I have been asked if I could write up a “basic�?and practical shopping guide by people who want a tasty, ready-to-eat, satisfying diet, but who fear gaining weight and eating food that will lead to “chronic disease.�?I took a close look at some of products at a local supermarket called “Stop & Shop.�?Before I talk about the products, I should mention that I currently eat three meals a day, spaced at least three hours apart, and I don’t consume any calories between meals. I might drink some cold tea, but it has no sugar or anything else in it, except perhaps for a tiny amount of salt. I’ve found that I can eat as much as I want, so long as I eat slowly and only eat three meals a day. I don’t get hungry at night and my weight is stable (and I’m slim).

I’ve been buying dairy products and organic eggs (only boil eggs) from supermarkets, but little else. Once in a while I might buy sauerkraut from such stores, but I usually buy organic sauerkraut at the local “health food store.�?Here, I should mention that I do not buy dairy that contains substances such as carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, etc., but if you don’t have a choice, avoid carrageenan. Products like ricotta cheese and sour cream can vary a great deal, with some containing more than one of these substances, while others are made without any.

Now, as I looked throught the breads, cookies, wafers, cookies, candies, etc. at Stop & Shop, I noticed that some of their brand of cookies were rich in saturated fatty acids but low in unsaturated fatty acids, and also did not appear to be made with bleached flour. These items were iced oatmeal cookies, caramel dipped shortbread cookies, chocolate covered graham cookies, and chocolate covered mint cookies. I purchased them and have found that they are useful for making a meal more tasty �?I eat one per meal, at most. Of the fat content, at least 70% is saturated, whereas some of the other cookies contained considerably more unsaturated fatty acids than saturated ones, and so I would not even consider eating them. Also, I noticed that they sell candy called “gum drops�?which are mostly sugar and corn starch, and have tried them as well. The most I have eaten with a meal is two. Marshmallows are also an item that should not be a problem �?it contains no fat or cholesterol.  Some whip toppings contain 2 grams of fat per serving, both of which are saturated, and so this is something that I would much rather eat (on top of all kinds of things) than cake or pie that has a high PUFA content (which is very common these days).

A meal consisting of one of these cookies, a “gum drop,�?two or three ounces of cheese, a mixture of ricotta and sour cream, several raisins, part of a banana, shredded coconut, some pineapple chunks, a small amount of sauerkraut, dark chocolate, and a couple of large mashmallows is easy to “throw together,�?and I’ve found it to be incredibly satisfying but very gentle on the stomach. Of course, organic dried fruit is probably better, especially if you still have arachidonic acid in your cells, but not everyone likes fruit in this form, and it can be quite expensive, several times more expensive than cheap cookies and “gum drops.�?It also may be difficult to get children to eat such fruit. Obviously, most fresh organic fruit is good, but again, expensive (and not alwayus available in certain places). My point here is to call your attention to what kinds of “junk food�?appears to be reasonable “safe,�?if you eat it the right way and in small amounts.

I took a look at some of these kinds of products in the homes of friend and relatives, and almost every one of them contained a lot more unsaturated fatty acids than saturated ones, and some also contained cholesterol, at least some of which will get oxidized by the time it reaches your mouth. Ironically, because the "experts" have been telling people that unsaturated fatty acids are good (in general) for the last several decades, those who eat things like cookies (the ones rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which represent the clear majority of what you can find in the supermarket) are often found to have higher rates of this or that "disesase" in epidemiological studies. The conclusion of the "experts" is that sugar is unhealthy, because they assume that the unsaturated fatty acids are healthy, or at least not unhealthy.

