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Have You Ever Seen a Fat Amish Person?
Have you ever seen a fat Amish person?
When I was in my early teens, my mother took my brother and me on a road trip up the East Coast of the United States. One of our stops was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania – the heart of Amish country.
I still remember the gently rolling fields, the agrarian lifestyle, and the juxtaposition of cars whizzing by on the highway as the Amish trotted into town in their horse-drawn wagons.
I was reminded of my experiences there when I read the responses to this week’s issue of Total Health Breakthroughs – Undercover. In this issue, I exposed the myth that a low-fat diet is the key to weight loss and the prevention of heart disease.
In recent years, numerous health researchers and authors have examined the dietary habits and the health record of the Amish. The results are quite telling. The Amish consume a high fat diet. They often cook their food in lard or bacon grease. And they consume a fair amount of meat and dairy.
Yet, the rates of obesity and heart disease in the Amish community are very low, compared to the general population.
Of course, the Amish are also quite active, working the land and traveling without cars. They eat many freshly grown vegetables too. These factors obviously improve their health and fitness. But it is clear that their high-fat diet is not packing on the pounds or clogging their arteries.
And it is not hurting their longevity either…
Total Health Breakthroughs subscriber Jim, who was raised in the Pennsylvania farm country, made this point in a comment on the website:
“I am 80 years old and grew up in NW Pennsylvania. We grew most of our own meat and vegetables. Lard was a staple since we butchered a pig and a cow each fall. We also had venison and our own chickens and eggs. Everyone was healthy and no one was overweight. One year, Father raised turkeys and I raised rabbits. I also raised goats one year so Father could have goat’s milk for his ulcers. Father lived to 94 and one uncle lived to 113.”
Two readers contributed similar stories from other parts of the world…
Penelope A. grew up in England in the 1950’s. Now she lives in a very rural part of Northwest Spain, called Galicia. “In this area, we have the oldest population in the whole of Spain,” she writes.
“Regularly, people live to 90 – and often well over 100. The diet is based on good food, naturally grown with (until recently) no thought to the amount of fat. The pig is king here, home grown and butchered at home, with homegrown fruits and vegetables, and hens for eggs and meat. I have been here nearly five years and my health is better than ever in my life.”
Elaine B. grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota. She says, “It was obvious that high fat, even saturated fat as in fatty meats and dairy products, was contrary to the no-high-fat philosophy of the health industry.”
Yet, the healthiest people she has ever known “were these Minnesota farmers who ate large quantities of fat.” Of course, “they also ate lots of organically grown fruit and vegetables,” she writes.
“I am 73 and slightly overweight, but extremely healthy, and I follow the examples of those Minnesotans by eating as much fat as I choose, but making sure it is clean, unpolluted and a combination of dairy, meat, olive, flax, and fish oils.”
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And how’s this for an endorsement?
THB reader Dave credits his low-glycemic, high-protein, healthy-fat diet with curing his “blood sugar issue.”
“All I eat now is lots of fresh vegetables, good grass-fed meat, wild-caught fish and nuts. I go moderate on the fruit, almost exclusively sticking to berries.” And get this. Dave says that he is pretty close to his high school weight, except with more lean muscle.
“I’m almost 50 now and I sometimes get some shocked looks when I get asked my age. I had a cardiac workup done and the nurse kept telling me ‘you sure don’t look almost 50.’ We dig our graves with our spoon.”
Thanks to everyone who commented. Your personal stories add to the considerable clinical and anecdotal proof that the amount of fat we eat is inconsequential, compared to the type of fats we eat.
But my article did lead several people to ask a very important question… Why is it important to avoid vegetable and seed oils?
Most vegetable and seed oils are very high in omega-6 fatty acids (as are most conventionally raised meats). These fats are “essential,” meaning we cannot make them on our own. We must get them from our food.
However, while essential in small amounts, they actually promote disease when consumed in unnaturally large amounts. A hundred years ago, the average American ate less than one pound of vegetable oil per year. It is difficult to consume these fats in large quantities in their native form.
But thanks to the modern food-processing industry and the unnatural diet we feed our livestock, Americans today eat more than 75 pounds of polyunsaturated omega-6 fats each year.
These fats are very unstable in the body. When we consume too much of them – as more than 95% of us do – they lead to free-radical damage and strongly promote chronic inflammation. This is a prescription for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cataracts, infertility, skin wrinkles, and much more.
That’s why you should strictly limit vegetable and seed oils in your diet (corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower oils and the like). You should also avoid fried and processed foods. Potato chips, baked goods, salad dressings, margarine, shortening, etc. all contain vegetable oils and high levels of omega-6 fats.
Replace any vegetable oils you currently use with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, organic grass-fed butter, and organic unrefined coconut oil. All of these, except for the extra virgin olive oil, also have a high flash point. So they can also be used for cooking and sautéing.
To Your Health
Jon Herring
Editorial Director
Total Health Breakthroughs
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Jon,
I like your Total Health E-newsletter. Most of the other publications and e-newsletters I get I don’t read much anymore because I could spend all my time doing that. I have more trust in what you all are saying. I use and follow Dr. Sears’ diet advice, supplements, and Interval training regimen. I just got back from Bogota,Columbia and was struck be the fact that the people I observed were not fat like in the USA. They didn’t have fat hanging over their bellies, this goes even the middle age and older men. I have been trying to figure this out since it seems to me that their diet is fairly high in carbohydrates. If you have an answer, let me know.
