Ah, fat, our misunderstood friend.

At left: Chef, Food Stylist, Fat lover, and author Jennifer McLagen.

I'm a big fan of food combining, low carb eating, and plenty of fat! As far as I'm concerned, meat IS whole food. It's all that junk we pile next to our meat and veggies that's the problem. You know, like those potato pancakes I made last week! Deadly stuff. If we all ate nothing but fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, and eggs we'd all be some extremely healthy people.

I don't usually publish anything here that doesn't include a recipe but I was delighted by an interview between AndrewZimmern.com and Jennifer McLagen (unknown to me but catching my attention with her love of fat).

The interview is brief but interesting, and it's mostly about something near and dear (and probably on and in thanks to all the not-so-whole foods I consume) my heart, fat. Her book is Fat, An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes.

No, the title isn't genius, but she is first and foremost a chef, after all.

Here's an excerpt:

AZ.com: Fat has earned a bad reputation in the United States. What initially started our fat-phobia?

JM: Fat’s fall from grace can be traced to two things; a 1950s theory that suggested increased consumption of animal fat raised our cholesterol levels and resulted in heart disease. This link between cholesterol, saturated fat, and heart disease was only associative, not causal, and excluded populations that eat diets high in animal fats (such as the French and the Inuit eating their traditional diet). Science has continually failed to prove conclusively that there is any direct connection between eating saturated fats and developing heart disease.

The second event was in the 1970’s animal fat was declared “the greasy killer” by the US government and we were told to reduce our consumption. Thousands of years of human history showing the importance of animal fat in our diet were totally ignored.

AZ.com: Why should we aim to add fat back into our diets?

JM: Fat is very important for our health, every cell in our body needs fat. Our brain and hormones rely on fat to function, and fat supports our immune system and protects our liver. Fat promotes good skin and healthy hair, and it regulates our digestive system and leaves us feeling sated. Fat is the body’s preferred fuel, providing us with more than twice the amount of energy as the same quantity of carbohydrates and protein. It helps the body to absorb nutrients, calcium, and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat and protein are found together in nature for a reason, it’s the fat that helps us digest the protein, so it makes good sense to eat a well-marbled steak, or a roast chicken with crispy skin.

Read the full article HERE.