Anti-Aging Strategies

Historically, fat has played a major role in human survival. Fat gave us endurance in cold climates and enabled us to survive during those long periods when a daily meal was not a foregone conclusion. Once our bodies ran out of carbohydrate energy in the form of easily metabolized glycogen stored in the muscles or liver, we needed a secondary source of energythe fat by which our bodies store nutrients.

The recent experience of polar explorers tells the tale. Minnesota's Will Steger, in his 1986 dogsled dash to the North Pole, virtually survived on fats. He poured butter on his morning oatmeal and ate pemmican (80 percent animal fat or better) as the major component of the rest of his diet. He crammed in 7,000 calories a day eating this killer diet, lost weight, and never had a cholesterol problem. His secret? Grinding, exhausting work, day after day, in a cold setting that had his metabolism burning on high just to stay warm. This is a close parallel to camping next to a polar ice cap and hunting for a living with spears and sharpened rocks.

There is also evidence gathered from the native Inuit of northern Canada suggesting that despite a diet that is largely red meat and muktuk (whale blubber), they suffer from very little heart disease. Interestingly, their diet also includes lots of fish, high in alpha epicoacanthoic acid, which is extremely effective in metabolizing fats.

Actually, there are far simpler methods than surviving the great North in order to accomplish fat reduction. A British study cited in Food & Wine Magazine suggests that taking a walk before eating can reduce the effects of eating fats. The study, conducted at Loughborough University, found that subjects who ate a high-fat meal after a 2-hour walk had a 31 percent lower triglyceride level than those who ate the same meal and after no exercise. The researchers also concluded that exercise after eating also has beneficial effects.