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Myth: Americans do not consume enough essential fatty acids.
Truth: Americans consume far too much of one kind of EFA
(omega-6 EFAs found in most polyunsaturated vegetable oils) but
not enough of another kind of EFA (omega-3 EFAs found in fish,
fish oils, eggs from properly fed chickens, dark green
vegetables and herbs, and oils from certain seeds such as flax
and chia, nuts such as walnuts and in small amounts in all whole
grains.) (Am J Clin Nutr 1991 54:438-63)
Myth: A vegetarian diet will protect you against
atherosclerosis.
Truth: The International Atherosclerosis Project found
that vegetarians had just as much atherosclerosis as meat
eaters. (Lab Invest 1968 18:498)
Myth: Low-fat diets prevent breast cancer.
Truth: A recent study found that women on very low-fat
diets (less than 20%) had the same rate of breast cancer as
women who consumed large amounts of fat. (NEJM 2/8/96)
Myth: The "cave man diet" was low in fat.
Truth: Throughout the world, primitive peoples sought out
and consumed fat from fish and shellfish, water fowl, sea
mammals, land birds, insects, reptiles, rodents, bears, dogs,
pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, game, eggs, nuts and milk products.
(Abrams, Food & Evolution 1987)
Myth: Coconut oil causes heart disease.
Truth: When coconut oil was fed as 7% of energy to
patients recovering from heart attacks, the patients had greater
improvement compared to untreated controls, and no difference
compared to patents treated with corn or safflower oils.
Populations that consume coconut oil have low rates of heart
disease. Coconut oil may also be one of the most useful oils to
prevent heart disease because of its antiviral and antimicrobial
characteristics. (JAMA 1967 202:1119-1123; Am J Clin Nutr 1981
34:1552)
Myth: Saturated fats inhibit production of anti-inflammatory
prostaglandins.
Truth: Saturated fats actually improve the production of
all prostaglandins by facilitating the conversion of essential
fatty acids. (Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Journal 20:3)
Myth: Arachidonic acid in foods like liver, butter and egg
yolks causes production of "bad" inflammatory prostaglandins.
Truth: Series 2 prostaglandins that the body makes from
arachidonic acid both encourage and inhibit inflammation under
appropriate circumstances. Arachidonic acid is vital for the
function of the brain and nervous system. (Price-Pottenger
Nutrition Foundation Journal 20:3)
Myth: Beef causes colon cancer
Truth: Argentina, with higher beef consumption, has lower
rates of colon cancer than the US. Mormons have lower rates of
colon cancer than vegetarian Seventh Day Adventists (Cancer Res
35:3513 1975)
© 1999 Weston A. Price Foundation All Rights Reserved.
Learn
more at:
http://www.westonaprice.org/
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