Live and direct from Barcelona as a storm has driven me off of Las Ramblas into this net cafe. Check out this article that I am browsing as I wait for the down pour to subside.

Let me continue my conspiracy theory by unveiling a little known controversy over animal fat. Decades ago, two investigators named Brown and Goldstein explained how saturated fat wreaks havoc on our cholesterol levels. They were right, of course, but their research ignited a witch hunt. Authorities now almost universally condemn animal fat when it comes to heart disease and cholesterol elevation. In fact, I've worked in a major medical institution where the terms "animal fat" and "saturated fat" have become essentially interchangeable. Hmm. Well, here's an interesting fact: less than half the fat in meat is saturated. And there's more. Of the saturated portion in meat, one of the most common fatty acids has negligible impact on cholesterol. It's been known for ages.

Stearic acid (18:0), prevalent in beef, lacks the hyper-cholesterolemic qualities associated with its brethren.(1, 9, 11) And diets rich in stearic acid don't affect the clotting tendency of blood compared to the typical American diet, either.(12) Add grass-fed beef (richer in CLA and lower in omega-6 fats) and specialty eggs containing DHA ("fish oil") to the list and you have to wonder how certain experts can prefer common (generally omega-6) vegetable oils. The trend for Americans to eat less red meat (22) and have less access to animal fat in the food supply (18) is hardly beneficial considering they replace it with vegetable oils in true junk foods (17, 18). That practice is, in many ways, far worse for their health. Yet many authorities make it sound like we'll have to sign a waiver just to eat a juicy steak.