Years ago, sometime after I turned forty, I decided that maybe I ought to have a complete physical exam. After all, I was now well on my way to becoming a balding, middle aged man!
The complete exam included a comprehensive test of my blood for everything on which the medical community is on the alert. The doctor, a much older man who retired a couple of years later, found one number in the report to be way off. So, he ordered another blood test only for that parameter.
The second report came in and I met with the doctor to review the numbers. He was as perplexed as he was the first time. He said he had never seen such low numbers in all his career. Off the chart low cholesterol numbers.
He looked at me and said that he was going to tell me something that he had never told any patient ever. “Eat all the cheese and butter you want.”
That was the best welcome to middle age ever in the history of humans, I think!
After my grandfather died at 51 years of age—it was sudden, a heart attack—my parents decided that my grandmother and her sister-in-law, and my unmarried aunts, might be able to deal with with their grief and find cheer in life if they left me—a four year old kid—with them for a few months. The stories that the elders have told me over and over about my months there have imprinted images in my mind that sometimes lead me to think that those are my own memories.
One of those stories is about me sitting next to grandma as she churned butter, which she did every couple of mornings. I sit focused on the operation watching the fat come together as butter balls. As soon as the butter is fully formed, grandma gives me a blob that sits big on the palm of the four-year old me, which I eagerly lick and consume.
I ate butter and sweets like this every day until my parents brought me back home. My mother tells me that I missed all the butter and sweets and my elders, so much so that I would pick up the phone, rotate the dial a few times, hoping to complain to my grandmother.
Decades later, the good doctor told me to continue to have all the butter and cheese that I want. What a lucky guy, right?
As an adult, I never bought into the idea that fat by itself was not good for health. From my growing up experiences in a vegetarian setting, I have always been convinced that our metabolism knows how to deal with fat that is derived from milk. And with my informed reasoning, I have been blogging for quite a few years that the fat that we see on humans, which we talk about as obesity, is not from the fat that one eats. Instead, the problem lies in the consumption of sugar and simple carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods.
Consider, for instance, this blog-post from 2019, in which I included the following excerpt from a Scientific American piece on healthy diets:
A satiating diet includes foods that are high in protein (such as fish),; high in fiber (whole grains, for example) and high in fruits and vegetables. It contains healthy fats, such as the polyunsaturated fats found in avocados, and includes dairy products such as yogurt. Perhaps surprisingly, it might also include capsaicin, the substance that makes jalapenos and other peppers so hot.
I included a note that compared the healthy diet formula against what I had for dinner:
Spinach cooked with seasoned cumin seeds and red chili flakes, and then gently boiled with coconut milk and shredded coconut, to which I added cubes of paneer that were cooked in ghee (clarified butter) ... this was served over white rice.
The side was a salad with cucumber, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, tossed with freshly squeezed lime and then freshly and coarsely ground black pepper.
Cheese and ghee? Yep. Healthy. Coconut milk? Yep. Healthy.
The Scientific American article explained why that “diet” is healthy:
What’s so special about these foods it’s that each of them possesses specific characteristics that benefit our health either by decreasing hunger, reducing body fat, lowering blood sugar, improving blood pressure or increasing metabolism. For instance, yogurt contains protein, calcium and lactic acid bacteria, which are the live and active bacteria that help with the growth of good bacteria in the gut. A healthy gut microbiome has been found to help control body weight and improve other aspects of health.
Just a couple of days ago, a NYT report had this header: “Are Low-Fat Dairy Products Really Healthier?”
Spoiler alert: It is not healthier. Duh!
From that NYT article:
If you consult the U.S. dietary guidelines or health authorities like the American Heart Association or the World Health Organization, the answer is clear: Choose a fat-free or low-fat version.
This recommendation stems from the idea that full-fat dairy products are high in saturated fats, so choosing lower-fat versions can reduce your risk of heart disease, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Tufts University.
But that guidance goes back to 1980, when the first edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans was published, he said. And since then, most studies on the health effects of dairy fat have failed to find any benefits of prioritizing low-fat versions over whole, Dr. Mozaffarian said.
Studies “have failed to find any benefits of prioritizing low-fat versions over whole”. Of course!
The following needs to be presented as a public service announcement: “though full-fat dairy products are higher in calories, studies have found that those who consume them aren’t more likely to gain weight.”
In case you are thinking about the health of the heart:
[Studies] can’t prove that dairy products themselves reduce certain risks of disease. That would require long-term clinical trials, which haven’t been conducted, Dr. Mozaffarian said. But shorter-term trials have shown that consuming dairy products, including full-fat dairy, lowered the blood pressure of participants and did not increase weight or raise levels of LDL, or “bad cholesterol” — again suggesting that dairy fat is not harmful to heart health.
“Dr. Mozaffarian suggests incorporating at least one or two servings of yogurt and cheese per day, given these foods’ health benefits — preferably unsweetened versions to avoid added sugar.”
Added sugar. Yep. That is everywhere. From the glaringly obvious candies and sodas to the ultra processed foods where they are hidden.
So, what does this non-expert who has been gobbling up butter without becoming a butterball himself recommend?
Avoid animal fat and animal protein. An occasional indulgence is fine. Banish ultra-processed foods from your pantry. Make yogurt with full-fat milk. Don’t bother drinking milk, which is good only for kids. And cook your own damn meals ;)
BTW, if you are curious about the creamy spinach dish I make, here is how I make it.
Ingredients: Frozen spinach, cumin seeds, a can of coconut milk, paneer.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil and add the cumin seeds. Cover with a lid in order to avoid the splatter.
When they have toasted to a dark brown, reduce the heat to medium, add the spinach, and cover it. Yep, no need to thaw the frozen spinach! Every couple of minutes, toss the spinach and break the frozen pieces.
Meanwhile, dice the paneer into small cubes. Fry them in butter or ghee over medium high. Make sure you brown them on all sides as much as you can.
When the spinach looks well cooked, bring the heat down to medium-low. Add salt, paneer cubes, and coconut milk. Do not bring the liquid to a full boil. Switch it off after 10 or minutes—paneer needs that time to transform its blandness to a juicy, tasty cube ;)
Serve over basmati. Best comfort food ever!
PS: DO NOT buy coconut milk with added guar. It changes the taste and the texture. Make sure the ingredient does not include guar.
Step (8) into health
In my premature retirement, I have all the time that I need to cook. Of course. But, I had time to cook even when I was working full time. Rare was a day when I felt that I didn’t have the time to make myself the ciabatta sandwich lunch that I have been having for years. And home-cooked dinner almost all the time.