Good Fat Is Good and Other Profound Ideas in Chinese Medicine

Something new from Harvard School of Public Health that I thought news worthy.

Fat in our diet is apparently really good for us according the Harvard nutrition experts.

A group of nutrition researchers recently gathered in Napa,  California at the World of Healthy Flavors Conference.  The conference brought together experts in the culinary field along with nutrition experts from schools, supermarkets and franchise restaurants to share strategies for healthy menu options.  The most important news from the conference came from the “Focus on Fat” panel.  Their recommendation is now to AVOID “low-fat” menu items and instead focus on cutting “trans fats”. (Trans fats are rare in living nature, but can occur in food production process.)   They are now encouraging this new criteria be used to educate people on seeking healthy fats.  Healthy fat would include those that come from nature, like fish oils, egg yolks, organic milk and cheese because fat is actually good for us.

What does this have to do with Chinese medicine, Chinese herbs and herbal supplements, all of which are the usual blog topics.

I can think of only one correlation to Chinese Medicine, if you would call it that.  During the thousands of years of development of Chinese medicine, never did experts do a complete about face, as with this advice to start eating fats again.  Chinese medicine (from the earliest manuscripts found in a nobleman’s burial chamber and dated  168 B.C.E.)  have always been based on the same principals.  After 2000 years these principals have never flip flopped.  They have been expounded upon but have never been completely abandoned for a new, better version.

Western nutritionist in less than 50 years declare first that fat is bad and tell us to reduce our fatty diets.  Less than a half century later they now declare fat is actually good for us.  How can we trust what they say?  I agree that man mad processed fat, the “trans” fats cannot possibly be healthy fat, I’m just shocked that they can flip flop in just a few short years.  Thank goodness the oldest system of medicine in the world, Chinese medicine, survived generations on principals that makes so much sense they have never had to completely flip  flop.

Maybe we need a history lesson?   Here’s hoping all your fats are healthy ones.

Reference:

Time to stop talking about low-fat, say Harvard (HSPH) Nutrition Experts