JoDee....Thanks for your input....I will have to check into the Mayo Diet....

Right you are, like Atkins (the granddaddy of all the "let's eat fat to get skinny wonders) Keto creates an unnatural condition (Ketosis) which I once read is the final state of the body prior to starvation. Keto ain't good fer us. Plus as JoDee says it's "short term." I'd suggest that to be true if for no other reason than it would be monumentally boring to eat "Keto" all the time. Even the "Mediterranean" is healthful not due to but in spite of the Olive oil. Here's my take on Oils, including the haloed Olive kind.

COOKING OILS (and why I no longer use them) November 15, 2014

I once read that oils are wonderful flavor carriers. I can't deny that and I guess it's a good thing oils have at least that virtue, because from a nutritional standpoint they're non-starters. What? Am I out of my tree asks the straw man in my head. Non-starters? Maybe some oils, but do I not know that olive oil is a health food and good for everything this side of my car's crankcase? But hold on straw guy. Think about this. To be a food something must be able to support healthy life and be of some benefit. Olive oil is a highly refined processed and extracted food "product." It has no protein or essential amino acids, it has no carbohydrates, or sugar, it has no fiber, it has no minerals and almost no vitamins except a little vitamin E and some phytosterols. So if it's not a food, what is it? Well, it's pure fat, and nothing in your food pantry or on the planet is more calorie-dense. Most oils are low in Omega 3 fats and very high in Omega 6 fats and while both are essential, most American's diets are heavily unbalanced in favor of Omega 6's which is undesirable.*

A convenient definition of a junk food is a food that's high calorie, (high fat, high sugar, high salt) and has little or no nutrient value. Assessed in this way cooking oils are checkmated.

Brix, you nutritional dilettante, sez straw man. You're overlooking the fact that some research shows that polyunsaturated,...or was it monounsaturated oils, oh who cares, one of those oils, can lower blood cholesterol. Ah yes straw man, but only if the unsaturated oil is replacing the more onerous saturated fat in the experimental subject's diet. The "oil companies," don't bust their chops drawing attention to this wrinkle when they tell us polyunsaturated oil may improve our lipid profile. This, btw, is an example of why much nutritional research, particularly those studies sponsored by food industry sources, is not to be trusted.

And here's a no-oil rationale I hatched a few years ago. When you examine the programs of those physicians who have demonstrated success in not only arresting, but reversing killer diseases: CAD, DMII, HTN they seem overwhelmingly to omit all oils from their dietary regimens. The names include Ornish, Esselstyn, McDougall, Barnard and likely others with whom I'm unfamiliar. So, Okie that I am, I reason, well if this way of eating can fix people with big problems maybe it'd make sense for people, like me, without big problems, to eat the same way. If it can make the unhealthy healthy again, it can hardly be a bad thing for the other folks too. Or as Dr. Michael Greger, founder of Nutrition Facts.org recently put it. If someone is trying to convince you of the virtues of their diet, the only question one need ask is, "will your diet reverse heart disease?" He, of course, is a plant-based, no-oil advocate and is fully aware that a low-fat, plant-based diet is the only one that has been demonstrated to do so.

* A high omega-6/omega-3 ratio, as found in the standard American diet (SAD), promotes the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, whereas increased levels of omega-3 (a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio) exert suppressive effects. Humans are thought to have evolved with a diet of a 1:1 ratio. Optimum is now considered to be 4:1 or lower. SAD (Standard American Diet) is 15:1 or higher. We're killing ourselves with our knives and forks.

Attribution. I'm indebted to the work of Jeff Novick, Registered Dietician for much of the information about oils which I've acquired over the past several years.

***Among those on the leading edge of plant-based nutrition, low-fat is generally regarded as no-greater than 10% of calories from fat. This, in contrast, to USDA guidelines which encourages not over 30% calories from fat. And this leads to, perhaps otherwise well meaning, researchers adding to nutrition confusion with statements like "a low fat diet doesn't lower blood cholesterol." Examination of publications underlying such remarks generally reveal that the experimental low-fat diet is at or near 30% fat and is being compared to a control group eating ad libitum. Thirty percent fat is simply not low enough to do the trick. In fact, there could well be subjects in the ad libitum group eating a lower-fat diet than the experimental group. IMHO it's likely not possible for most people to get anywhere near the gold standard 10% without omitting cooking oil from their diet.

CALDWELL ESSELSTYN, JR'S. HEART DISEASE REVERSAL DIET is a zero oil regimen. Here's a brief excerpt from a 2011 interview by Kathy Freston, another advocate of plant-based diets, in which Dr. Esselstyn explains the prohibition.

KF: Who develops heart disease?

CE: Everyone eating the typical western diet. In autopsy studies of our GI's who died in the Vietnam and Korean wars almost 80% at an average age of 20 years, had disease that could be seen without a
microscope. Forty years later in 1999, a study of young persons between the ages of 16-34 years who have died of accidents, homicides and suicides, finds the disease is now ubiquitous.

