Do you know of any food that could lead to immediate death?

Fugu is one of the most fascinating and notorious dishes in the world. It is a Japanese delicacy prepared from the flesh of the pufferfish (Fugu in Japanese means pufferfish).
The flesh itself is edible, but the skin, liver and ovaries contain lethal amounts of the poison tetrododoxin. If any of these are consumed, then the effects can be fatal.

Only specially licensed chefs can prepare and sell fugu to the public. The fugu apprentice needs a three-year apprenticeship before being allowed to take an official test which consists of a written test, a fish-identification test, and a practical test of preparing fugu and then eating it.

The most popular dish is fugu sashimi, also called Fugu sashi, which is sliced so thinly that the pattern of the plate can be seen through the meat.

The taste is described by many as “heavenly”, a mild white meat, like chicken, with a unique crunchy texture.

A dish of fugu will cost between $30 to $50 in US dollars.

Fish is a healthy meal, an important organic food that needs to be present in your diet. From freshly caught wild salmon from Alaska to Japanese Fugu, the varieties of fish are still large, but chronic overfishing and many instances of wild fish population collapse endanger this wonderful source of omega 3 fatty acids.

Sometimes the chicken transport is funny and unusual indeed …

By Gabor Timis

Despite the long held idea that saturated fat causes artery blockage by raising blood cholesterol and thus contributes to the risk of having a heart attack (diet-heart hypothesis), the scientific evidence is just not there!

1. A recent large study published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism reported an “Expert Consultation” held jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the US. The consultation took a comprehensive look at the relationship between fats, physiology and health.
You can read the full article here
The experts assessing the relationship between saturated fats and heart disease looked at two lines of evidence: epidemiological studies and intervention studies.

Epidemiological studies look at the relationship between factors (such as smoking and lung cancer, or in this case saturated fat and heart disease) in populations.
These studies can only show associations between things, but cannot really tell us if one thing is causing another.
However, if saturated fat indeed causes heart disease, then the epidemiological evidence should show that higher levels of saturated fat are associated with a higher risk of heart disease (also known as coronary heart disease or CHD).

According to this report, there is no association.
The report states:

“Intake of SFA (saturated fatty acids) was not significantly associated with CHD mortality”

and

“SFA intake was not significantly associated CHD events (heart attacks)”

In intervention studies, people are subjected to some sort of intervention (such as a medication).
In this case, the intervention was to put people on a low saturated fat diet and see how they compare to individuals who are not subjected to this change.
Unlike epidemiological studies, intervention studies can prove cause-and-effect links between things.

The report found that:

” …fatal CHD was not reduced by the low-fat diets …”

2. Another huge study published last week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at the relationship between saturated fat and heart disease through a meta-analysis of 21 epidemiological studies.
This review monitored 347,747 people over a period of between 5 and 23 years.

The conclusion:

A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) or CVD (cardiovascular disease).
More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.

3. A third large study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine last year looked at a systematic review of the evidence linking a wide variety of nutritional factors and heart disease.
According to this review, there are no appropriately conducted randomised controlled trials that support the notion that cutting back on saturated fat is good for the prevention of heart disease.

The dietary factors which were associated with an increased risk of heart disease were:

A higher intake of trans-fatty acids
A higher intake of foods of high glycemic index or high glycemic load

Factors associated with a statistically significant reduced risk of heart disease included:

Higher alcohol consumption
Higher dietary beta-carotene consumption
Higher dietary folate consumption
Higher total folate consumption (from diet and supplements combined)
Higher fibre consumption
Higher fish consumption
Higher marine-derived omega-3 fat consumption
Higher fruit consumption
Higher nut consumption
Higher vegetable consumption
Higher monounsaturated fat consumption
Higher dietary vitamin C consumption
Higher total vitamin C consumption
Higher dietary vitamin E consumption
Higher total vitamin E consumption
Higher wholegrain consumption

Saturated fat neither increased nor decreased the risk of heart disease.

Therefore, if saturated fat is truly so scary, then why don’t people who eat more of it have more heart attacks?

Well, the low-fat diet-heart hypothesis has been controversial for many decades and it looks like it finally ends here. It should!
It’s been kept alive by selective citation of inadequate evidence, wishful thinking, and by powerful agricultural and food companies.
It may well have played an unintended role in the current epidemics of obesity, lipid abnormalities, type II diabetes, and metabolic syndromes.

Indeed, you can safely eat organic meat, such as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken, duck, geese, lamb etc. Together with their fatty parts.

Source: Fats and Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2009; 55 (1-3).
Siri-Tarino PW, et al. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease Am J Clin Nutr. January 2010
Mente A, et al. A Systematic Review of the Evidence Supporting a Causal Link Between Dietary Factors and Coronary Heart Disease. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(7):659-669.

By Gabor Timis

The four stomach compartments of a cow are designed to digest grass, not grains, or corn.
Have you ever seen a cow running around in a cornfield peeling the ear and eating corn?

Grass-fed beef contains more of the essential fatty acid omega-3, as well as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an essential fatty acid that helps regulate the way our bodies deal with other fats, boosts the immune system, fights cancer, and has other health benefits.

Grass fed organic beef also contains higher levels of alpha linolenic acid (ALA), an essential fatty acid not synthesized by the body, which is part of the key omega 3 fatty acids beneficial for healthy cardiovascular function.

Grass fed organic beef has higher levels of vitamin B12 and antioxidants. Meat, eggs, and dairy from organic pasture raised animals contain higher amounts of vitamin C, beta carotene, and antioxidants.
Grass fed beef is loaded with over 400% more of vitamins A and E than grain fed beef.

Organic beef has its regular benefits of no pesticide and fertilizer contamination. It does not contain artificial substances such as hormones, GMOs and antibiotics.

Sources: Lopez-Bote, et al(1998). “Effect of free-range feeding on omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-tocopherol content and oxidative stability of eggs.” Animal Feed Science and Technology 72: 33-40.
Dhiman, T. R., et al. (1999). “Conjugated linoleic acid content of milk from cows fed different diets.” J Dairy Sci 82(10): 2146-56
The Teagasc Research Programme on high quality beef