What's Missing From the Picture?

In this new blog, I plan to ruminate around the idea of missing picture pieces.  All our lives, my life anyway, we in the West have been presented word pictures purporting to be facts by those in positions of authority.   However, I feel there is frequently a piece of the story/picture missing.  The missing piece is frequently the clue to a relevant fact or idea that could change the entire picture.

In this example, I will use the picture we have been presented regarding Dietary Fats. To start examining this picture, I will use a newspaper article I read the other day reporting that those who purport to know such things have come to the conclusion that certain, "facts" we have been told about aspects of our diet, which we use in guiding our diet, need to be revised.

The article reported that what is now beginning to be questioned, has to do with our fat and salt intake, stating evidence suggests that certain aspects of that information is now believed to not be true.  Regarding fats, specifically, Omega 3 Fats  The picture about Fats, especially, in the West has become very complex.  In the 19th and 20th Century scientists discovered more an more ways to manipulate and change their structure.  We were told little about those changes, but their advertisements led us to believe their was very little difference between the old fats and the new ones.

A quick search of the Internet will bring up numerous accounts of how important Omega 3s are for our health.  The referenced article, however, stated that all that money being spent for Omega 3s, particularly fish oils, now appear to be a waste of money.  The article indicated that there is no evidence that intake of Omega 3s have reduced heart disease in individual's.  For an interesting breakdown of the Fish Oil/Omega3 Subject, see here:

A relatively uncomplicated summary regarding our food fats is presented by Dr. Mercola, here:

With all the material on fats available, however, personally, I have read only one source which clarified the whole issue regarding why fats are important, (Omega 3's, 6's and 9's, Hydrogenated, etc.), for human health,  that was reading the Book, Smart Fats; How Dietary Fats and Oils Affect Mental, Physical and Emotional Intelligence, by Michael A. Schmidt, (1997, published by Frog, Ltd, Distributed by distributed by North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA.)  I highly recommend this book and its interesting exposition of the subject.

Only in the above book have I seen scientific evidence which makes clear why and what kind of fats are important for good health.  It suggests, in particular, the reason why so many average older people, who live in the West, are experiencing major health problems.  It is the re-engineered fats they have and are ingesting.  The fats, which now have been incorporated in their body's fat makeup, primarily the Trans and Hydrogenated varieties 

Specifically, it is that they contain little natural fats; very little Omega 3s; and much more Omega 6s, which are mostly Hydrogenated or Trans Fats; i.e. bad).  A key point of the above referenced book is that the sheaths of all a healthy-body's cells need to contain fat.  Not only should they contain fat, but the body discriminates as to what types of fats go where--Omega 3s are reserved primarily for brain cells, (the brain is about 60% fat), the Heart, and the sheaths of primary nerves.

Oh!  The missing puzzle piece?  The primary question, for me, which calls into question the current recommended American Diet, has to do with those early Eskimos/Inuit Peoples.  Very little is actually known about the lives of the early people whom we now call. "Eskimos."  However, the primary known aspect of their lives was that their diet consisted primarily of blubber, which is, essentially, fat.  And, most incredible, to the Western Mind, was that the earlier Eskimo/Inuit people were generally physically healthy on that diet of fat. 

Unfortunately, currently, it has been reported, that at least most have abandoned their old way of life.  Their current Westernized Diet, (including, of course, tobacco and alcohol) consists of American processed foods, which has resulted in their physical health now being no better than that of people in the Lower U.S.!

Despite this surprising information, toward the end of the 20th century, due mostly to the overweight of a large percentage of the American population, there began a campaign to get people to reduce their fat intake even more to, approximately, no more than 10% of calorie intake.  (For our current nutrition story/picture, you can read it, here.)

Given the evidence, and certain other information about aspects of the American Diet, it seems clear that the picture about diet and health has become a distorted, abstract, picture created mostly of what those who create the food supply, and Big Pharma, wish us to believe.

Unfortunately, I realize, someone who has a strong desire to maintain a healthy diet really needs to devote a good deal of time and energy to achieve that end.  It seems that not long after a new dietary system has been created, it is distorted, and attacked, by followers of other systems.  Much could be said about the benefits of such recent diets as the Atkins, Pritikin, low- glycemic/South Beach, and Paleo Diets.  Nevertheless, when introduced, all have been distorted, and disparaged, using: misinformation, disinformation and/or debunking.

Shirley Gallup