Elite Thinkers Blog

The quick answer:  Plain and simple, most of what you’ve heard about fat in your diet is wrong.  Enjoy the traditional fats in moderation. _______________________________________________________________________ Politics  and Food We’ve nothing to say about the current presidential race—we’re keeping our focus on the food reformation.  Well, one thing.  Because this blog is about “wisdom,” won’t you all take a thoughtful view of what’s best for our country and vote wisely? But we do have something to say about the role of politicians in our current food mess.  Maybe it’s because women are more about nurturing and politicians are nearly all men, but on nutrition the pols do have a way of getting things backwards.  Take the subject of fats for example, as recounted in Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food . If the consequences of this tale weren’t so dire, it would make a hilarious story.  Back in 1968 the esteemed Senator Ge...

Protecting Your Family: Proscriptions vs Prescriptions In a recent post I wondered out loud about the Word of Wisdom, whether the greater benefit might come from the proscriptions or the prescriptions. By proscriptions I mean the prohibition against tobacco, alcohol, and hot drinks (defined as coffee and tea). The prescriptions would mean the counsel to build our diet on vegetables, whole grains, fruits, plus a sparing amount of meat. This basically rules out the modern American Diet (MAD). The Proscriptions Because this became an issue—as reflected in reader comments. which I take seriously—I should share my thinking. I’ve noted before these longevity benefits from things prohibited: Tobacco use is linked to about 400K painfully premature deaths each year in the US. I was in Santa Monica yesterday and drove by the billboard where the current (estimated) death toll is displayed and it appeared we would pass 400K by year-end. If the number ticks upwards while you’re wat...