Since transfats are bad, and the other fully hydrogenated fats are probably as bad if not worse, maybe there’s a shot they will go back to beef tallow for the fat, like in the old days. Sure, the vegetarians will complain, but let’s just say that what a vegetarian complains about is not really high on my list of reasons to donate some Orlistat side effects.

FWIW: before PP, I had occasion to leave the country to some place less concerned with health (and therefore healthier) where I had some McD’s fries, made with the beef tallow mixture as a frying oil. They really were better.

Peace,
Mary

Didn’t they try to classify catsup as a veggie serving back in the Reagan days?

I hate that stuff with a passion and wouldn’t you know it, I ended up married to a guy who has a bottle of it welded to one hand.

Yep, I’ve heard about the catsup too.  So fries and catsup are TWO servings of veggies.

Cheers–

MRE 

Hi David–

You may be right about the McDonald’s fries, but I would think the deep frying of the other fries in the experiment would have provided the same protection. It could have been, I suppose, that Spurlock put the McDonald’s fries in when they were just freshly cooked while he let the others sit around for a while. Then we have the report from Charles about finding old McDonald’s fries under the seat of his car that looked as good as new…

I have heard the same report that French fries are considered one serving of vegetable in the US. I just asked MD, and she has heard it too. I don’t know if it’s true or not or just one of those urban legends, but potatoes are vegetables…

Cheers–

MRE

Hi gallier2–

As I understand it, honey is an invert sugar, which means that, like sugar,  it has equal amounts of glucose and fructose but, unlike with sugar, the glucose and fructose are not hooked together.

Cheers–

MRE 

Now vinegar, on the other hand, except for being chemically volatile and evaporating if exposed to open air, is good forever. I mean heck, the extra vecchio balsamic that will be bottled this year was first barreled before I was born.

Hi Bradley–

Okay, we’ll add vinegar to the list of acceptable foods should the power in the store go out. 

Cheers–

MRE 

This is especially true since the only thing local stores sell, and the only thing my pocketbook can afford, is standard supermarket beef and pork. What, if anything, should I do to reduce my exposure? Also, do you think a “fat flush” a la Orlistat would be helpful?

Here is the article.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated

Hi Freddy–

Unfortunately, PBDEs, like organochlorines, are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are lipophilic (fat loving) and accumulate in the fat tissue.  When you eat the fat of animals you are getting all the POPs that the animal accumulated over its lifetime.  But, most animals we eat don’t live very long–cows for a year, maybe; chickens for a few months–so they don’t have time to accumulate a whole lot.  It’s better to eat range or grass-fed because they accumulate even less.

If you eat fruits and vegetables you get the stuff directly.  Strawberries, for example, have huge amounts of pesticides on them that are difficult to get rid of because of all the littles nooks and crannies on the surface.  Organic strawberries have a tiny bit–as do all fruits and vegetables–because of the POPs in the groundwater and even in the rain, but the organic berries have much, much less.

We humans, unlike the animals we eat, live a long, long time and tend to accumulate these POPs in our fat in large amounts.  The only way we can get rid of them is by the orlistat or olestra fat flush that I’ve written about.  There is evidence that calcium and green tea increase the fat in the stool, but not nearly to olestra or orlistat-driven amounts, so taking a calcium supplement should help over the long run.  There is a debate going on now about whether calcium in the form of supplements or in the form of dairy products is the best.  I would come down on the side of the supplements because dairy products are pretty high in fat and one of the ways animals have of getting rid of their POP burden is through their milk, which is where all dairy products come from.  Which reminds me–one thing MD and I ALWAYS buy organic is butter, heavy cream, half and half, etc. for this very reason.

I’m planning on posting soon–maybe today–on yet another way to flush the fat.

Cheers–

MRE 

Charles

Glad to hear it.