The Awakening

Finally, the Punjab government has realized the health risks and zero nutritional value of trans fat like margarine, and banned Blue-band margarine as it is made with vegetable oil that does not have quality of either butter or something similar to butter. Trans unsaturated fats or trans fats are mainly produced industrially from plant oils for use in margarine, snack foods and packaged baked goods. While saturated fats come mainly from animal products, such as butter, cows' milk, meat, salmon and egg yolks, and some plant products such as chocolate and palm oils.

For decades giant businesses heavily advertised the greatness of margarine and degraded the nutritional value of pure butter. Butter, ghee, cheese, rice, whole milk and wheat have been demonized for decades, accompanied by health research and studies informing the consumers that pure butter and ghee are responsible for obesity and weight gain, heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension.

The criticism of saturated fats dates back to the 1950s when research suggested a link between high dietary saturated fat intake and deaths from heart disease. However, the researcher drew his conclusions on data from six countries, choosing to ignore the data from a further 16, which did not fit with his theory, and with the  subsequent analysis of all 22 countries' data. From there on research was trapped in this study and since the 1970s most public health organisations have advised people to cut down on fat.

Over the decades large corporations have used the above studies and  gradually manipulated our thinking, even dietitians and doctors fell pray to this propaganda.

However, latest research which looked at 50 studies involving more than one million people found there was no evidence that saturated fat is bad for health and also found no clear association between higher intake of saturated fats and death due to heart disease, cardiovascular disease, ischemic stroke or type 2 diabetes. This is also supported by the  recent research from the University of Cambridge that found saturated fat in dairy foods might protect against diabetes.

In contrast, consumption of industrial trans fats was associated with a 34 per cent increase in death, a 28 per cent increased risk of death from coronary heart disease, and a 21 per cent increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, says study lead author Doctor Russell de Souza, an assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at McMaster University in Canada. Leading heart scientist Dr. James DiNicolantonio of Ithica College, New York, has called for health guidelines on saturated fats to be changed in an article in the British Medical Journal (Knapton, 2015).

Nuts, butter, ghee, cheese, rice, full cream milk and roti/ chappati are all part of Asian diet, these foods have been a strong part of our culture, climate and genetics. However, when a person is overweight or suffering from obesity the first thing the doctor or a dietitian will tell him or her is to stop taking nuts, milk butter, ghee, cheese, rice and roti as they are responsible for weight gain. Instead the patient is advised to take grilled chicken or salmon, bran bread, skim or low fat milk, one fruit and exercise/walk daily. And if the patient is very desperate they are asked to follow Atkins or high-protein-low-fat diet or some other international diet plan.

The problem with these diet programs is that when you try to adopt a lifestyle that is imported from west and made for people with entirely different genetics living in completely different climate and atmosphere, your body will retaliate and show you signs that there is a problem. This retaliation takes place on both physical and mental levels. Serious psychological issues like mood fluctuations, depression, anxiety attacks or even frequent anger bursts will occur. Medical complications like extreme low levels of sugar and insulin, headaches, weakness of muscle and bones, nausea, digestion problems, change in the blood chemistry along with huge chances of sudden collapse or even death. 

The best diet is the diet you have been born into and what your body is familiar with. Especially, locally produced vegetables and fruits, not the fancy, exotic or imported ones. Rice is the best carbohydrate that gives energy to the body for daily work and also provides the fuel for exercise. Roti made with unprocessed whole wheat grains, contain plenty of complex carbohydrates to give sustained energy, which means that it doesn’t make your blood sugar shoot up and then crash, and has the proteins to help build and maintain muscle.

Roti is also a rich source of vitamin (B1, B2, B3, B6, and B9), iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium etc.Vitamin E, soluble fibre and selenium in rotis help reduce the risk of cancer,  help clean plaque from blood vessels and prevent constipation Having said that, not all rotis are healthy, especially those made from maida. Maida is refined flour and has the same fattening effect on the body as sugar.

Always take full cheese and whole milk because there is no possible technique which can immaculately extract fat from milk and leave calcium. Any thing else is only a marketing gimmick.

Of course, the role of exercise cannot be over-emphasized, workout at least 130 minutes per week or for three days for 45 minutes. And please don’t tell me you are walking for 30 minutes, because walking is not exercise but only an activity to keep your body active. It is perfect for people with 55 to 60 plus age group, or people suffering from knee and joint problems. Otherwise unless you are jogging or briskly walking it will not help you much if you want to lose weight. Weight training, step-aerobics, swimming, yoga and brisk walking/ jogging are the only way to keep fit and lose weight.

Yes I know it is the old way, but it is the tested way with no short cuts and only a long term commitment with yourself to remain healthy, fit and active.

Have a wonderful and healthy weekend.

Sonya Syed (Day 568).

Knapton, S. (2015). Butter unlikely to harm health, but margarine could be deadly. The Telegraph. Retrived from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/butter-unlikely-to-harm-health-but-margarine-could-be-deadly/