Tondria Gelman (a healthy, fairly trim 68 year old)
tgelman@aol.com
A very relevant article on empirical evidence that there is no particular problem if animals and poultry are grass-fed. It appears that excessive quantities of Omega 6 in corn-fed animals and poultry that has caused the 20th century disease: coronary heart disease and strokes. This article supports all that is discussed in the complementary articles by the articles by Stephan Guyenet.
There is a crying need for more such articles citing longevity, together with an active lifestyle, in populations that relied, and still do rely, on grass-fed animals.
A very relevant article on empirical evidence that there is no particular problem if animals and poultry are grass-fed. It appears that the culprit is excessive quantities of Omega 6 in corn-fed animals and poultry that has caused the 20th century disease: coronary heart disease and strokes. This supports all that is discussed in the complementary articles by Stephan Guyenet.
There is a crying need for more such articles citing longevity, together with an active lifestyle, in populations that relied, and still do rely, on grass-fed animals.
The Amish take was not a good one. I live in Amish country and they use many chemicals in their gardens and in their cooking.Many of the older women are overweight, just like the rest of us.
I forgot to mention in my comment on an earlier post that I dithced all vegitable oils too. All use for cooking is wither real butter, or most often, organic coconut oil. I make my osn salad dressing for extra virgin olive oil, herbs and various vinegars (red wine, white wine and Bragg apple cider vinegar). While this good food is more expensive, it’s an investment in your health. It’s cheap to eat trash.
(This is a humor article I wrote for my web site that I couldn’t help but post here after seeing the article you wrote.)
We live in a health-crazed society yet statistics show that Americans are getting fatter all the time. This can only lead one to believe that most diets don’t actually work, with one exception….The Amish diet.
That’s right. I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch Country where there are a lot of Amish people and I don’t ever remember seeing a fat Amish person. So, from that I can make the scientific deduction that it is electricity that makes people fat. It has to be, they don’t use it and everyone else does. They aren’t fat and the majority of people using electricity are. Then just mix that electricity with a little bit of colorful clothing from a place like The Gap and you got a whole bunch of fat people.
The next time a guy gets the urge to sue somebody because they are fat they may just want to sue the electric company. Or a clothing store (and if you don’t think it’s fair to sue The Gap because you’re fat sue them because they’ve made really stupid TV commercials in the recent past.)
If Jenny Craig was Amish and I was trying to lose weight I’d consider buying her stuff. Also, if Richard Simmons was Amish I’d consider buying his exercise tapes. Not because I thought it would get me in shape. It would just be funny to see a gay Amish guy jumping around wearing one of those big black Amish hats and making a fool of himself.
The federal government recently released the new “improved” version of the food pyramid, which should probably be ignored. I don’t know why but when I think of the government I think of fat, as in fat budgets, fat “pork” projects being pushed through Congress and, of course, the “fat heads” who run it.
I guess I shouldn’t be calling people fat because it’s not politically correct. The correct term would be overweight or, better yet, corpulently challenged. How about a compromise and say, “the fat, corpulent guy.” No, that would be redundant so that wouldn’t work either. Hmm…the only thing that makes sense to me is to call them non-Amish.
There is more and more talk recently about children being overweight or, sorry, non-Amish. But you can’t blame the kids. They are just following the example of their parents. From my extensive research into the subject (meaning, I happened to read an article in the newspaper since it was, conveniently, located next to the comic section) one third of all adults are non-Amish and another third are severely non-Amish. Interpreted another way, there are an awful lot of people keeping those Girl Scout cookie drives alive.
While you can get as complex as you want about losing weight it really just boils down to two things, as the experts will tell you, eating less and exercising more. But, since I am now an “Expert” on the subject too, since I’ve now written an article on it, I’d like to add two more pieces of advice, stay away from electricity and The Gap.
darnfunnyonline.com
Could you also comment on grape seed oil and rice bran oil as to whether they are good to use or not please?
Hi Josephine,
Grapeseed oil and rice bran oil are both very high in omega-6 fatty acids.
They do have a high flash point, so they are better for high-heat cooking than some other oils, but I would avoid them because of the levels of omega-6.
Dietary imbalance between omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids is strongly implicated in cancer, heart disease, macular degeneration, skin disorders and more. Most of us already get WAY too many omega-6 fats in the diet… not a good idea to intentionally add more.
I live in the middle of Ohio Amish country. The Amish around here have the same problem with being overweight as the rest of us do. Yes, I agree the Amish take is not a good one.
Living in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana all of my life I can tell that someone only knew about Amish from documentaries. I agree with the point of the article though.
Hi All. Interesting, well written and full of important information article. If I had read these things 40 years ago much pain could have been avoided.
In sum, all grains, grain oils, sugars, starches, breads, pasta, sodas, rice, cereals, etc., are full of omega 6. The enemy is not fat, nor cholesterol, not even saturated fat. The enemy is inflammation, which is mainly produce by an excess of omega 6 fats.
They affect our eicosanoids, producing plaque, cancer and all diseases associates to accelerated aging.
If you want to read more, please go to http://www.omega-3-fish-oil-wonders.com/essential-fatty-acids-eicosinoids.html
Best wishes,
Alfredo E.
We’ve lived near the Lancaster, PA Amish for decades. We love their chosen lifestyle and their foods. I agree. If we had followed their food & work habits all these years, I doubt we’d be over weight.
While, yes, their recipes are high in fat, they’re also not as high in salt & additives that are in prepared foods. Prepared foods are very unhealthy, yet, we all eat them, because it saves time. Lately, I’ve been using homemade recipes, including the Amish ones, rather than boxed, frozen foods.