Saturday, January 4, 2014

DVD Review: The Oiling of America - Dr Mary Enig, Presented by Sally Fallon


The Oiling of America is a controversial concept regarding everything we ever learned about fats and grains. Sadly, it is not an exciting view.  It is a lecture presented in a typical lecture format. So be prepared to watch in small doses.  In watching this video, I had trouble believing it. After some 3 weeks of research, I have been able to find external sources for the same information.  There is the ring of truth here. The detractors I've found all seem have few facts and many emotional appeals.  This is a must see if you are interested in nutrition at all. Your low fat diet could be causing you more harm than good.

The basis of science:  You create a hypothesis, gather data to confirm or refute the hypothesis, then modify the hypothesis to fit the results, repeating the experiment to confirm the new hypothesis. Most studies I've found alter the data to fit the hypothesis.

The problem is we only see what is told to us. One of the most famous and often quoted studies is the "Farmingham Study" This study has been following people since 1948, and is now looking at the third generation in the same community.  It’s an amazing study, but as with any study, the point of interest is what is the question.  Most studies regarding cholesterol ask how to lower cholesterol.  I've never seen a study ask should we lower cholesterol. In this film, Dr Enig's data is compelling. Sally Fallon presents the study with humor and clarity. Did you know that people on low fat diets actually die far more often from cancer and accidents then people on a saturated fat diet?

The internet is full of bad ideas.  The problem most people have is not finding information, but finding good information. I have a test for every "truth" I hear or read on the internet.

    Does it make sense?
    Is there a fundamental truth behind it?
    Who is paying for it?

One of the biggest "truths" that is obviously patently wrong is the cholesterol myth - that it is bad for you. Even doctors that write on the subject seem somewhat confused.  For example, one of the most thought-out definitions I've found on cholesterol is on WikiPedia. What I find fascinating is they talk bout how cholesterol is part of the healing process (most scar tissue is made up of cholesterol), then turn around and claim that cholesterol caused the damage. This idea actually does not pass my step one test of truth.  Why does the body make something bad for me? I'm not talking about free radicals that come from oxidizing lipids, like canola oil, corn oil or other highly processed oils, those are happenstance of chemistry. Cells manufacture the cholesterol you need. And external sources of cholesterol are generally not absorbed.  And if they are, production on the cellular level drops.

But cholesterol is blamed for atherosclerosis because cholesterol is present where there is damage. If the cholesterol is used for healing, then of course it will be present at a damaged site in your arteries. Did you know a persons’ cholesterol shoots up after surgery?  What if this is a normal bodily function designed to speed up healing?
  
What did I learn from this video?  Blaming cholesterol for heart damage is like trying to blame smoke for the fire.  Watch the video, do your due diligence. If I'm wrong I want to know.


Available at:

No comments:

Post a Comment