Around the 1960s the US government raised the question of health. One of the presidents at the time suffered a heart attack. Science tried to explain the root cause of his heart stopping, and they related it to diet. What came was blamed in that instance was “fat”. However, at the time science didn’t differentiate between the different types of fats, so the solution the US government came up with was to cut fat out of the diet. This inspired companies to create “fat-free”, “reduced fat”, and “low fat” products, and we became obsessed with calories. This was the historical moment when the calories in a food were required to be listed on every food label*.It was the craze of the moment. Many food corporations went with it and tried to create the magic fat-free low-calorie snack. But here’s the trick: in order for a snack type food product to taste good, it needs fat, so the fat it gets replaced with sugar in order to appeal to the masses’ taste buds. What happened after the late 1970s was an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses that we are still facing today. 55% of the adult population is overweight or obese, and 22% of our kids are also suffering from overweight issues, a number that has doubled since the 1980s.** This fat reduction wave also introduced the number one toxic nutritional belief that has enslaved our bodies and robbed us of our happiness: FAT is BAD, furthermore, if I’m fat I’m not accepted. If I eat I’m getting FAT, and all FAT is bad.
Fat is not what makes us fat. Healthy fats, which range from saturated fats like coconut oil, palm oil, and butter, to monounsaturated fats like avocadoes and olives, and/or polyunsaturated fats like hemp seed, are fats high in Omega-3s, which also contain Omega-6s and Omega-9s. These fats are called essential fatty acids because they are necessary for our survival and proper physical function. Fat in our bodies is responsible for the health of our skin, hair, and nails; it regulates our mood, energy, appetite, and ability to lose weight, it protects our cells from malign substances, and it coats pathogen cells to protect us from their poisonous qualities. In women, healthy fats are what regulates our moon cycle and keeps our reproductive health in balance. For proper health, we want to keep a ratio of 1:1 of Omega-3s to Omega-6s. Omega-6s are the most common form of fat found in junk food, processed foods, and red meat. Omega-6 is also an inflammatory fat, which is the reason why we want to steer away from Omega-6 as much as possible and eat more Omega-3 rich foods.
Avoid cooking with any hydrogenated vegetable oil or buying products that contain hydrogenated oils; most boxed baked goods, cookies, breads, doughnuts, and baked kids’ snacks contain them. Hydrogenated oil was the response of science to our fat scare epidemic. Their intention was to replace saturated fats like butter by taking a polyunsaturated vegetable oil through a synthetic process of adding hydrogen to make it solid at room temperature, resulting in a spread that mimicked butter known as “margarine”. Furthermore, science was able to keep the vegetable oil liquid after hydrogenation so that it could be used in baked goods recipes, with the sole purpose of longer shelf life. These hydrogenated oils are what are known as “trans fats,” and they are highly damaging to our bodies, arteries, and overall health.***
Vegetable oils like canola, sunflower, soy, and corn have little resistance to heat and become rancid when in contact with high temperatures. Cook with saturated fats, which are more stable and provide vitamins and minerals at the same time, such as coconut oil, palm oil – if it was sustainably harvested – and ghee or butter when farmed responsibly.
What creates fat in the body is sugar. Sugar is composed of two molecules called fructose and glucose. Glucose is the sugar found in carbohydrates and is food for our cells transformed into energy. The excess of glucose is then stored in the liver for when the body needs an extra resource. When glucose is present in our blood, the pancreas releases insulin to help our cells cope with the sugar and transform it into useful fuel. Fructose is the other type of sugar found in fruit, vegetables, sugarcane, and honey. When there are overwhelming amounts of fructose, sugar is then stored as fat throughout our bodies****.
