The Three Bad Boys
Saturated Fat, Animal Products, and Salt

by Christopher D'Orta

Is vegetarianism good for everyone? Are saturated fats bad? Cholesterol always terrible? Salt the worst? Most doctors and health enthusiasts will tell you yes to all these questions. The conventional explanation for the staggering amount of heart disease these days is that saturated fat and cholesterol cause elevated cholesterol in blood, and this cholesterol causes atheromas that block blood vessels...wambo-bambo, heart disease. Really now? Read on friend.

The medical profession relies on certain key studies to back the cholesterol- saturated fat produces heart disease theory. The first and best known such study was the Framingham Heart Study. Did this study support the conventional hypothesis? To use the words of one of the directors of the study, "In Framingham, Massachusetts, the more saturated fat one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the people’s serum cholesterol...we found that the people who ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories weighed the least and were the most physically active." Wow! Kinda begins to shed new light on the whole heart disease thing doesn’t it? In fact, almost all studies that were done in regards to this issue produced similar results. Another strange finding of some heart disease studies is that as people eat less cholesterol and saturated fat, their rates of cancer, stroke, violence, and suicides raise. (Suicide rates most likely raise because these low cholesterol and saturated fat diets probably screw up the cerebral-spinal-nervous systems, and these diets are BRUTALLY unsatisfying). But the people who controlled these studies either unintentionally mis-read the results, or perhaps intentionally misinterpreted them. Keep reading, it gets even better...

We have been at war against heart disease and cancer for decades now. Aren’t we winning? Sure. And the Brooklyn Bridge I can sell you for.... Listen, one in two Americans can expect full blown heart disease, (AND one in two can also expect cancer.) That’s correct, one in two (for both diseases). Disgusting. Indeed! There is more heart disease (and cancer) than ever these days. Heart disease rates are rising, NOT falling. You would think that means we are eating more saturated fat and animal products than ever...cause and effect, right? Wrong. We are eating less saturated fat and animal products. So what is causing it? Well, here are some major factors.

Lets start with sugar. Sugar is poison, period. Sugar consumption lowers body’s resistance to bacteria, viruses, and yeasts (can you say candida?), all of which may cause inflammation in the arteries, and the heart. Also, sugar leads to reduction of B-Vitamins which are necessary for healthy arteries, and nervous system.

Deadly processed foods. Processed foods cause free radical damage to the arterial wall. The ever-reparative ultimately intelligent body produces cholesterol to help heal the damaged arterial wall. Thus, the cholesterol is a symptom, not the cause ofthe damage done to the arterial wall. It is the oxidative peroxidation done to the cholesterol by free radicals and other insalubrious elements in the body that cause the problems. The free radicals come from unhealthy foods. Furthermore, B-6 and B-12, found almost exclusively in animal products, and B-6 and B-12 deficiencies can lead to hardening of the arteries. Indeed, I say the only sure place to get B-12 is in animal products, period. It is not certain at all that we get from some of the sources vegetarians claim we do, such as: sprouts, chlorella, spirulina, blue-green, wheat grass, barley grass, etc.... (But these products are very good for you, they just most probably do not supply B-12). In my opinion, if you are a strict vegan, you MUST supplement with B-12.

Pasteurized milks. When dairy is pasteurized, it becomes poisonous to our system. It is fractionized, rancid, enzyme dead, nutrient dissipated, and molecularly modified. Diary should be raw, with the concomitant live enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and substrate nutrients intact. The live enzymes bring along the fat-digesting enzyme lipase, which will automatically clean up excess fat and cholesterol. (One of the reasons why it isn’t true that fat makes you fat is because RAW fat has lipase intact, which burns fat. It is PROCESSED fat that causes you to get fat. More on debunking the low-fat, no-fat diets in a future article. And while we are at it, I will expose the dangers of the high-protein diets as well.). When we heat dairy, or any fat, the lipase and other assorted enzymes are killed, and the food becomes a source of disease. (Enzymes are the spark of life which catalyze ALL metabolic functions). It is not natural and whole-some anymore. (Whole food is ALWAYS the right answer to virtually ALL health challenges). Additionally, Pasteurization and homogenization is largely unnecessary. Proper hygienic farm techniques could ensure a safe product, but it would cost the manufactures more, so don’t expect it anytime soon.

Fats also give us heat and most importantly satisfaction. One of the reason we gain weight on a low-fat diet is because you feel unsatisfied, so you overeat. The calories that are saved by lowered fat usually comes from sugars, which are much more deleterious to the body. And we do not live in a climate where most people will feel well on a low-fat, or non-animal based diet. We need the wholesome fats for heat production. And further, our metabolism runs on fat, so you need fat to lose fat! (Flax oil is especially good for this).