However, as I have argued elsewhere on this site, the scientific method requires that all possible factors be isolated and tested. If this were done, for instance by feeding one group of rats a lot of cookies rich in unsaturated fatty acids, while another group of rats were fed cookies that contained at least 90 percent saturated fatty acids (of the fat content), and then observed them until they all died (recording the ages of death, of course), we would then have strong evidence. However, today when these kinds of studies are conducted, the "diseases" that afflict the animal and the ages to which they live are hardly ever recorded, because the researchers instead rely upon "markers," such as a rise in total cholesterol levels. By doing this, they can conduct experiments in a much shorter period of time and less expensively (they can also have their studies published their "results" more quickly). Most such researchers would argue that "high cholesterol levels have been proven to correlate with a greater risk of heart disease." Of course, this was claimed before an understanding of the role of oxidized cholesterol was well known, as it is now (at least by those working on this area of research). In any case, it is common to verify scientific claims whenver there is a possibility that it may be incorrect, for whatever reason. Einstien's "relativity" has been tested over and over again, for example, but those in the bio-medical and nutritional seem to be much more reluctant to question and test old claims, perhaps because of the repercusions.

In doing some research, I came across a web page that featured people asking a dietitian questions about triglyceride levels and some related issues.  I thought this was an interesting page because it demonstrates how people are confused about what they should eat and what they should avoid.  We have all heard all kinds of conflicting dietarty advice.  The reason I decided to write this page is because so many people tell me that they are unable to follow "rigid" diets, for whatever reason.  On the dietitian's page, advice offerred includes avoiding "saturated fat."  On the contrary, I advise eating foods that contain either no fat, or else at least 70% saturated fatty acids (and also to avoid cholesterol if it is likely to be oxidized).  This allows one to find tasty, satisfying food in typical supermarkets.  However, as I said above, it's important to eat only three meals a day, with no calorie consumption in between.  You will likely need to eat quite a bit of fat in order to feel satisfied (along with enough high quality protein, of course), and eating slowly helps a great deal.  In late 2000, my cholesterol was 131 (on a vegan diet rich in nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains, with some fruit and vegetable), and in mid 2004 it was 209.  However, my HDL rose from 40 to 63, and my LDL was still in the range considered healthy. 

The dietitian, however, claims that: "Your cholesterol is also high. Saturated fats (any animal product, coconut and palm kernel oils) and high cholesterol foods increase blood cholesterol (the LDL portion). Read the cholesterol & saturated fat topic also. Recent research suggests that high cholesterol foods, especially egg yolks may play a lesser role in increasing blood cholesterol. A 25% fat, low saturated fat diet should lower your LDL cholesterol."

Those who follow this advice may find themselves facing an awful lot of ill health.  Consuming cholesterol (probably much of it oxidized, due to cooking and processing) and all that unsaturated fat is the proverbial recipe for disaster.  As I ask people, "how many more years will I feel great on a diet that is supposed to kill me so quickly?"  Then I usually add, "this is a very similar diet to my great grandfather's, and he lived to be over 100, with no omega 3 supplements, and no fear of saturated fatty acids, sugar, cholesterol, salt, etc."

This dietitican is aware of the problem with telling people to eat unappealing diets: "Now, with regards to your food choices. Why don't you eat fruit and vegetables? No time, habit or taste? Does the cook in your house like to prepare vegetables and fruits with meals?"

However, what is the point of telling people something they are simply not going to do?  Unfortunately, this dietitian appears to be unaware of the dangers of oxidized cholesterol only, and tells people to limit cholesterol consumption:  "The current recommendations are to limit egg yolks to 4 per week. So substitute 142 grams (5 ounces) of shrimp for one of the egg yolks per week."  In contrast, my sense is that two or three boiled eggs a day is fine, so long as you don't eat any of the food items that can oxidize that cholesterol in your body after you eat it.

Here are some of the questions asked of the dietitian:

Q: I went in for a physical recently and was informed that my triglycerides were the highest the doctor had ever seen (875) and my cholesterol was at 308. All other aspects of the physical went well. I went again today for another blood lab after fasting from the evening the night before.

I am 32 years, 5'11'', weighing 186# and am fairly active. I haven't been drinking at all due to illness (bronchitis) and also as a result of my efforts to quit smoking (1 week and 1 day today). I don't drink much soda at all and when I do it is "diet". I do tend to eat a lot of hard candies (a function of my efforts to quit smoking). I eat a lot of red meat and chicken, fried foods and eat little to no vegetables or fruit. I don't like most vegetables.

