Food and Fat

In the USA, our dietary goals often include reducing fat intake.  Most of us do NOT realize that this is a very recent phenomenon.  In the USA, our problem is getting too many calories.  We live sedentary lifestyles, and we burn few calories.  When caloric intake exceeds total expenditure, the extra calories are stored as fat.  It’s really not so complex as to require tons of books and billions of dollars in research grant funding.

Most of us forget that it hasn’t always been that way.  In some countries, like our own 60-70 years back, and some in southern Africa, the problem historically has been in GETTING SUFFICIENT calories, not getting too many.

Fat happens to be an excellent way to store calories because it is relatively light and compact.   So, if you are in a situation that NEEDS calories, eat fat.  The Inuit people are known for this.  The same is true in some parts of Africa.  High fat food was necessary for survival just a few decades past.  Food culture apparently changes much slower than activity culture apparently.  It did in the US.  I'm going to call it "the grandmother effect".

So, last week, I was wearing my favorite pair of light Khaki trousers for the first time.  I bought lunch in the student refectory (cafeteria).  As I was walking away with a BIG plate of food, I inadvertently spilled a few drops of liquid on my trousers just above the knee.

Guess the constituents of the liquid.

I was able to verify the high fat content of the liquid, first when I ate the food, and later when I tried to clean off my pants.  I suspect that the caloric consumption of Africans will soon cause public health issues.  Diabetes, reportedly, is already too common here.

"But where’s the spiritual connection?" you ask.

We are…. Spiritually sedentary, with a high-calorie consumption of entertainment, ego-centrism, and self-improvement.   Fat is a dietary necessity, and a little fun, selfishness, and self-improvement are necessary.  Just don’t let over-consumption become a Spiritual public health issue.

See, these two are really closely connected.