EGGS EN COCOTTE

Yet another study has exonerated saturated fat and cholesterol of any link to heart disease and fingered the real culprit. The new research, just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found no evidence that eating saturated fat led to an increase in heart disease or coronary events. The researchers evaluated the best evidence to date from almost 80 studies with more than half a million subjects. They looked, not only at what people reported eating, but the composition of the fatty acids in their fat tissue…

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TURKEY CRACKLIN’S

The best thing EVER to do with Thanksgiving leftovers! Reserve any extra skin or lumps of fat from the neck and body openings when preparing your holiday turkey for roasting. After your gorgeous, golden-skinned turkey has been presented, admired, carved, and devoured, don’t throw it out; you still have the best part left! Cut away the skin from the back before tossing the carcass in a pot for making bone broth. Slice the skin into strips or squares and spread them flat on a greased sheet pan, adding any reserved fat and skin. If you prefer flat pieces, you can set…

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CHOLESTEROL MYTH BUSTERS AROUND THE WORLD

It looks like Sweden is going to be the first Western nation to officially endorse low-carb/high-fat nutrition and reject the low-fat, low-calorie dogma that has been in place for the last 30-plus years. The change followed the publication of a two-year study conducted by the Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment. The council reviewed 16,000 studies published through May 31, 2013. Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt (DietDoctor.com) published some of the highlights of this study on his blog here: low-carb-diet effective for weight-loss. He says he expects future dietary guidelines for the…

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CHOLESTEROL CLARITY

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Cholesterol got a bad rap. The evidence continues to accumulate that cholesterol is not the villain it is made out to be, but is actually part of your body’s defense system against the real killers: chronic inflammation, the lack of good, natural fats, and stress. Dr. Dwight Lundell, one of the 29 experts interviewed by author Jimmy Moore in Cholesterol Clarity, noted that in the absence of inflammation, “Cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended.” Mark Sisson, another contributor, said, “Cholesterol is one…

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SCORE! GARY TAUBES IN SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE

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Don’t miss the article by Gary Taubes in the new “Special Food Issue” of Scientific American Magazine, titled, “Which One Will Make You Fat? Rigorously controlled studies may soon give us a definitive answer about what causes obesity—excessive calories or the wrong carbohydrates” (September 2013). It features a picture of a skillet containing a burger with cheese and bacon and a plate with a bun on the opposite page. Gary says, “After a decade of studying the science and its history, I am convinced that meaningful progress against obesity will come only if…

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LESSONS ABOUT OBESITY FROM FAT MONKEYS

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An experimental drug that dramatically reduced the appetite of rodents caused obese baboons to double or triple their food intake and is now being considered as a treatment for cancer patients and those who need to gain weight. Monkeys are better research models because they are more like humans than rats or mice, not only physiologically, but also in eating behavior; they will eat when they are bored, even if they are not hungry. Fat monkeys are providing some interesting findings about what causes obesity…

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SWITZERLAND

My husband had a business meeting in Switzerland the week before Thanksgiving and I decided to go along since I had the chance. The picture above shows a unit at the Palafitte Hotel on Lake Neuchatel (literally ON Lake Neuchatel) where we stayed. It was like being on a luxury cruise without the rocking. Switzerland is known for watches, knives, chocolate, banking, and because it is a mountainous country better suited for grazing cows than farming, it is also famous for its marvelous cheese and…

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FAT IMPROVES PERFORMANCE FOR PILOTS

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A military-funded study conducted by researchers at the University of North Dakota discovered that pilots who ate the most fatty foods, such as butter or gravy, had the quickest response times in mental tests and made fewer mistakes when flying in tricky conditions. Forty-five student pilots were tracked to test their performance on flight simulators while eating four different diets: high-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-protein, and a control diet. Psychology professor Tom Petros, who conducted and reviewed the tests, said, “We wound up analyzing the data every…

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Fat Phobia

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Hooray for Greg Atkinson, food writer for the Pacific Northwest Magazine of the Seattle Times! In his article, “Beyond Fat Phobia,” (https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/beyond-fat-phobia/) he extols the virtues of butter, bacon, lard, and natural oils as he traces the disastrous history of trans fats, which he labels as “unnecessarily chemically altered food.” Finally, someone comes to the defense of the good, natural fats that have taken the blame for the mess created by the artificial junk that has been heavily promoted as heart-healthy alternatives. Even venerable olive…

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