Cooking Corner - Eat Fat, Lose Fat

Written By: Ellen Kleven  |  Posted: Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Throughout my short 24 years of life my view point regarding proper nutrition has changed
drastically. Although I didn't give nutrition much thought as a child, I ate a relatively healthy diet due to my own mother's interest in the subject. Classes in high school and college placed me in a position to learn about mainstream nutrition and the benefits of a high carbohydrate and lowfat diet. Looking back, I see clearly the direct conflict there often was between the teachings in my college nutrition class and what we were taught to cook, especially when it came to classical cooking. I scarcely noticed, much less tried to reconcile the differences, and instead just swallowed both: low fat theory along with high fat brioche, cheesecake, and risotto.

My weight wasn't affected and neither was my slim elderly teacher's (who proclaimed that butter-rich risottos were one of her favorite comfort foods). Since becoming pregnant with and birthing my first child I have taken up a great interest in nutrition, especially for my daughter's sake. I tend to be skeptical of latest-and-greatest fads and diets, so seeing the coconut oil industry go nuts (no pun intended) within the past couple of years definitely made me raise my eyebrows. I borrowed a book from a friend called Eat Fat, Lose Fat: Lose Weight and Feel Great with Three Delicious, Science-Based Coconut Diets by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon some time ago. I was quite skeptical (especiallydue to the capitalized "coconut" and coconut trees on the cover) but I finally got around to reading it over the past few months.

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