Misinformed, misguided and mistaken
Eating food that nourishes me is important to me. I read as much as possible so that I will not be misguided by big food corportations such as the dairy industry. When the dairy industry says "Milk is good for you!", my immediate thought is if human babies wean off breast milk within 2 years or so, why do adult humans require breast milk of cows? Is low fat milk, reconstituted with sugar to make it taste "milky"? Did you know that breast milk of cows contain antibodies, pus and other somatic cells from the cow that is eventually packaged in attractive cartons of tetra paks advertised as "Fresh Milk"?
But this is the type of misguided information that is available out there from reputable sites such as the Health Promotion Board (Singapore) which dishes out information on via the Healthy Meals in Schools Programme (HMSP). The Health Promotion Board advises that high fat food such as coconut milk, full cream milk or yoghurt be replaced with reduced fat options such as reduced fat yoghurt, skim milk. Now this is grave misinformation that will affect our young in schools.
Why is there misinformation on low fat/reduced fat dairy? (IMO: I say no dairy but if you like dairy, then pick full fat, whole dairy) Conventional wisdom says that if you consume fat, you will become fat. Well, conventional wisdom is hardly ever right. There is a ton of studies and scientific research done on food and nutrition in relation to obesity. I could not find them all even if I wanted to. But the long story short is that evidence does not support the hypothesis that dairy fat or high fat dairy food contribute to obesity AND in fact high fat dairy consumption within typical dietary patterns are inversely associated with obesity risk.
Now, why is that the case? Fat contributes to the feeling of satiety. When food high in fat is consumed, you feel "full" and you are less likely to reach out for that sugary donut! Low fat or reduced fat versions of milk or yoghurt typically add more sugar to compensate for the loss of flavour from the fat reduction in the product. This will inevitably result in consuming more sugar than necessary. Milk does contain some vitamins such as Vit A and Vit K which are fat soluble and must be consumed with fat for it to be absorbed into the body. Low fat or non fat milk is kinda pointless in terms of nutritional value if these vitamins are not able to be absorbed into the body.
Do not be mistaken that high fat food is demonic. It is not. (The real demon is sugar, but I will leave that for another post).
One of the high fat foods that I enjoy eating are nuts! All sorts of nuts. They contain unsaturated fats which have been shown to lower cholesterol in the blood. So I guess they are protective nuts! Haha. This recipe for my Indian Spiced Coconut Mixed Nuts uses high quality, whole foods to make a snack that you just can't stop popping! I buy raw nuts because there is less processing and add my own spices to jazz them up. Raw nuts are also cheaper! :)
Ingredients
2 and a half cups of mixed raw nuts (I used skinless peanuts, cashews, almonds and walnuts)
2 tablespoons of garam masala
Half tablespoon of cumin powder
Half tablespoon of coriander powder
Half tablespoon of chilli powder
Half tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
Three-quarter cup of water
*Optional: 2 tablespoons of unsweetened dessicated coconut
What do I do?
1. Preheat oven to 180deg celsius and line a flat baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Mix the spices, oil and water in a dish til well combined.
3. Add the raw nuts and coconut with the spice mixture. Ensure that all the nuts and coated with the spice mixture.
4. Bake the nuts in spice mixture in the oven for 40 minutes. Make sure you toss the nuts every 10 - 15 minutes for even baking.
5. Let it cool for 30 minutes and enjoy with a glass of ice cold beer!
6. Store in an airtight container after it is completely cool.
* For a little lunch time reading perhaps?