Q & A: March 11, 2012

Welcome to CHEESESLAVE Q & A!

Every Sunday, I answer your questions.  I’ll answer as many questions as I can each week. If I didn’t answer your question this week, please check back next week.

1. Question:  Thoughts On Why A Body Would Crave Such High Amounts Of Good Fats?

Hi Ann Marie,

Do you have any insight into why a body would crave such high amounts of (good) fats?

I began changing my diet a couple of years ago, s-l-o-w-l-y “backing into” GAPS intro which I have yet to fully do to be sure my gut is healed.  In the meantime, I am craving more and more fats all the time and have yet to figure out why.  

I’m eating eggs, sunflower seed butter/sprouted sunflower seeds, olives, coconut oil, ghee, clean animal protein and fats, lots of veggies and bone broth like crazy.  I regularly have chocolate in the form of cacao in an egg creme (raw egg, raw cacao, maca, stevita, ice, water) which I make in my blender.  It is the b.o.m.b.!  

I also often crave and eat coconut flour bread made with eggs, ghee, and honey (in case you or anyone’s interested the recipe is 3/4 C coconut flour, 8 Tbl ghee (or 6Tbs ghee and 2Tbl coconut oil), 2 Tbl honey, 6 pastured eggs, 1/2 t sea salt. Whisk softened ingredients till no lumps, bake at 325-350 for 40 min. in greased loaf pan. I’m sorry I don’t remember who to thank for this recipe.).

I’m especially wanting to cleanse and semi-fast to do this, but my body seems to rebel just at the thought of no food.  I’m sure it could be at least partly emotional and while I work on that piece I’m hoping you have some feedback for me on the nutritional piece.  My thinking is that if my body is craving fats then they’re not getting metabolized properly and my body isn’t registering them.

Oh, I’m taking Standard Process Cholocol II to produce bile and therefore help metabolize the fats (and does this make them bioavailable?), and am taking pancreatin in between meals to help with digestion and assimilation of what I eat. I do have quite puffy eyes the past two or so years and feel this could be secondary.  I do have food allergies and have purchased your Reversing Allergies class but again, haven’t had the ability to be disciplined due to this issue.

Thanks so much for your feedback!

Sincerely,
Denise

Answer

Hi, Denise,

If you crave fat, then eat it. I am not sure why this troubles you. Perhaps you were low fat for a long time and this is just what your body needs right now? Just a guess. Regardless, if you crave it, eat it.

I don’t recommend “cleansing” or fasting for anyone ever. If your body rebels at the thought of no food, that sounds healthy and normal to me.

2. Question:  Opinion On Calm Natural Vitality For Magnesium?

Hi AM

I have been reading your blog for 4 months. You are awesome. Magnesium. I am taking the Natural Vitality product. Just switched to the one with calcium. Thinking I needed both mag / cal. What is your opinion on that product?

After reading your post on the magnesium you can use externally… I bought some. So is using both too much? Or is the natural vitality crap? (it made a huge difference in me NOT waking up at 2AM. And I don’t have to pee in the middle of the night!) so it must be doing some good, no?

Thank you.
Susie

Answer

Natural Vitality or Natural Calm is a good product if you can tolerate it. I tried taking it but it always gives me loose stools, which means I’m not absorbing the magnesium. Apparently this is pretty common. If you can tolerate it, then by all means, keep taking it.

I think it’s fine to use both the Natural Vitality and the magnesium oil if you feel like they are both helping you.

3. Question:  Clarification On High Cholesterol?

Hello!!!  LOVE your stuff!  Quick question/response to a question you answered a week or two ago.  A woman was worried about her high cholesterol and I can’t remember the direct answer but I remember part of your response was that high cholesterol was a concern.  

I was wondering about this because I just finally got my Dad off of statin drugs, even though he has high cholesterol.  I was under the impression that high cholesterol was not a concern?  If you eat more, you produce less. If you eat less, you produce more. Am I completely wrong on this?  Just want clarification to see where I have gone wrong.  

I copied the link to the article I sent my Dad from WAPF about why high cholesterol isn’t necessarily bad to show you where I did get my info from.

https://www.westonaprice.org/cardiovascular-disease/benefits-of-high-cholesterol

Thank you!!!!
Ashley

P.S. Just a follow up to my last email.  It was the December 25th Q & A.  I read it again and you said that it’s not the high cholesterol, it’s the inflammation, which makes sense.  But, just because someone has high cholesterol does not necessarily mean they have high inflammation levels (or vice versa) right?

Answer

High cholesterol can be a sign of lots of things. Like yes, inflammation. Also, low thyroid function. If the body temperature is low and there are other signs of hypothyroidism, such as weight gain, hair loss, low sex drive, etc. Helping the thyroid can help naturally lower cholesterol.

My in-laws starting eating coconut oil and a month or so later, found that their “bad” cholesterol had dropped. I believe this was because the coconut oil may have helped improve their thyroid function.  

See my post: Nutrition News Roundup: Coconut Oil Lowers Cholesterol, Improves Thyroid Function

Also you should look for other hormonal problems (such as low testosterone for men or low progesterone for women).

Of course, it depends on how high is high. Lots of doctors tell people their cholesterol is too high when it is probably normal.

4. Question:  Suggestions To Help Persuade A Switch From Canola To Coconut Oil?

Hi Ann Marie,

I am currently attending a very small college, and we have one chef who cooks most of our meals. The food is incredible compared to most college dining fare-and the chef is pretty up on using real food ingredients, local pastured meats, etc. He’s heard of Weston Price and seems pretty receptive to that nutritional theory.