Also, minerals are necessary for the proper functioning of all metabolic elements of the body, including the cardiovascular system. We get minerals from fresh fruits and vegetables, but also from fresh animal products. I say the most bio-available form of minerals comes from animal products in fact. We also get lots of oil based vitamins, such Vitamins E, D, and A, best from animal products. Without these oil based vitamins, chaos breaks out. We need these oil based vitamins to properly absorb minerals, and many other nutrients in fact.

Processed oils. Almost all bottled oils, (even most available in health food stores), are junk. They are generally totally rancid (i.e., deadly), and, accordingly, add to destroying the arterial walls, and transmute the membranes of the cells of the body. (The only two companies in the world that are mass-producing truly healthful oils are Flora and Omega. Try to avoid most of the rest). Olive oil and flax oil (NEVER heat flax) are the best overall oils (a little hemp oil is ok too).

Vegetable oils. Vegetable oils? Yes, vegetable oils. Most of the polyunsaturated oils, that were pushed upon us as ‘the healthy alternative" by the major oil behemoths (and the medical profession) have predominately too much omega-6 fatty acids, which may oxidize the cholesterol in your blood stream. It is the polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids, not saturated fat, that form the major fat component of arterial plaque. And these polyunsaturated fats produce the wrong kinds of prostaglandins (prostaglandins are localized tissue hormones that play a role in all of the body’s complex chemical processes). Divergently, oils with high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids are healthful. But the omega-3 fatty acids do need to be balanced with omega-6 fatty acids, we just need much more omega-3's. (Fatty acids are the building blocks that make up fats). Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish, nuts, seeds, flax, and avocado. If you supplement with flax oil, or cod liver oil, which is definitely a good idea, you definitely should take an omega-6 with it, such as primrose oil, or black current seed. (I do not recommend borage oil. And canola oil should be avoided as well; both oils may be health-detrimental). Flax oil taken with some cottage cheese or yogurt seems to work wonders. The sulfurous compounds of the dairy make the nutrients more bio-available. The learned Ms. Joanna Budwig did some impressive work in this area.

Homogenized anything. Little needs be said here. Lethal. Poisonous to the max. Utter garbage. It will kill you, guaranteed. It is "plasticized" food. Molecularly, the body doesn’t even recognize it, nor know what to do with
it. There was an experiment done my a scientist where he left butter unrefrigerated, and bugs ate it up in days. He did the same with margarine, and TWO YEARS LATER, no bugs came at all, and it did not even decompose! What more can be said?? We feed this junk to our kids whose body’s are forming from the material we give them? But we were sold a bill of goods by the mass-food producers that these were healthful replacements for wholesome saturated raw fats like butter, lard, and coconut oil (and the other tropical oils). Wrong. Their marketing campaign of deception worded tremendously well, but their underlying reasoning is specious, at best. Butter and coconut oil are tremendously wholesome food products. They have a high smoke point, meaning they do not turn rancid easily under high heat, making them ideal cooking agents. No
other oils should ever be heated! (Accept occasionally grape seed, macadamia, or sesame oils). Further, butter and coconut oil, moderation, will not make you fat! These are made from short and medium chain fatty acids, and as such, do not get stored as fat in the body, unlike VEGETABLE OILS. And these short and medium chain fatty acids from coconut oil and butter are anti-microbial. Beginning to get it? Good. And that more than you can say for MOST of the medical profession.

Do vegetarians have less atherosclerosis than non-vegetarians? Surprisingly, no. Does vegetarianism actually work in reality (beyond its well-intentioned theories)? I say generally NO. It does indeed usually produce a healing reaction, short term. But long term, it has been my personal experience, and the experience of MANY of my clients (I have heard this HUNDREDS of times), that it usually weakens people and makes them ill in the long run. Truthfully, do long-term vegetarians usually look good to you? Perhaps you are a vegan or a vegetarian, and have been for a long time, do you really feel well? Strong? Now be honest. I am not challenging your way of eating or living by the way. These are just some things to openly and honestly think about, to ruminate about, to chew upon (grin). There are certainly moral issues at play here in reference to vegetarianism. Thus, I am not at all saying that everyone should eat meat. If your morals dictate that you do want to, fine. But lets just not just cover up the truth, as many politically correct health-dictocrats in the health field do with regard to animal foods, saturated fats, cholesterol ,etc.... What is right for one, is not necessarily good for another. I am saying that both sides of the issue need to chill out a bit. Lets look at the facts straight on, and apply common sense, because truth is truth. It is non-negotiable, and doesn’t require our permission to be any more true than it already is. It just is.

