Author Archive
Low-Fat Way to Health for Americans
Why is the epidemic of heart disease particularly strong in the U.S.A.? If you are a typical American, whether you know it or not you consume an unbalanced, obesity-producing diet. Drs. Louis Katz and J. Stamler, prominent researchers in this field, called it “a pernicious combination of over-nutrition and under-nutrition -excessive in calories, carbohydrates, lipids and salt; and frequently substandard in certain critically important amino acids, minerals and vitamins.” It is not surprising that this situation exists. The science of nutrition, a comparative newcomer to the medical field, has up until recently been concerned almost exclusively with under-nutrition. People have been urged to “eat the right foods” and to provide plenty of meat, eggs, milk, and cheese for their children. In most areas of the world, this problem of getting enough nourishing food to eat is still of primary importance. But it is not the problem in America. Our problem is somewhat the opposite: “living too high on the hog.” Our diet is too rich in fat as well as calories, refined sugars, starches, and oils. At the same time, it is low in essential nutriments, minerals and other vital requirements. The exact relationship between the amount of fat you eat and the production of cholesterol in your body is still a very complex question. Investigators differ on some points. Concerning one aspect of the problem, though, we are all agreed: the cholesterol found in the blood is made largely in the liver from fats in the diet. It is also believed that cholesterol is produced in the arterial walls themselves. But the main source and the one that we can to a great extent control is fat in our food.
Health Through a Low-Fat Approach (Introduction)
Someone who looks at this book is definitely going to think -”What is this book going to do for me?” or, in the words of Ben Franklin, “Can it bring me health (which is really wealth), happiness, and wisdom?”
Low-Fat Approach to Health
When a Spanish-speaking friend wants to wish you the very best that life can offer, he will often lift his glass with the following toast: “To health and wealth – and time to enjoy both.” Embodied in this simple salute are the three basic desires common to people everywhere in all ages. Why can’t we live longer? Everyone wants to live longer. It is one of the most deeply rooted instincts of mankind. Everyone wants to live a life of usefulness and abundance, free of disease and unhappiness. As we grow older, we look forward even more anxiously to increasing our lifespan. We want time to enjoy our achievements, time still to make plans. By the time we reach 60 we realize with the great French painter Gauguin that “life is a split second.” We begin to think about all the things we still want to do before we reach our seventieth year. If we are fortunate enough to pass our seventieth birthday, we wonder whether we can’t live even longer-perhaps to be 80. Well, why can’t we? We are living much longer than did our ancestors a century ago. We have added 20 years to the average life expectancy in America since 1900.