Sugar, or a sweet flavor on our tongues, is also responsible for stimulating our digestive systems. At the first taste of “sweet” in our bodies, the insulin hormone is secreted to assist in the delivery of sugar to our cells, where it is then turned into energy. Please be wary of any type of “diet” product in the market – if you ask me, they should be labeled “nutritionally depleted”. All the attempts to replace white sugar with synthetic sweeteners such as aspartame (a stimulant) and saccharine (a carcinogen)*****can only cause harm and increase dependency on refined sugar itself. Abuse of these substances can also cause you to end up diabetic as insulin is released in vain, or to become hypoglycemic and dependent on a fake sugar rush, or to have further cardiac problems. Please abstain from any synthetic substance!
In babies and elders, sweetness is the predominant sensation on the tongue. It’s the first taste to develop when you are young, and it’s the last one to go in your last years. Could this be because enjoying food actually stimulates a biochemical response in our bodies, making pleasure when eating necessary? The answer is yes. But we will discuss that farther down, in the Root section. After establishing the chemical properties of sugar and understanding that the excess of sugar is what’s harmful, let’s dive in into its basic character. Simply put, sugar is a sweet flavor necessary to balance and give character to certain recipes.
Besides fat and sugar, to make a dish pleasing we need salt, an acid or sour, and a flavor profile, which can be spicy/pungent/herbal/earthy. I called those cooking elements or kitchen elements. I have my kitchen pantry organized by these elements, it makes my life easier when I’m cooking. I know that if I need to reach for an acid, I can turn to my vinegar section, and then my intuitive hunch feeling, or ‘second brain’, which is another tool in my kitchen, can decide which one to use.
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Cooking Elements |
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Fat: coconut oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, palm oil, olive oil, melted cacao butter, or any cold-pressed nut or seed oil. It could also be any nut or seed blended into a butter, like cashew butter, peanut butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter, sesame butter, sunflower butter, or just the whole nut and/or seed. |
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Sugar: can be fruit or dry fruit, like apricots, prunes, raisins, dates, or natural maple syrup, coconut sugar or nectar, yacon syrup, honey, monk fruit, stevia or sugar cane. When making a savory dish, onions or garlic can be the sweet element of the dish, or perhaps the vegetable/fruit itself, like tomatoes, sweet potatoes, or even the same nut used for fat; or the type of vinegar can also add sweetness to your recipe. |
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Salt: can be pink salt, sea salt, flavored mineral salt, seaweed, tamari, miso paste, coconut aminos, olives or caper juice. |
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Acid/sour: can be any form of vinegar, such as apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, plum vinegar, balsamic or white balsamic vinegar; you could also use citrus juice, or the juice of fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, coconut kefir, or yogurt. |
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Lastly, the seasoning and spices will determine the flavor direction of the dish; possibilities include: lavender, chipotle, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, smoked paprika, vanilla, chocolate, salted caramel, ginger, and truffle oil! And the list goes on and on. |
Just as corporations had to introduce sugar in place of fat to make their products palatable, we have to play around with the cooking elements to make our dishes pleasant to our taste buds. It’s when we have a harmonious fat/acid/sugar/salt combination that pleasure arises in culinary terms.
Although sugar is necessary for some recipes, it’s not essential for every single dish. However, salt is the number one component in your kitchen. You always want to have salt handy, as it goes in every single dish with very minor exceptions, whether you are preparing a dessert, a pie, or even ice cream. Salt is what brings the flavors into harmony. Don’t be afraid to use mineral, which is not to be confused with table salt, as explained in an earlier chapter.
The best way to learn how to balance flavors is by smelling and tasting what you are cooking every time you introduce a new ingredient into the pot. This way you can wake up your dormant tongue intelligence and understand the cooking elements. This practice will show you how each ingredient reacts to the presence of others, how it is perceived by your senses, and how it chemically affects the end product. Another suggestion I have for you is to have fun at the grocery store – try picking one new flavored vinegar, oil, or spice and substitute it for what you have always used before. Start creating a beautiful collection of kitchen elements to play witch with when dinnertime is coming (or magician, I’ve also been called that at some of my dinner events).