KF: What is the cause of the disease?

CE: It is the typical western diet of processed oils, dairy, and meat which destroys the lifejacket of our blood vessels known as our endothelial cells. This cell layer is a one cell thick lining of all of our blood vessels. Endothelial cells manufacture a magical protective molecule of gas called nitric oxide, which protects our blood vessels. It keeps our blood flowing smoothly, it is the strongest dilator (widener), of our blood vessels, it inhibits the formation of blockages (plaques), and it inhibits inflammation.

KF: With such natural protection, why do we ever develop heart disease?

CE: Every western meal of processed vegetable oils, dairy products, and meat (including chicken and fish) injures these endothelial cells. As individuals consume these damaging products throughout their lives, they have fewer functioning endothelial cells remaining and thus less of the protective nitric oxide. Without enough nitric oxide the plaque blockages build up and grow creating eventually heart disease and strokes.
KF: Can it be stopped or even reversed?

CE: Yes. First we must look at the lessons learned from cultures where there is a virtual absence of coronary artery heart disease such as rural China, the Papua Highlands of New Guinea, Central Africa, and the Tarahumara Indians of Northern Mexico. Their nutrition is plant based without oil.

TILTING AT THIS WINDMILL FOR YEARS

I discovered this in my file recently and was surprised to see how long I've been singing this song.

August 27, 2011

Bonnie Liebman, M.S. Director of Nurtrition
Nutrition Action Newsletter
1220 L Street, N.W., Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Re: Vol. 38, No. 7
(Sep't. 2011)
Dish of the Month

Dear Ms. Liebman:

I've been a reader of Nutrition Action Newsletter for many years. As I've become more conscious of good nutrition (as e.g., the heart healthy way your Advisory Board Member, Dr. Esselstyn eats and insists his heart patients eat) I've become more frequently aware of how, with just a bit of tweaking your recipe suggestions could become much more nutritionally sound. I realize that only a small sample of your readership is prepared to eat the way Dr. Esselstyn does, but as he is prone to say, why not tell them about the best way and let them decide. I ran the numbers on the Dish of the Month and discovered that, as published, it totals around 568 calories with 22% from fat. Almost all of the fat comes from the oil. Eliminating the oil drops the total to 446 with scarcely 1% from fat. The dish is perfectly tasty prepared as a "steam fry." When I began cooking without oil, I was immediately surprised by how little it was missed. Commendably, even as published the dish is way under the government recommendation of less that 30% calories from fat, nonetheless by omitting the oil, it becomes a (really) low-fat, whole foods, nutritional cannonball. One that would make Esselstyn, Colin Campbell, McDougall, et.al jubilant. And, here's the thing, it seems to me that with just a few more lines of text you could tell your readers of the no oil option. And you'd also stop me from writing letters to you. Keep up the good work you do.

Sincerely,

Don J. Brix, Ph.D
NO OIL VEGAN BROWNIE

Rich, moist and chewy. Possibly the world's most healthful brownie. And your family and friends will never guess what's in 'em. I still find it hard to believe.

Makes 12 rectangles

1 (15 ounce) can Black Beans, drained and rinsed. (no salt added preferred)
3/4 to 1 cup Agave syrup. Or use honey, brown rice syrup or even maple syrup, to your taste
2 tbsp Ground Flaxseed
2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Cocoa powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt (I omit this)
3/4 cup Whole Wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts (I use walnuts).

Preheat oven to 350.

Line an 8" x 8" baking pan or dish with parchment paper with a little hang over so you can easily lift out the "cake" when baked.
Place beans and syrup in a food processor and puree until very smooth. Add the flax seeds, vanilla, cocoa, baking soda and salt (if using) and pulse to combine. Add the flour and pulse until just barely combined, scraping the sides as needed. Don't overmix. Stir in the nuts. Pour into prepared pan or Pyrex dish. Bake approx. 30 minutes or until center no longer jiggles when shaken gently and a toothpick stick comes out almost clean. Allow to cool completely before slicing. You'll probably need to wipe off the knife a time or two as you slice as these are kinda sticky, but they're worth the hassle.

AND THIS WEEK'S QUOTE IS: The fat you eat is the fat you wear. John McDougall, M.D.

Good eatin', Don

Check out Dr. Eric Eastman from Duke University. He has been using keto with patient for over 20 years. He uses a very simple protocol. I've ame interested in ket because my husband has type 2 diabetes and was on meds for that. I watched many Low carb down under videos then had a consult with Dr. Westman. My husband lost 35 pounds and his diabetes meds were reduced by 75 percent.
We stopped any sugar use cold turkey and ate only "real food". It is really a lifestyle and not a diet
Good luck with your decision making