BlogHer Book Club: Why Women Need Fat

Real butter. Meat. Cheese. Pasta. Chocolate Mousse – the real deal made with dark chocolate, egg yolks and cream. Is is possible to enjoy these foods as part of a healthy diet?
Drs. William D. Lessek and Steven J. C. Gaulin, authors of this month’s BlogHer Book Club selection, Why Women Need Fat say that it’s not only possible, but necessary, for women to eat foods like these in order to both help their bodies work they way they are intended to and also achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Surprised? If so, it’s no wonder. Our society has been bombarded with conflicting ideas about the healthfulness of different kinds of fats since the Eisenhower administration. At that time, it was declared that traditional fats like butter and lard were bad while new, engineered fats, such as those derived from corn were good. America bought into the idea and, as a result has become fatter and fatter.

Lassek and Gaulin assert that the reason that we are heavier now than ever before is an overabundance of omega 6 (like that found in vegetable oils) and far too little omega 3 (flax seed oil, fish, grass fed beef and chicken, nuts, dairy products) in our diets. Omega 6 causes us to gain weight in the belly area, increases the appetite and raises the “set point” of our weight. Omega 3 keeps the appetite down and distributes weight to the hips and thighs while maintaining a smaller waist, giving that hourglass figure.
The book discusses the biological reasons behind just why that shape is attractive (think curvy Jessica Rabbit’s appeal over the slender Olive Oil), how and why women naturally gain some weight as they get older – and why that is not necessarily a bad thing, why traditional foods are best and processed foods are bad, why dieting doesn’t work, and what kind of food choices you can make to bring the omegas into the proper balance.
I really enjoyed this book. It has me looking more closely at the food I eat and feed my family. Many of the changes that I’ve made to our diet over the past couple of years fall right in line with what I read here, which made me pretty happy. However, as a result of this book I am more determined than ever to make sure my daughter gets the best food, while avoiding the worst, now while she is young.
The fact that chocolate mousse falls into that category should make us both happy.
What about you? What’s your take on fats? Do you think butter is a health food? Join the conversation on BlogHer.

Disclosure: This has been a sponsored post by BlogHer Book Club. All text and opinions are my own.