The one main problem so far with the food is that he cooks everything in canola oil. He has to make food that accommodates several vegetarians and one vegan so cooking in animal fats is out. A fellow student talked to him about coconut oil, but when he researched the price he was turned off, also I think as a chef he would probably feel that the flavor wouldn’t suit some dishes. I can’t think of any better, cheaper, vegan alternatives to canola oil for frying and cooking in, but I figured I’d toss this question out to you and see if you could think of anything.

Also, do you have some links to good explanations as to why canola oil is so bad for us, so I could maybe work on him and explain why the coconut oil would be worth the extra cost?

Thanks so much!

Answer

I always use expeller pressed coconut oil, which has no flavor or odor of coconut oil, and adds no coconut flavor to the food. It is also a lot cheaper than virgin coconut oil, yet it has almost all of the same health benefits.

I don’t see why one vegan should be the deciding factor for which oil the chef uses. I lived in a vegetarian co-op when I was in college. There were around 30 people, a handful (maybe 3 or 4) who were vegans. We cooked all our meals for vegetarians, and we used butter and eggs and cheese in our dishes. For the vegans, we made separate “vegan options”. Why not keep a small amount of canola oil (or better yet, coconut oil) for the vegan and for everybody else, cook with butter?

Here’s a good article about what’s wrong with canola oil: The Great Con-ola

5. Question:  Problem With Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker?

We purchased the model of slow cooker you like and made a soup with chicken stock.  It had a very strange taste and smell.  We just thought the chicken carcass we used (previously frozen) was not good.

We later received a second slow cooker (the same model because we liked the ability to take it places because of the sealed lid) and made a beef soup in the new one. It had that same horrible smell and taste.

We’re assuming it has something to do with the rubber seal on the lid.  We washed them well before using the first time, but it didn’t seem to help.

Have you had any problem with that, seeing you have three of them?  Is there any special thing you do before first using?

Thanks for your input.

Answer

Never had this problem. I’d exchange it.

6. Question:  Recommendations For Excessive Sweating?

Hi Ann Marie –

I have had a problem with excessive underarm sweating for 13 years (I’m 28).  What, if anything, can I do about this?

Background on my health (as short as necessary) — I suffer from chronic debilitating migraines since, well, as long as I can remember.  The first one I recall is at age seven at a sleepover.  I relied on natural remedies and sleep for relief exclusively until the age of 14, when I began taking a slew of pretty heavy medications.  I did not begin menstruating until 15.  My family doctor believed this was because I was pretty significantly underweight (think 5’6″ 90 pounds), due the the fact that up to four nights a week I spent 4-8 hours violently vomiting from the migraines.

Once I gained weight I started my period, and that was around the time I started sweating excessively.  It does not matter the weather, the temperature, whether or not I’m under stress.  I don’t have body odor (that I know of, ha) but it can be a problem.  Also, I take 1000 mg of magnesium daily (for the migraines, has made a significant difference, at least in my mind) in addition to a multivitamin.  I would only consider myself a healthy eater for the past two years or so, prior to that, I was probably your average “think I’m eating healthy but I’m not.”

Any help you can provide would be wonderful.

Thanks!
E.

Answer

I’m not a doctor, so please don’t take this as medical advice.

Have you ever had your thyroid checked? A lot of these symptoms are common in people with hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid). Excessive sweating, being underweight, migraines, irregular or lack of a menstrual period. Other symptoms include high body temperature, anxiety, heart palpitations, heat intolerance, muscle weakness, fatigue, etc. You can google for more.

If your doctor can’t help you, find a good naturopath or holistic doctor.

7. Question:  Advice On Weight Loss?

Hi Ann Marie,

I love all that you do and post about. My question concerns weight and being overweight. I have been following a traditional diet for the past year (probably 80/20). I eat or cook with coconut oil, butter, lard, tallow and drink raw milk. It was and still is hard to wrap my brain around the full fat issue since we have all been so programmed into the low fat mentality.

I have not lost one pound for probably 2 years and I am 100 lbs overweight. My blood pressure is high and I am on medication for this. The only thing that keeps me convinced that the fat is not bad, is that my husband’s blood work was excellent — normal cholesterol numbers! (I haven’t had mine checked for quite a while.)

I am going to start using magnesium oil as soon as my order arrives in hopes this will begin to help my blood pressure. I am also thinking of starting GAPS and I was wondering if you knew if my inability to lose weight is food allergy related. I am still drinking coffee, which I want to quit, but I really enjoy my 2 cups in the morning. My doctor told me to get rid of the salt shaker and eat no added salt. I have read some articles lately that say that salt is not the enemy (I use Redmond’s Real Salt sea salt) so again I am so conflicted with what to believe.

I am open to your thoughts on this.

Thank you!
Terri

Answer

Hi, Terri,

Weight gain can be caused by food allergies, because untreated food allergies cause inflammation.

Weight gain can be caused by lots of other things. Low thyroid function is a very common cause of stubborn weight gain. There are lots of other signs of hypothyroidism such as thinning hair, fatigue, dry hair and skin, brittle nails, low sex drive, etc.

High blood pressure is another symptom of hypothyroidism. Check out this article: High Blood Pressure and Hypothyroidism Can Go Hand in Hand.

If I were you, I’d start checking your body temperature (this post will tell you how) and have a full hormone panel done. You can order them online at Canary Club.

If you suspect food allergies, you can try an elimination diet for 3-4 weeks. That’s the best way to find out if you have anything you’re sensitive to.

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