It seems that approximately 70% of the population DOES NOT thrive on a vegetarian diet, in spite of the counter information in health books. But 30% or so of the population does seem to be able to thrive on vegetarianism. There are physical and meta-physical (meaning transcending the physical) factors which predetermine much of what is good for us to eat. There blood types that thrive on animal products, and blood types that do not. (See Eat Right for Your Blood Type for more information on this topic.) Type O’s almost never do well on a vegetarian diet. Weare also all predominately one of three doshas, as taught us in the ayurvedic tradition of healing. Each of three doshas differs in needs for animal products. But none of the three call for thriving on an all vegan diet. And, genealogy plays a part as well. A person who has an ancestral link that goes back thousands of years on a predominantly meat based diet is not gonna do real well on mostly bean sprouts and wheat grass. Personally, I know my body does not thrive on a vegan diet, as I tried it for three years and got very ill on it. But I do bless and thank my food source when it came from a living thing before I eat it. Thankfulness and gratitude are so powerful. I believe this harmonizes the animals energies to my energies. I highly recommend you do the same.

I am not, by the way suggesting that you chow down on fast foods and lunch meats every day. When I say animal products can be healthful, I am referring mostly to properly prepared (low heat cooked) fish (NOT shellfish), organic fertilized eggs, and lacto-fermented dairy. Fish is easily digestible, and much more healthy than animal meats. Some ORGANIC poultry can be had (you do not need growth hormones and antibiotics as part of your meal, trust me), along with moderate amount of lamb. Even better is wild free range meats like buffalo, venison, etc..., which have been free to east and move in the wild. We feel freer when we eat these kinds of meats, as opposed to the "pent-up" ones. We are what we eat in a vibrational sense quite literally. But these meats are hard to find. All meats are best cooked in soups, to help assist in their breakdown. Fish and eggs are best poached. Fish is also good stewed, again, its almost pre-digested. (Incidentally, digestive enzymes are recommended with any flesh-based meal). Lacto fermented dairy like kefir and yogurt have live enzymes and bacteria that help break down the foods, and are incredibly healthful to the body. And all these kinds of foods can be so satisfying to our epicurean nature. I mean, who doesn’t like a bit of butter, or a good salmon grilled steak? Life is for enjoying, and food is part of this enjoyment. Enough with all the UNNECESSARY guilt.

Lastly, dehydration can be a major cause of heart disease. Make sure you hydrate CONSTANTLY during the day. Our body’s may attempt to balance dehydration by raising blood pressure. A good book to read more on this subject is Your Body’s Many Cries For Water.

An uncle of mine used to say, "if you want to make omelets you got to break some eggs." (Pun DEFINITELY intended here). You have to shake some trees to get the nuts, etc.... Its kinda like breaking people’s comfort zones. Our beliefs are like possessions to us, and when someone comes around to challenge our beliefs, we feel threatened, like someone is taking away something from us. Thusly, we become defensive, usually with no logic behind it. In fact, if ever you want to know who is more right in a discourse, listen to the one who is loudly shouting down the other, not allowing the other to speak, using vituperative language, being pedantic and didactic. Bingo. That is the one who is too emotionally tied to their beliefs, with little open-mindedness, and couldn’t see truth if it hit em in the face. The great sophists of ancient Greece knew that truth came from open dialogue. In today’s society, unfortunately there is little open honest exchange, just plenty of "let me tell you why you are wrong stuff." No wonder there is such little true learning going on. As the Zen maxim goes, "you cannot learn while your mouth is moving." The self with the small s, our ego, gets in the way of honest learning. We would all do well to let down our egos a bit. I tell my students that, as the Buddhist story goes, "I can cannot give you tea if you come here with an already full cup." It takes true courage to let go of your belief paradigms, especially when the are so inextricably tied to your values.

When I first decided to become a teacher of wellness, I chose the name Nutritional Warrior for a good reason. As a warrior, I knew part of my job was to (gently and loving) bring truth to light, no matter what it was. My goal became to prod people to let go of old beliefs, to get out of comfort zones, and change not just with regard to one’s diet, but to learn and grow in every aspect of life (all true healing comes from within). In fact, I gave up a successful practice of law to make this my mission in life now. My studies have led me to learn much good information. But I have focused on learning from success; I do not want to hear about theory. Show me the success. The people on the planet who live to be the oldest on average, with little or no disease (such as the Hunzas of the Himalayas, the Georgians of Russia, some South East Asian groups, South American sects, etc... many of which live on average to 100 and more), are almost invariably NOT VEGETARIANS, EAT SALT, AND HAVE SATURATED FATS LIBERALLY IN THEIR DIETS! And, our forefathers had little if any heart disease, and they ate loads of raw saturated fats and animal products. No well intentioned theorizing here, just reporting on success, results, and truth, just the truth, and the WHOLE truth. My mother taught me to always tell the truth in fact. How am I doing Mom?

Also see: Know Your Fats Saturated Fat May Save Your Life The Cholesterol Myths

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