health. Fatigue, illness, all types of little ailments will start cropping up and will sooner or lat- er develop into the typical western diseases. Moreover refi ned foods often also contain harmful transfats, as a result of their processing, as well as oxidized proteins, and other additives such as MSG (sodium-glutamate), chemical colorants, preservatives and aromas, which will burden our digestion even more. Other causes of western diseases include the toxic exposure to insecticides (so eat organic), household chemicals (such as paint, washing products, shampoos, perfume, deodorant, etc.), insuffi cient exercise, a stressful life, etc.
The message is: Eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, a lot of whole-wheat cereals, suf- fi cient amounts of healthy unrefi ned fats, pulses, herbs, nuts and seeds. Eat no or little milk products.
Eat no or little fi sh, meat and poultry, and always make sure it is of good quality. Don’t be fooled into thinking that chicken is healthier than beef, pork, or lamb. Only eat wild meat or organic meat, of the free-range variety. This benefits the animal, your health and the environment. Alternate your fruit, vegetables, herbs, nuts, and healthy fats and make sure that you eat sufficient quantities of raw vegetables and fruit. Weight loss, exercise, healthy food and dealing with stress are the keywords here.
All the essential nutrients have been lost
Sunflower oil should smell like sunflower pips, sesame oil like sesame seeds, coconut oil like coconut, olive oil like olives, palm oil like red palm fruit, etc.
Deodorized (and refined) oil has not only been stripped of its smell and taste, but also of essential nutrients. Without these nutrients such an oil is of a lesser quality and will not contribute to your health and vitality.
Deodorized coconut oil or palm oil is like white sugar, white flour, white rice and white spaghetti, refined (purified) fish oil and any other refined supermarket oil. They have been stripped of all their essential nutrients and are thus bad for your health.
Refined products often constitute the main cause of most western diseases. That is why you should only choose extra virgin or cold-pressed oils or fats, which were obtained in a mechanical manner and avoid all others. Every oil or fat which does not smell like its origin should be avoided like white sugar.
‘The closer to nature, the less processed, the healthier’
Bart Maes, the organic-veggie man
Which fats do we need to avoid at all costs?
‘Never economize on healthy food’
Fats are not the bogeymen we often consider them to be! On the contrary, we need fats for good health. But they need to be of impeccable quality: Mechanically cold- pressed (extra virgin) and unrefi ned (not stripped of all the accompanying nutrients) and not deodorized (not only the odour, but also essential nutrients are removed during this process). We cannot consider saturated fats to be ‘bad’ fats: we need healthy saturated fats in our body more than any other fats and they are even less sensitive to oxidation and thus more stable than the unsaturated fats in our body. We need good saturated fats as well as good fats with mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, that is what it boils down to. In the group of unrefi ned saturated fats, which can be heated, fats rich in medium chain fatty acids such as coconut oil merit special attention for various health reasons. In the group of polyunsaturated fatty acids we would like to emphasize the importance of vegetable omega 3 and omega 6 fatty ac ids, on condition that they were not refi ned, heated or hardened.
Babies and growing children especially stand to benefit from a diet rich in healthy fats. But so do people who want to prevent degenerative disease at a later age. It is important that we carefully choose and vary our fats. Healthy fats control all the body processes in our brain, skin and body. Healthy fats are good for you. Enjoy them…
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