Takes Fat to Make Fat

Years ago I read a book entitled The T-Factor Diet by Martin Katahn. I've always remembered a phrase from the book: "It Takes Fat to Make Fat".

That phrase stuck with me, most likely because it is true. Katahn's phrase may have lots of value for individuals seeking to improve their health and lower their weight.

The simplicity of "it takes fat to make fat" frightens us. If you eat less fat, you will lose weight. The T-Factor Diet encouraged readers to count grams of fat in their diet, rather than count calories. Reducing fat consumption would lead to weight loss, Katahn predicted.

A more subtle insight to the benefits of reduced fat come from a second book, more anthropological and philosophical than dietary:  Affluence Without Abundance by James Suzman.

Suzman's book about the African Bushmen of the Kalahari provided an account of their diets. He described a the hunter/gathering tribe consuming a constricted number calories from very few food sources, including some millet. They ate meat rarely. The aridity of the climate severely limited the foodstuffs provided by their gardens. I noticed in the book's photos the beauty and strength of the tribesmen's bodies despite their limited intake of calories. Apparently the resources present in this arid landscape were sufficient to build a strong and healthy body.

Look at reviews of the book on Amazon.com and you become convinced that Katahn's program works. There are present-day diets that refute Katahn's contention on the value of reducing fat intake. I'm not sure why diets would be encouraging people to increase their fat intake? The fad diets probably have complicated explanations for the recommendation that eating fat is good for you, but this defies logic.

Disclaimer (joking)

Avoid the following topics:

Religion
Politics
Sex
Money... and
Diet

Discussions around diet quickly become heated and over-wrought. Dietary habits are almost as charged as the least recommended conversation topics-- religion and politics. Two other sensitive topics--sex and money-- are other subjects mostly avoided in polite society. I'm going add one more sensitive topic to the list-- diet. Though I mentioned it here, please don't say a word about this to your friends!