Why You Should Eat Animal Fat, Interview with Jennifer McLagan
In Salon's interview with Jennifer McLagan, author of the recently released Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes, learn more about the controversial ingredient that is fundamental to flavor and to our health. She answers questions about animal fat and its relation to obesity, America's bad relationship with fat, and how animal fat lost the popularity contest to vegetable-based man-made fats. But most importantly, why is it better to eat and cook with animal fat than vegetable fat?
Unlike vegetable oils, animal fats are very stable and don't turn rancid easily. This makes them ideal for cooking, which involves heating the fat. And they have no trans fats.
Animal fats have lots of good fatty acids that fight disease, help absorb vitamins and lower cholesterol. Your body burns the short-chained fatty acids found in animal fats and stores the long-chained ones found in polyunsaturated fat. It is a myth that eating animal fat makes you fat.
But best of all, fat—with its big round molecules—tastes good, it feels good in your mouth, on your tongue and it carries flavors.
Not that I needed convincing, but it's good to know.
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Bruni Praises the Lard
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12 Comments:
Ahh, the beauty of it all. This brings a tear to my eye.
worldcupfever at 10:48AM on 09/26/08
A point that McLagan doesn't explain in this interview is that conventionally-raised animal fats are high in omega-6 like vegetable oils (because the animals are fed corn and soy). Only fat and meat from pasture-fed and/or grazing animals (and their products, e.g. milk, butter, eggs) is high in the heart-healthy fatty acids she mentions, primarily omega-3s and CLAs (conjugated linoleic acids - a healthful naturally occurring trans fat).
It isn't totally misguided to avoid conventional full-fat animal products, because toxins (including pesticides from non-organic feed, stress toxins from their horribles lives, and the antibiotics and hormones they're given) are concentrated in fat.
Regardless, vegetable oils are by and large awful in quantity (save for olive and coconut), and overreliance on them is undoubtedly part of the reason for our country's current health crisis.
The good news is that pasture-fed products are becoming more widely available, and if you get a good bit of grass-fed butter, you can smear it thickly on your favorite bread with impunity! I love butter.
producestories at 11:06AM on 09/26/08
I am an avid animal fat proponent, but this statement is not entirely accurate: "... Your body burns the short-chained fatty acids found in animal fats and stores the long-chained ones found in polyunsaturated fat..."
It's true that short chained fatty acids are burned right away and long-chained are shuttled to storage. However, animal fats do have a lot of long-chained fatty acids - myristic, palmitic, and stearic acids (to name the common ones). Most of the fatty acids in butter, lard and beef tallow are long-chained (14C or longer), and a very small percentage are short- or medium-chained. These are stored as body fat. To imply that animal fats are not stored (or less so) than vegetable fats is misleading.
ilovebutter at 11:12AM on 09/26/08
This is fascinating. I've learned so much from this post and the comments.
FoodLoversLikeMe at 11:39AM on 09/26/08
@ilovebutter: Thanks for the info! I think most of my body fat must be pig-based...oh dear. Also, love your username.
roboppy at 12:03PM on 09/26/08
@robohippy: mine is butter-based ;)
PS - information source for my post is the USDA Nutrient Database if anyone is interested.
ilovebutter at 12:12PM on 09/26/08
So you're trading trans fats for cholesteral (which vegetable fats don't have). There are a pros and cons to everything.
Not that I'm against eating animal fat! Bring on the bacon and ducky fat, please!
Tactful_Cactus at 12:22PM on 09/26/08
praise the lard
gastronomeg at 12:23PM on 09/26/08
amen.
worldcupfever at 12:40PM on 09/26/08
Bring on the braised pork belly, smokey pork butts, well marbled ribeye steaks (smeared with truffle butter, of course!), and butter slathered whole grain bread.
All of our friends are "dieting" and fighting high cholesterol. They eat a low fat diet, including "low fat" desserts and processed food, and eschew all animal fats. We cut out the sugar and processed foods - and eat a high fiber high protein diet with lots of dairy & meat. No cholesterol problems, I've lost almost 5 lbs of body fat, and attribute a lot of that to diet (and a big thank you to Curves).
Fanciesmom at 12:54PM on 09/26/08
Excellent info here all-around. I will resume eating all of the delicious fat around my favorite meat products. All I needed was a little push.
kiteless at 1:43PM on 09/26/08
Butter forever!
bessfour at 3:35PM on 09/26/08