Weight Loss Guru

Very interesting. Thank you for the info. I Was a bit confused over what is the best kind of oil to use in cooking. I switched to corn oil after listening to another pod cast but now I`m not so sure that is the best one to use... What would you suggest???
PP xx

Interesting pod cast! Although supermarkets are great in lots of ways, they are also responsible for some poor food choices. It's all very well plugging organic veg and meat ( though how on earth all the fruit etc is of uniform size and shape beats me. Don't think they see much soil ) a lot of people on a budget go for the buy one and get one free foods-- and these are more often than not the less healthy options.
I don't think you can blame our obesity problems on too much oil-- we are fatter thanks to eating much bigger portions and relying in part on too many convenience food---and a lot of those habits have drifted in across the Atlantic.
As a 60s chick ( !! ) when mini skirts were the rage, an obese or even chubby person stuck out like a sore thumb. These were the blissful pre- McDonald days-- if only we could have seen into the future !! I accept how exciting it is to have such a wonderful choice of food but it is probably only those who are interested in a healthy way of living that bother to capitalise on it. I believe the USA have banned hydrogenated fats , so why can't we ? No one wants any more nannying but why should we buy food that is " bad " for us in the first place ? ( I don't mean chocolate, either--that is an emotional requirement for most women !! ) I am interested in eating an exceptional diet , it's such a shame that so many are not. Thanks for the info, Pete

Very interesting, need to listen to it again, give it chance to sink in.

I really enjoyed the podcast but feel that another listen will help me to inwardly digest the relevant chunks.Some very interesting points were raised, mostly things I was unaware of.

Ben makes a large number of interesting points in a very short amount of time. Our over reliance on vegetable fats is something I've been thinking about since the Mary Enig video you posted a while ago Pete. There is no way that we could have eaten vegetable oil inthe amounts that we currently do - it's not just the extraction process it's growing the stuff too - it's only been made possible by agro industry. If you were a small holder you'd keep a pig or a cow and use that fat instead. a lot less work. I'm not saying that lard or dripping are the answer - although people up north seem a lot fatter now that they eat less dripping! One of the things that amazes me is that transfatty acids are still legal here even though they are banned in the US.

Heating olive oil is okay to a point - don't do it with virgin olive oil though as it will change more than later pressings - you shouldn't be frying with it.

A lot of choices we make are down to time. I'm very lucky in that I live in a town with a market that sells food - fish and veg not just clothes. This was a dissappearing choice for a lot of places in the south the last tiem I lived there 15 years ago. We have four bakers in our small town - all make a fine wholemeal loaf and one of them is a multiple award winner making fantastic bread over 30 varieties. We have three butcher shops. Each tells you which farm the meat came from for each major meat. It's never more than 10 miles away. The butchers are national award winners too - young butcher of the year, best sausage, best pie etc etc, this is before you skip down the road to Ilkley and head into Lishman's.
This is only available to you during the day. Even before older people got free bus travel the place is full of the over 60's getting the bus to come and shop - oh and spend some time in the tea rooms - I haven't counted these but there has to be at least 10 places - we used to have a huge amount of pubs too. (far too many have closed in the last year - we also have 8 fish and chip shops) A lot of the time my choices are curtailed due to spending time at that place called work. I get my organic veggie bag delivered each week and have sourced more local meat, veg and eggs by cycling the lanes! Some time ago I thought that a local shopper service would be just the thing for me - I might even think about it once I've been made redundant by my current employer. In then meantime I'll just muddle through by making the best of the choices around me.

Hello Auntielou

thanks for you kind words and I glad you are doing good.

Have you listened to the new pod-cast with Ben
http://www.weightlossguru.com/index.cfm/2009/8/20/...

Take care and stay in touch

Pete

Thanks Ben for replying to our bloggers. We all really appreciate your help and professional advice.

Pete

Hi Pete
Loved Ben's podcast found it very interesting. It reminded me of when we lived in the Lake District, the only milk available was unpasturized green top milk. It was fantastic and my boys were brought up on it. I have wondered since if I had not done them any favours, what with the fat content being higher, but after listening to the podcast think it was probably of much more benefit. They are both big strapping lads!
My question that you asked me to log for Ben is:
My GP stopped my HRT a few months back as he says I am now considered high risk taking it because I have migraines. Now it is fully out of my system I'm really missing it, I know I'm struggling at work as my brain just won't function quickly enough. I would love to go back onto HRT. As he won't give me a prescription I wondered if there were particular foods that could put the oestrogen back into my system. I usually make my porridge with soya milk, but that's the limit of my knowledge. Hope you can help.
All the best
Annie

thanks so much Ben

I really appreciate your support

Take care

Pete

Hi Ben
Thank you so much for your comments and very speedy reply. Im just dashing to work, but will have a good read of the 2 links you sent me this afternoon. I forgot to mention that I had an oophrectomy about 9 years ago and was advised to take oestrogen straight away so it wouldn't be such a shock suddenly losing my hormones overnight, but maybe now it's time to get used to it ! I'll get some black cohosh too.
Many many thanks and all the best
Annie