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Usually, it takes me a few snarky lines of beating around the bush to get to my point with this quarterly commentary. But not this time! I’ve got some serious attitude to share and it’s all about those headlines I’ve been reading since the beginning of the year touting that low fat diets are not all that. Not the cancer curing, heart attack preventing answer that we were all looking for. Well, I’ve got one thing to say to all of those really smart researchers and their trusty reporters, “No, duh!” I’m talking about the storm of articles that addressed the most recent study performed on women ages 50-79 published in the Journal of American Medical Association that found that low fat diets do not protect against heart attacks, breast cancer and colon cancer. With bold faced type reading “Low Fat Diet Myth Debunked” or “Low Fat Diets Not Recommended” or “Fat, It’s What’s for Dinner” (O.K., maybe not that last one, but it wasn’t far off), they’re hard to miss. The details, however, are a little more subtle.
Researchers found that women who went from moderate fat diets (say 35% of total calories) to low fat diets didn’t have a significant change in their health. But here’s the deal: if you’re keeping your fat down to thirty-five percent of your calories, you’re already on a low fat diet by most standards and you’re probably looking and feeling pretty good. In addition, the goal was to get these women down to 20% of calories from fat, but most only got to about 25-29%. This is not just low fat, its dietary boot camp. Bread without butter, bagels without cream cheese, salad dressing without olive oil, you get my drift! Without quotes to back me, I’ll venture to say that many of those who succeeded in getting their diets to that ultra-low 20% goal were probably bored out of their minds, craving flavor and struggling daily. Is that really success? 
Coincidentally, while all this came out, so did The Sonoma Diet, a lifestyle eating book by our very own California Ripe Olive nutritionist Dr. Connie Guttersen. Her premise is that if we take our cues from the Mediterranean Diet and eat reasonable amounts of food that are naturally good for us, including whole grains, vegetables, fruits and fats, we’ll be fit and healthy and enjoy every minute of it. And with a menu that opens up the world rather than locking all the cupboards, it’s a delicious place to start. Hungry for more information on fats and diets? Here's what nutritionists are reading this month. TOP Sure you’ve got your health, your physique and your energy, but reaching a new milestone isn’t easy for everyone. You’ve got to work for it. I’m not talking about getting up one morning and hitting that monumentous birthday when you realize that gravity may not be all good. That’s practically a given. Sticking with a diet that is considered moderately low in fats, now that takes a little more commitment. The good news is, just like your age, it’s not the number, but how you feel that really counts. And while there is no magic number for perfect health, the formula is relatively simple. Eat plenty of flavorful fruits, vegetables and whole grains, coupled with lean meats, and the right kinds of fats and you should be just fine. Here’s a recipe that’ll keep you on track. Flavored with hummus, red peppers and California Ripe Olives, moderation never tasted so extraordinary! TOP
As I perused those articles, it was usually around the fifth or sixth paragraph that the writers finally chose to mention that not all fats are created equal. They’d go on to quote some accomplished scientist to confirm that, in fact, avoiding saturated fats and trans fats in favor or monounsaturated and omega-3s was clearly beneficial. This is key, guys! What were you waiting for? Now that we all can agree on that, the question is where to get the goods? Thought you’d never ask. Try California Ripe Olives, almonds and olive oil for monos and salmon and flax seed for omega-3s. The bad stuff, well you can find that just about anywhere there’s a drive-thru window. (Oh, and that bag of chips while you’re waiting on the check-out line, sorry, but it still counts!) But who needs to dwell on the negative when unbelievably tasty options abound. Not just in the Mediterranean, but all over the world. With these truly Americana flavors, green beans, salmon, and California Ripe Olives, good fats are easy to find! TOP
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While those exciting headlines may have inspired a few more triple deluxe hot fudge indulgences on the spot, the articles confirmed most of the info that we’ve been talking about here for years. Ultra low fat dieting isn’t going to get you any brownie points, instead, eating moderate amounts of the right kind of fats…yes, monounsaturated from things like California Ripe Olives, almonds and avocados and omega 3’s from salmon and flax seeds…now we’re talking! Combine that with a lifetime filled with regular exercise, plenty of rest and a positive attitude and you’re really living.
