Before I get to the skinny part, our new menu for next week--March 11- 14--is live and ready for you now HERE. We don't quite hit St. Patrick's Day because it lands on Sunday this year, but we do have some nice St. Patrick's Day style meals on Thursday, 3/14 if you're looking for some Irish vittles.
THE SKINNY ON FAT
Back in the late 80's and early 90's "fat-free" was the mantra, and the prevailing wisdom was to cut (all) the fat and then we'd all be healthier & thinner. We also all got educated on trans fats, and the USDA required evil trans fats like partially hydrogenated oils to be declared on nutrition labels so we could avoid them given that the adverse effects are cumulative in humans, and can lead to some serious health issues. Thusly, every food package began to declare "FAT FREE" on it so that people could easily identify 'healthier' food. The trans fat/partially hydrogenated declaration was a huge win, and very good for us all to learn to avoid it.
However, I remember some people I knew back then really believed that if something was 'fat free' then it was fine to eat and was...'healthy.' As an example, one day I was at work and a woman there was stuffing her face with these cookies and she was saying to me, "This is so great! These oatmeal-applesauce cookies are fat free! I can eat as many of them as I want and not gain weight."
Um. Should I say something? I thought to myself. Yes, yes, I should. So I said, "Well, there's sugar in them, right?" She agreed, beginning on yet another cookie. I explained that sugar (and really any excess calories) could still be converted into fat in the body, and that "fat-free" didn't mean consequence free. Naturally, she called me an idiot and kept on her fat-free cookie binge. People do not like bad news, even if it's good for them, I understand.
I promise, there is good news at the end of this post, stay with me.
WHAT IS GOOD TODAY IS BAD TOMORROW
Science & research taught us about saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats, or fats that are solid at room temperature like cheese, meat (lard) and butter are really, really tasty, but seriously not very good for us. They are saturated fats--we should limit these for better heart health, and eat more healthy fats. Like avocados. Unsaturated fats are better for us, and many of them have essential fatty acids in them. Your body cannot make these 'essential' fatty acids, so you have to consume them. There are two main ones we will discuss briefly today; Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
Surely you've read or heard that Omega-3 fatty acids are really good for you and you can get them in foods like fish, nuts and flax seeds. These fats are now known to be 'anti-inflammatory'--they decrease inflammation in the body. What you may not have heard as much about is Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6s are another essential fatty-acid that we need because we cannot make it ourselves, but we don't need as much as we get in our diets today.
Omega-6's are found in oils such as corn, safflower, sunflower, soy and vegetable and products made with those oils. Back in the day, we were told these oils were good for us. And certainly they are better for us than saturated fats and trans-fats!
Well, it turns out that excess consumption of omega-6s can trigger the body to produce pro-inflammatory chemicals, and the American diet tends to be very high in omega-6s. Practically every restaurant uses these unsaturated vegetable oils (read: soybean oil), and the vast majority of pre-packaged foods also use these oils. In fact, by 1999, 7% of calories in the American diet came from soybean oil alone. Let that marinate.
Unfortunately, a lot of omega-6 consumption appears to trigger inflammation, and when you have more inflammation in your body, the more disease-prone you are! Of course, inflammation is essential for our survival. It helps protect your body from infection and injury, but it can also cause severe damage and contribute to disease when it’s chronic or excessive.
In fact, chronic inflammation may be one of the leading drivers of the most serious modern diseases, including heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and many types of cancer.
HOW SAN MATEO SUPPER CLUB HELPS YOUR HEALTH
I promised you the skinny, so I won't launch into all the tangents that this discussion can take, nor will I go into the ratios of omega-3s and 6's that various fats have, etc. (and believe me, I go there! like grass-fed meat & butters have more omega-3s...) We want to you to know that our commitment to high quality food goes deeper than the best vegetables, meats and grains we can buy--we also cook with the best, high-quality fats that we can that are the healthiest according to the latest research. Extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil and sesame oil are the healthiest fats along with grass-fed animal fats.
They are also the most expensive.
Here is a quick view of the fats I have on hand that I use every day in your meals:
These are the only oils I use along with organic butter. When we make you an oil-based dressing, we use these high-quality & expensive oils. We will only feed you what we would feed ourselves and our own children. Your long-term health matters to us--along with the health of the planet.
Yes, we could make better margins if we didn't continually buy $25 bottles of oil, or pay double for butter, but the cost in long-term health for ourselves and our planet is not worth it. We raise our tiny fists into the air and declare that we will do the very best we can in the face of corporations and hustle culture teaching us that more money now is better.
We believe the mantra health is wealth. We gladly do this for ourselves and for you.
(And do let me know if you ever want to go down the rabbit-hole on health and ingredients--I'm always happy to discuss in excruciating detail.)
Meanwhile, when we say "wholesome" and "healthy" and "scratch-made," we mean it. We aren't just using marketing words--we research and we continually learn and bring you the very best that we can. Order up now HERE knowing that everything is made with love and the best, most expensive fat.
That's the skinny,
Chef Ginny & Chef Mary
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