Mary Gertrude Enig, PhD co-wrote a book called Eat Fat, Lose Fat
"Enig and Fallon attempt to correct what they see as Americans' false belief that tropical fats and oils (such as coconut and palm) are unhealthy, asserting that those fats (and coconut, especially) are beneficial saturated fats that should be more heavily incorporated into our diets. Enig, a biochemist and nutritionist, along with Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation (a non-profit dedicated to helping people implement healthy approaches to nutrition), say "high-fat, low-carb really works," eschewing the disastrous effects a high-fat diet can have on a person's heart. Their approach skews toward traditional diets and away from modern diets (e.g., chose animal fats over vegetable oils; raw or fermented dairy products instead of pasteurized ones)."
"Eat Fat, Lose Fat promotes what Enig considers "good" fats, including coconut, butter, cream, nuts, meat, lard, goose fat, and eggs. In the book, Enig criticizes the use of polyunsaturated oils which most diets recommend, because of the way they are processed and also argues that many who follow low-fat diets feel low on energy because they are "fat deficient".[21] This contrasts with the widely held view in the medical community that fat intake and especially saturated fats should be limited "
"Based on more than two decades of research, Eat Fat, Lose Fat flouts conventional wisdom by revealing that so-called healthy vegetable oils (such as corn and soybean) are in large part responsible for our national obesity and health crisis, while the saturated fats traditionally considered “harmful” (from such foods as coconut, butter, and meat) are essential to weight loss and health. "
Mary Gertrude Enig, PhD (born 1931[citation needed]) is a nutritionist and early trans fat researcher known for her unconventional positions on the role fats play in diet and health.[1] She has promoted skepticism towards the scientific consensus that high saturated fat diets lead to heart disease, while she advocates for a diet based in whole foods and rich in certain saturated fats, such as those found in coconut oil and butter.[2]
Enig was a researcher of trans fatty acids for decades[4], with one newspaper calling her work in the area "pioneering." [8] She claims to have been warning of the effects of trans fatty acids on cholesterol years before their dangers were widely accepted.[9] Enig believes that trans-fats lower the beneficial type of cholesterol (HDL)[9] and pushed for improved labeling of trans fats on products,[10] which has now become mandatory on products in the U.S. and in Europe in the last decade.
Some of Enig's work has been inspired by the research of Weston A. Price, a dentist who traveled the world researching traditional diets in the 1920s and '30s. Sally Fallon, an advocate for the nutritional theories of Price, recruited Enig to utilize her nutritional training to co-write a book to popularize Price's work in 1989 called Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. Topics include:
- Why your body needs old fashioned animal fats
- Why butter is a health food
- How high-cholesterol diets promote good health
- How saturated fats protect the heart
- How rich sauces help you digest and assimilate your food
- Why grains and legumes need special preparation to provide optimum benefits
- About enzyme-enhanced food and beverages that can provide increased energy and vitality
- Why high-fiber, lowfat diets can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies
It explained Price's findings and provided recipes of traditional foods such as chicken liver pâté, sauerkraut, sourdough breads and bone broths,[19] as well as raw milk, kombucha, probiotics (yogurt, kim-chee), trans-fat avoidance, organ meats, coconut oil, and butter and has sold more than 400,000 copies as of 2011.[20]
