Rant

Pubmed is awesome. It makes us all into research giants from home. I've even made my own username and password in "My NCBI" and programmed in some automatic searches, so the first Saturday of every month (today, as a matter of fact), Pubmed sends me some emails about the latest research pertaining to my keywords of interest. Today I received several emails, one of which contained a link to this piece of crap review paper from some unfortunate primate researchers in Oregon, "Perinatal Exposure to High-Fat Diet Programs Energy Balance, Metabolism and Behavior in Adulthood."

In my endless optimism, I think, hey, maybe here is a paper that discusses some neurobiological programming related to the quality of the diet. That would be awesome! But no! Do me a favor and take a gander at the abstract. Here, I'll copy a sentence for you: " Evidence from a variety of animal models including rodents and nonhuman primates indicates that exposure to maternal high-fat diet (HFD) consumption programs offspring for increased risk of adult obesity. Hyperphagia and increased preference for fatty and sugary foods are implicated as mechanisms for the increased obesity risk." The takeaway point of the article is that if you eat a "high fat" diet in pregnancy, you will have fat, depressed offspring.

Now this is a review paper. I read the whole thing. There is next to no information on the actual macronutrient content of any of the diets studied (in rodents and primates). However, there is a seeming equilibration between "junk food diets" and "high fat diets" that sets my teeth on edge. And I've read enough Hyperlipid to know that a typical research "high fat" diet for rodents is comprised of sugar and crisco or some other trans fat industrial nightmare.

So if one were, say, a journalist, without knowing the context, who had the same "My NCBI" keywords programmed in that I do, one would find this review paper and pen some misinformed news item telling everyone to avoid fat while pregnant because it will make your kids fat and depressed. So pregnant women will eat their whole wheat toast with an apologetic smear of margarine and consider themselves healthy, and wonder why they fail the oral glucose tolerance test at 21 (or 28? I forget) weeks.

JUNK FOOD does not equal HIGH FAT DIET.

Junk food is loaded with vegetable fat, grains, and sugar, all cheap commodities to make cheap, industrial, disgusting "food."

If you load up on junk food during your pregnancy, studies of rodents and nonhuman primates indicate that your kids will be more likely to be obese and crave junk food, and will be depressed.

It is not about the macronutrients. Not for children with fresh pancreases and livers. It's about the quality. Give them nutrient-rich, fresh, non-processed amazing food. Forget about whether it is high fat or high carb. It doesn't matter. Just don't poison them with omega 6, trans fats, grains, and industrial fructose.

Well, I have to finish cleaning up before the babysitter comes over so my husband and I can enjoy a proper holiday party. How is it that a 29 pound 18 month old can undo my organization much faster than I can organize? #entropy.