Me Man, Me Eat Fat!
Men get a bad rap. Just look at sitcoms. Male characters are depicted as chubby oafish slobs, basically CAVEMEN in flannel shirts. Like these guys from According to Jim; via YouTube.
Now, AOL Men’s Fitness Center feeds into this Neanderthal nonsense with an article promoting the “healthful” benefits of saturated fats; like beef, pork chops, cheese, butter and sour cream. Get a load of this:
For years you've heard that eating saturated fat is like pouring superglue into your arteries. But the fact is, this forbidden fat actually increases your HDL (good) cholesterol, which helps remove plaque from your artery walls, decreasing your risk of heart disease. So quit depriving yourself and start eating these eight foods -- without guilt.
Make NO mistake. Eating copious amounts of saturated fat from animal products is NOT healthy; via Plos Medicine. For example, this guy ate a diet loaded with clarified butter and his heart was so COATED with dangerous fat, he needed emergency surgery to save his life!
A fat-based diet is DEADLY advice without an air of authority. It’s journalistically irresponsible, because many men are already looking for an excuse NOT to cut back on meat, dairy and other saturated fats.
Dr. Fuhrman wanted to weigh in. His thoughts:
AOL is promoting cancer, heart disease and dementia by promoting the consumption of red meat, butter and dark meat poultry as healthy and not disease promoting. It shows the pervasive influence and web-presence of the pro-animal fat crowd, in spite of a plethora of irrefutable scientific findings proving otherwise.
The bulk of evidence is IRREFUTABLE; red meat, butter and saturated animal fats are linked to cancer, heart disease, stroke and dementia. And thousands of scientific studies agree! Burying your head in the sand does NOT change facts.
Guys, if you’re striving for optimal health, you MUST restrict unhealthy foods. Research links the consumption of dairy products with prostate cancer and eating meat with prostate cancer; via CAT.INIST. So, AOL Men’s Fitness Center is promoting getting prostate cancer—which can make you IMPOTENT—not exactly good advice for men!
Okay, I’m NOT an expert, but I am a guy. I watch football, lift weights and play fantasy sports, but I also do Yoga, avoid meat or dairy and I LOVE of salads. Does this make me any LESS of a man? No! So, take Dr. Fuhrman’s advice and don’t be another knuckle-dragging modern caveman.
Why do you post such claptrap? Please read some scientific analysis such as the largest collection of reports on health-'Food, nutrition, physical activity and the prevention of cancer'-World cancer research fund 2007.More recent research (see Medpage or other sources) might also be quite revealing. Don't be lazy, read the actual research findings instead of repeating headline(inaccurate)news.
Hey Avrum-
For starters, I can post WHATEVER I want. Who are you to judge?
And the idea that eating large amounts of animal fat for health is INSANITY and simply a money-making scam.
Peace.
-Gerry
There are, I think, two distinct questions. First, can Gerry put anything he wants to on his blog? Of course he can. Second, is he putting a good mix of the scientific and the popular on his blog? If he is accomplishing the second, then the blog is worth reading. If he is not, then one should not waste their time.
When I was younger, I could have confidently answered the second question. Now that I am older and wiser, I am not so sure. When I moved into my present neighborhood, the supermarket check out was lined with magazines detailing the sexual escapades and personal trials of the Beautiful People and magazines with breathless stories such as I Bore an Aliens Child or Space Ship Seen Over White House. At first, my reaction was smugness. I was well beyond all that. But the facts are that, as we speak, a $700 billion rescue package for Wall Street is pending in Congress, and you, gentle taxpayer, are the final co-signer--yet most people's attention is on what the Beautiful People are doing. So I think that a blog worth reading has a mixture of the popular and the scientific. If only popular, it sinks into the morass. If only scientific, it is simply irrelevant to many (possibly most) people. Personally, I am glad to know that AOL is putting out the claptrap. And that Atkins isn't dead yet. And that the shades of long dead dentists still stalk the land.
Don Stewart
One thing that is almost never mentioned by the "saturated fat is good for you" group, especially if they are followers of "long dead dentists" is that the meat we eat today and the meat of 60-100 years ago has a vastly different nutritional profile. Meat of the past was from grass fed animals, raised without pesticides. There was more Omega 3 fat in these animals. Today meat animals are grain fed and additionally consume antibiotics, hormones, etc. So maybe that is one reason that the good dentist found healthy people who ate lots of meat. It is not the same meat today.
It is not eaten in the same quantity as it is today. Meat was more of a luxury item. With no refrigeration, it was not something you could always have on hand. Physical activity is a big factor as well. Humans weren't used to sitting at a desk all day. So many things have changed and they must all be taken into account.
Melody,
I definitely agree that grass-fed meat is better, which is something I do my best to consume.
Gerry,
Again, let us keep the love of Jesus in our hearts and not become so angry with those we may disagree with.
Sincerely,
Jerry Blount
Hey Jerry-
For starters, I’m an atheist. Second, what does religion have to do with this?
Peace.
-Gerry
Since Jerry Blount tells us to have the love of Jesus in our hearts, shouldn't we give equal time to Apollo, Wakan Tanka, Kishelamakank and Quetzalcoatl? We shouldn't discriminate against other religions.