Cyd Notter

Author and Nutrition Educator, Founder of The "Plan A" Diet™

Hijacking at the Farmer’s Market

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What thoughts pop into your head when you hear the words "Farmer's Market"?  I instantly think of long rows fruit and veggie stands under pop-up tents.  Reasonably priced offerings of glorious melons, tomatoes, peppers, greens, berries, pineapples and so much more!  Sometimes I also think of the vendors selling  fresh salsa, honey, nut butters, flowers and home-made soaps.

Going to the Farmer's Market has become an "event" now that everything from jewelry to antiques are also displayed.  I've also noticed over the years the growing number of fast food offerings that are available to entice visitors.  Finding unhealthy, greasy junk foods at the Farmers Market seems to simply keep in step with our Standard American Diet (SAD) culture, but this year seemed to be the worst I've ever seen it.

Farmers Market sign

 

Now in addition to a variety of greasy meat sandwiches,  oil-laden pastas, high-fat bakery and sugary/artificially colored drinks, you can find almost anything deep-fried - including oreos, nutter butters and candy bars.  Ugh!  Oh where, oh where, has my farmer's market gone?  It feels as though my image of the healthy Farmers Market is slowly being hijacked by the world's idea of pleasurable foods - grease, oils, fat, sugar. And let's not forget the latest love affair with bacon (also available at the market).

Well, I won't have it.  I'll avoid the food area with all the aromas of greasy fat frying, and where you will sadly see many overweight Americans partaking in their normal foods. I'll stay on the end of the Farmers Market which matches up with my image of what a Farmer's Market should be - a place to buy low-cost, healthy produce while supporting the local farmers.  I hope you'll join me there 🙂

 

 

11-13 God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”  And there it was.  Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, and fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.  God saw that it was good.  It was evening, it was morning - Day three.       Genesis 1:11-13 The Message 
        

Coconut Oil – Miracle Food or Marketing Hype?

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       Coconut Oil – (Source: Dr. Pam Popper, The Wellness Forum)

By January 2006, food companies were required to clearly state on their labels the amount of trans fat in packaged foods. Knowing that consumers would begin avoiding the consumption of foods containing trans-fat, many of them have replaced trans-fat with palm oil, coconut oil and other tropical oils. This does not represent an improvement in these packaged foods and they should still be avoided.

Tropical oils are saturated fats… the type that raises cholesterol levels, clogs arteries and increases the risk of many degenerative diseases, including heart disease.  Coconut oil is 100% pure fat, 92% of which is saturated (which means that it is more saturated than butter or lard).  Coconut oil will elevate cholesterol levels more than any other fat because it is so saturated.

Coconut oil has been recommended by many in the health industry as being healthy, but this recommendation is based on faulty science. Proponents state that coconut oil is made up of medium chain fatty acids, which are metabolized differently than long-chain fatty acids. Like much faulty health advice, there is some truth to the statement ; but only a small portion of coconut oil is made from medium chain fatty acids, while the majority of the fatty acids in coconut oil are long-chain fatty acids, such as lauric, myristic and palmitic acids. These long-chain fatty acids have a deleterious effect on health.

Advocates continue to refer to Polynesians who consume a diet containing lots of tropical oils, since they have lower rates of heart disease than Americans. As is often the case, this information is also taken out of context. When evaluating the dietary and lifestyle patterns of populations and their effects on health outcomes, it is important to evaluate the totality of the diet and lifestyle, rather than one component, to get an accurate picture of cause and effect. Polynesians do have lower rates of LDL cholesterol levels than Americans. However, they consume a diet very high in fiber, they consume more Omega-3 fats than the average American, and their diet contains very little sodium. Additionally, almost none of them smoke and they are generally quite physically active. It’s likely that the combination of these factors is responsible for their health outcomes, not simply the consumption of coconut oil.

Like so much of the health information distributed today, health benefits from coconut oil are a myth. Oils are not health foods, since they are concentrated fat and calories, and coconut oil is one of the worst.  In my opinion, it is dangerous for an individual already consuming a less than optimal diet with too much fat to add coconut oil to the diet.

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