nutrition has changed
WE KNOW MORE NOW
Back in 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower suffered a major heart attack. This sent the people of the United States reeling, hopeful the president’s health would stabilize. One of those people was a doctor by the name of Ancel Keys.
ANCEL KEYS
Cardiovascular disease was a new phenomenon Western society had been dealing with since the start of the 20th century. It was critical to get answers. This gave Ancel Keys, the opportunity to propose his hypothesis to the medical community; “Eating fat makes you fat.”
He organized a study in which 6 countries had individuals monitor their fat intake in relation to their cardiovascular health as they age. The findings skewed to heavily favor fat as the enemy of your heart. Sadly, this sample size was too low to make such a determination. He charismatically argued his findings and convinced Western society to limit fat in their diet, structuring a food pandemic that we’re still suffering from until this day.
A LEGACY AFFECTING GENERATIONS
What his peers didn’t realize was that in his data 22 countries were studied not just 6. The findings from the 6 cherry-picked countries that showed fat as bad did not bear the same results once you include the other 16 countries. A lot of reasons factored into why he concealed this information from his study but the dominating reason was self-promotion. He was able to advise President Eisenhower medically albeit to worse health and he eventually became a board member of the American Heart Association (AHA).
He continued to study heart disease with each subsequent study proving his hypothesis to be incorrect. By this time he had the public on board and was too stubborn to let the science win so to speak. This arrogance and greed spread to corporations that could use these criteria to make low-fat foods with higher sugars leading to sugar addictions. Once a ball like this starts rolling it just won’t stop.
BATTLE AGAINST FOOD ADDICTION AND CORPORATIONS
Anything going against Ancel Keys’s hypothesis that eating fat makes you fat remained suppressed for decades. Color television made marketing to children effortless. Cereal’s got their own cartoons, their own mascots. Parents didn’t have to get up early in the morning to cook breakfast since a bowl of cereal was available and any child over 5 years of age could make a bowl for themselves.
From the 1970’s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, we were generationally becoming addicted to these foods. Staple cereals now had 2-4 different variations. Mcdonald’s and Burger King were more desired than a home-cooked meal by grandma. These foods tasted good and they required minimal effort to make. According to Ancel Keys, they were perfectly healthy so long as there was very little fat in them.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6
At the age of 23, I became a pescetarian. Only eating fish, fruits and vegetables. A trainer and bodybuilder. Someone completely into their fitness and nutrition. Yet, I believed 100% that fat made you fat. My cupboard was filled with low-fat varieties of all foods, milk, peanut butter, and even a full-fat item like margarine, I’d go with the light version.
As I progressed into my 30s I was still muscular in stature but noticeable weight gain was creeping in covering my muscles. Soon I was 50lbs overweight not understanding why I couldn’t lose it despite my diet never changing much from the age of 23.
After experiencing weight gain, essential hypertension, and oral cavities, I decided it was time to deprogram and start at ground zero. I unlearned everything I learned during my fitness journey in my 20s. The first and most difficult step was adding healthy meats back into my diet.
What I learned. Polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated fats are not your enemy. Transfat should be the only fat you should never consume. Sugar and refined carbohydrates are the leading causes of weight gain. Sugar feeds cancer. Seed oils harden and inflame your blood vessels. Intermittent fasting is a key factor in weight loss over 40.
These are practices that are simple but not taught. They’re the way our ancestors ate just as far back as the 19th century. Cardiovascular disease was non-existent then.
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