"A very short list of some of the health problems noted in Eat Fat, Lose Fat, that may be ameliorated by adding healthy fats to one's diet include chronic fatigue, low energy, anxiety, food cravings, thyroid problems, depression and mood swings (tell me about it)."

I've been reading Eat Fat, Lose Fat, by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig. The book reveals some astonishing facts about dietary fat and its role in a healthy diet. Though the book talks about all fats in general, it is coconut oil that is the focus.

Not long ago, after an exhaustive amount of reading and research that would have put my college cram sessions to shame, I began to understand what Dr. Enig has been saying for years. Namely, that not all fats are equal and that the fats most experts recommend we eat are the ones most likely to do us the most harm. Eat Fat, Lose Fat, details in print, what I have been experiencing in my own life for about a year now.

My troubles began when I received a call from my doctor's office with a blunt message about my 'elevated' cholesterol levels. My physician recommended that I cut back on the consumption of dietary fat as a restorative measure. The phone call left me saddened and confused. For some time, I had been losing weight and feeling great by eating foods, which seemed to supply just the right amount of fat for me. I was eating butter, real eggs, and cheese at the time. What was I supposed to do now, I wondered, go back to nothing but salads and fat free dressing? I found the very notion, depressing.

When my husband discovered the Weston A. Price Foundation on the web, about six months into our journey to wellness, I read an article at their site about the wonderful benefits of coconut oil. I had been warned in my anatomy and physiology classes in college that fats, such as butter, lard, coconut and palm oils were killers and that dietary saturated fats caused heart disease. And yet, I had been consuming more than the recommended amounts of fat and felt better than I had in years. Not only that, but my mind was sharper, I was physically stronger and my mood was great, but college instructors and health professionals know best, don't they? Somehow, something just didn't add up, so I did what I always do in times like this. I hit the books, but this time it was for more than just a grade, it was for my life and perhaps for the life of my children.

Now there's an old saying that I remember from my childhood where someone, usually a child or teenager, who had achieved a size sufficiently larger than their peers would be described as having been "corn fed." When urban children, who have never been anywhere near a farm, know, through the process of generational osmosis that excessive amounts of corn lead to excessive weight gain, how is it that many educated health professionals remain in the dark about this simple truth? I can remember ads for a brand of beef from 10 to 20 years ago trumpeting the fact that their livestock was fed (fattened up) on grains, hence the once popular term, grain-fed beef. Why do the government dietary recommendations, represented by the food pyramid, seem to suggest that we should follow the example of the nation's livestock and fatten up on the same diet?

Why, I wondered, is the diet recommended for humans to stay trim and healthy, a diet heavy in soy and corn products, the same diet that any farmer knows will pack the pounds on Wilbur the pig and Bessie the cow? There exists an interesting parallel between people and livestock when you realize that food producing animals are being prepared for slaughter. What fate awaits the rest of us who follow this same dietary advice? For me, these revelations were enough motivation to earnestly seek out the TRUTH about fats and cholesterol.

A very short list of some of the health problems noted in Eat Fat, Lose Fat, that may be ameliorated by adding healthy fats to one's diet include chronic fatigue, low energy, anxiety, food cravings, thyroid problems, depression and mood swings (tell me about it).

I ordered a jar of extra virgin coconut oil and cooked with it. I took a tablespoon full one day and my energy level went through the roof. Richard and I went on a long bike ride along a hilly trail not far from our home. Usually, my legs would tire quickly when we hit the hills, but not anymore. My legs felt like coiled steel as I pumped up the hill. The burnout I usually experience never came. I was so excited and felt absolutely great! I have maintained my weight loss and continue to get stronger. I've learned that coconut oil, real butter and lard are actually good for me. They are God given, life sustaining, energizing foods.

After learning more about the role of fats and cholesterol as well as the political and economic concerns that taint our health policies today, I decided not to obsess over my doctor's advice. Instead, I resolved to incorporate coconut oil into my diet. I felt like my body needed it. That was some time ago and I haven't looked back since.

Mary Morris