I have a wonderful family and want to see my children grow up. What can I do to get myself back in healthy condition? Thanks for your help.

Q: My triglycerides are over 700. My cholesterol was normal. I have done everything to bring it under 700. I cut out sugar, sweets and my cokes to only 2 a day. Is that still too many? I am 60 lb. overweight. I have cut fat to 15 grams a day and calories to 1700. I exercise 4 times a week for 30 min. I have been doing this for a year. Why cant I loose the weight and bring my triglycerides down?

Q: I'm a 28-year-old male that recently had a full-blown blood panel done. To my surprise, my cholesterol level was 220 (HDL = 39, LDL = 120) and my triglyceride level was 304!!! I'm not overweight, I seldom drink and I have what I consider an average diet for a male my age (O.K. maybe more fries than I should now and then). I don't eat sweets, except for a daily Mocha or two (with extra chocolate). Could these sweet little chocolate drinks be sending my triglyceride levels through the roof? I think I can work on reducing my cholesterol level through better diet and more exercise, but what about these triglycerides?

The dietitian's responses included the following:

"...Often a very high triglyceride level like yours can be caused by undiagnosed diabetes... Triglycerides are effected by sugar and alcohol, not the fat content in your diet... Any excess calories, irrelative of the source, from protein, fat or carbohydrate, are converted to fat, usually to triglycerides. If you consume sugar, then you do risk increasing your blood triglyceride levels.  The problem is the body prefers to run on glucose, not triglycerides..."

I'm glad to see that the dietitian realizes that the body "runs" well on glucose, and that excess calories can contribute to "high triglycerides."  But why should one fear "high triglycerides?"  Basically, this is just another "maker," and not anything directly related to an actual "disease," though I would point out that having high levels of triglycerides that contain a lot of unsaturated fatty acids is probably quite unhealthy.  In fact, one study found that the solution to the "problem" of high tryglycerides was more glucose:

J Clin Invest. 1973 March; 52(3): 732�?40. <o:p></o:p>

Diurnal Patterns of Triglycerides, Free Fatty Acids, Blood Sugar, and Insulin during Carbohydrate-Induction in Man and Their Modification by Nocturnal Suppression of Lipolysis<o:p></o:p>

G. Schlierf and E. Dorow

Abstract:  Previous studies have shown that carbohydrate induction of hypertriglyceridemia in normal subjects occurs at night and appears to be related to a rise of free fatty acids after diurnal feeding of high-carbohydrate formula diet. The present investigation was undertaken to observe the effect on 24-h triglyceride, free fatty acid, blood sugar, and plasma insulin profiles of inhibition of nocturnal lipolysis by glucose or nicotinic acid in normal subjects and in patients with type IV hyperlipoproteinemia.

In 10 normal subjects and 10 patients with primary type IV hyperlipoproteinemia, plasma triglyceride, free fatty acid, blood sugar, and insulin levels were followed in short intervals for 24 h while a 2,400 cal, 80% carbohydrate, fat-free formula diet was given in six equal portions during the day (control experiments). This procedure was repeated in the same subjects, 10 of whom (5 normal subjects and 5 patients) received additional feedings of glucose between 2000 and 0600 h while the other 10 persons (5 normal subjects and 5 patients) were given nicotinic acid by intravenous infusion during the same time interval. Both procedures resulted in maintained lowering of free fatty acid levels over 24 h. Mitigation of carbohydrate-induced hypertriglyceridemia appeared to result from the additional glucose in normals and in patients. Nicotinic acid abolished the nocturnal rise of plasma triglyceride levels which in the control studies of normal subjects had resulted in approximate doubling of triglyceride levels in 24 h...

Source of the quoted passages from the dietitian's web page: http://www.dietitian.com/triglyce.html