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 All Thumbs Book Reviews
Smart Fats
By Michael Schmidt, MD
Review by Sally Fallon and Mary G.
Enig, PhD
What happens when you try to combine good science with political correctness
in the same book? You end up with something that is schizophrenic and
that's the best way to describe Smart Fats.
Author Michael Schmidt correctly describes the importance of the essential
fatty acids to brain health, particularly the elongated varieties of
the omega-6 and omega-3 families. But the book is so full of contradictions
that readers end up exactly where they started—confused.
The nervous system has been shortchanged on the critical fats it requires,
says the author, "because many of us switched to animal fats, warm-weather
vegetable oils and processed foods." What has actually happened is that
we have abandoned animal fats in favor of vegetable oils and
processed foods. This is unfortunate because most animal fats contain
small amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in just the right balance
for good health—about 2 to 1.
Schmidt cites cases where people with depression claimed to be helped
by a lowfat diet but then, throwing a sop to those who know that dietary
fat helps control depression by keeping blood sugar levels in the normal
range, he warns against a lowfat diet.
Most of his information on fats seems to come from two sources, Udo
Erasmus and Barry Sears, and he repeats many of their errors. It's probably
from Udo that he gets the idea that hemp and canola oils are OK. It's
true that these oils provide omega-3 fatty acids but there are other
things wrong with them. Hemp oil contains the active ingredients of
marijuana and these cannabinoids can show up in the urine of people
who consume hemp oil. Supposedly heart-healthy canola oil causes unfavorable
changes in blood lipids, vitamin E deficiencies and heart lesions in
test animals.
From Sears, Schmidt gets the notion that saturated fats interfere
with delta-6 desaturases, enzymes the body uses to make elongated fatty
acids from essential fatty acids. Actually, the reverse is true. Saturated
fats contribute to the proper function of these vital enzymes. He also
repeats Sears' condemnation of foods rich in arachidonic acid, such
as eggs, butter and liver. He asserts that too much dietary arachidonic
acid will contribute to the overproduction of inflammatory prostaglandins.
Actually, arachidonic acid is a precursor not only to inflammatory prostaglandins
but also to prostaglandins that help control inflammation.
Schmidt notes that arachidonic acid is extremely important for brain
health so is forced to conclude that fats containing arachidonic acid—like
butter—are a kind of Jekyll and Hyde food. It's OK to have a tiny bit
but no slathering, please. He wrongly asserts that butter is devoid
of omega-3 fatty acids, when butter is actually richer in omega-3 fatty
acids than in arachidonic acid.
He recommends a high-protein, lowfat diet including skinless chicken,
lowfat dairy products and limited use of beef—which is a recipe for
vitamin A deficiencies that can lead to all sorts of problems with the
nervous system.
The book's biggest fault is that it recommends consumption of lots
of polyunsaturates without the balancing protection of dietary saturates.
This can lead to trouble even if the oils you are consuming are rich
in omega-3's. In fact, without the saturated fats, the body has difficulty
getting the brain-nurturing omega-3's into the tissues where they belong.
It would have been smart to consult the textbooks before writing Smart
Fats.
About the Reviewers
 Mary
G. Enig, PhD is an expert of international renown in the field of lipid
biochemistry. She has headed a number of studies on the content and effects of
trans fatty acids in America and Israel, and has successfully challenged
government assertions that dietary animal fat causes cancer and heart disease.
Recent scientific and media attention on the possible adverse health effects of
trans fatty acids has brought increased attention to her work. She is
a licensed nutritionist, certified by the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists,
a qualified expert witness, nutrition consultant to individuals, industry and
state and federal governments, contributing editor to a number of scientific publications,
Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and President of the Maryland Nutritionists
Association. She is the author of over 60 technical papers and presentations,
as well as a popular lecturer. Dr. Enig is currently working on the exploratory
development of an adjunct therapy for AIDS using complete medium chain saturated
fatty acids from whole foods. She is Vice-President of the Weston A Price Foundation
and Scientific Editor of Wise Traditions as well as the author of Know
Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils,
and Cholesterol, Bethesda Press, May 2000. She is the mother of three healthy
children brought up on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat.  Sally
Fallon is the author of
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct
Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD), a well-researched,
thought-provoking guide to traditional foods with a startling message: Animal
fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary
for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection
from disease and optimum energy levels. She joined forces with Enig again to
write Eat Fat, Lose Fat, and has authored numerous articles on the
subject of diet and health. The President of the Weston A. Price Foundation
and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk,
Sally is also a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community
activist. Her four healthy children were raised on whole foods including butter,
cream, eggs and meat.
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