GREATER JOLIET AREA YMCA

A Case For Saturated Fats

Americans have long been told that saturated fats are to be avoided, because they lead to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. New studies are emerging, however, that suggest they aren’t so bad after all. Looking carefully at both sides of the debate can help shed light on which choices are best.

Saturated fats are mainly found in animal products, such as butter, bacon, fatty meats, lard and milk fat. However, they can also be found in some plant products, most notably coconut oil and palm oil. If it is a natural product and is solid at room temperature, it is most likely a saturated fat.

According to the USDA Dietary Guidelines, published in 2010, we should strive to get fewer than 10 percent of our calories from saturated fats. Given an average 2,000-calorie diet, that’s about 22 grams of saturated fats per day. Most of the saturated fats in American’s diets come from regular cheese, pizza, grain- and dairy-based desserts, chicken and chicken mixed dishes, sausages and bacon, and burgers. For comparison’s sake, an ounce of Cheddar cheese contains 6 grams, a Big Mac has 10 grams and a 10-ounce ribeye has 28 grams.

The dietary guidelines state we should avoid foods containing saturated fats when possible, and strive to get most of our fats from unsaturated sources, such as those found in seafood, nuts, seeds, and oils. Historically, these were shown to have a protective effect on the heart.

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A Calorie is a Calorie…Or Is It?

The media loves sharing stories of the person who lost 100 pounds on the All-Cookie Diet, the celebrity who dropped five pounds in a week by drinking some magic juice, or the svelte marathon runner who ate only McDonald’s during his entire training. These stories attempt to persuade us that it really doesn’t matter what you eat, as long as you balance your calories-in with your calories-out. What they fail to mention, however, is how that person felt during the process, or that for every person who found success eating that way, dozens of others failed.

In a world full of different philosophies of eating, critics frequently tell people to stop worrying so much about what you eat, that a “calorie is a calorie.” Similarly, people struggling to lose weight are often told that losing weight is a “simple” matter of calories-in vs. calories-out. There is a tiny bit of truth to the notion that all calories are created equal. However, like most things having to do with a system as complex as the human body, the whole story is far more complicated.

Imagine two men, equal in terms of current body mass and activity level. One decides that, for a month, he is going to eat only Snickers. Six regular-sized Snickers bars will net him 1500 calories per day. The other man will eat only home-prepared meals made from sustainable meats and organic produce. He doesn’t track calories, but let’s say he eats moderately-sized meals totaling 2000 calories per day.

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Seasonal Matters

We’re so accustomed to seeing the produce department full of our favorite fruits and vegetables that we don’t often stop to think how amazing it is that we can buy fresh kiwis and grapes during Polar Vortex-type temperatures. But should we actually be buying these “fresh” fruits?

We tend to think that fresh produce is better, but that’s not necessarily always true. Next time you’re checking out that tiny five dollar box of raspberries, take a look at the label to find out the country of origin. It probably came from Chile or another country in the Southern Hemisphere. That means that in order to get here, it needed to be ferried over 7,000 miles across land and sea. In a world of dwindling natural resources and soaring gas prices, we should think twice before buying food that needs to travel that far.

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Paleo and Primal
Making Sense of it All

“Paleo” is one of the hottest buzzwords right now in the world of nutrition. However, for as much as we hear the term, it is really misunderstood. At its most fundamental, paleo means eating unprocessed whole foods like our paleolithic ancestors, the cavemen, would have eaten. These foods, the proponents say, are what our bodies are designed to eat, and that all the processed foods available today wreak havoc on our digestive systems and hormones, increasing our risk for most modern diseases.

Paleo staple foods are those that were available before the invention of agriculture: meat—preferably organic; seafood—preferably sustainably raised; eggs, nuts, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats.

Excluded are all grains—such as wheat, rice, and oats; all legumes—such as beans, lentils, and soy; starchy veggies like potatoes; dairy, alcohol, and all processed sugars and artificial sweeteners.

One of the biggest criticisms of the paleo diet is that it is meat-centric and deprives the body of necessary nutrients from carbohydrates. This, however, is simply not true. While meat certainly is an important part of the menu, the bulk of the menu should be vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats. And lots of eggs!

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