The Issue of Salt and Fat by Annemarie Colbin

In the mid-seventies, Nathan Pritikin proposed a diet to control heart disease that was not only virtually salt-free, but also very low in fat -- 5 to 10% of calories, as opposed to the average 45% of the standard American diet. As even lettuce, undressed, has 9-10% of it calories in the form of fat, this kind of eating demands a virtual absence of any added oils or fats in cooking and preparation. Together with the diet, the program mandates regular exercise, even for people who can barely move.

Initially, Pritikin's approach met with great controversy and some ridicule. But as the years went on, study after study documented its successes in ameliorating or reversing a number of illnesses: after a month at the Pritikin Center, hypersensitives and diabetics were able to cut down or eliminate their medication, people who could barely move were walking three to six miles, and dramatic alleviations of heart conditions, arteriosclerosis, rheumatism, and obesity were the rule.

Today, every cardiologist worth his or her fees will recommend that the patient modify eating patterns so as to reduce salt and fat intake, and almost every weight-loss program is patterned after the Pritikin model.

Unfortunately, ideas spread beyond critical mass lose their subtlety and context, and so it happened to the Pritikin program. Conceived originally as a tool to reverse diseases of accumulation such as arteriosclerosis and obesity, its simplest advice (low fat, low salt) has become the major dietary way to deal with every conceivable health problem. Today there is hardly a diet or health article that doesn't recommend avoiding both of those elements. Everybody who is attempting to "eat well" is advised to reduce salt and fat, across the board, an advice that reaches those who eat too much as well as those who already eat little.

There are rumblings and warnings from the other side. Articles in The Sciences magazine (a publication of the New York Academy of Sciences) sit heavily on the opposite end of the seesaw and caution that it may not be necessary, or even desirable, that everybody should lower fat or salt intake so drastically (*). The American Institute of Pediatrics warns against diets that are too low in fat, for children need sufficient fat to grow. Women who don't have enough fat in their bodies (less than 25%) may risk amenorrhea, as female hormones are synthesized from body fat. The New York Times publishes the views of scientists who found that in some people who go on a low salt diet, blood pressure actually rises.

So who is one to believe? And how does this all apply to your life? Should you be reducing your salt and fat intake? Should you perhaps increase them?

In order to make appropriate choices, we need to see the situation in context. And context counts: people in different situations, of different health conditions, at different times in their lives, need different foods.

The low-salt, low-fat regime is the perfect choice for people who come off a lifetime of excess fat, salt, protein foods, whose condition: (heart disease, clogged arteries, overweight) resulted from an excess of those elements. By switching to an "opposite" diet, from meat, fat, and salt, to fruit, vegetables, and water-based cooking, their bodies can regain their balance and heal themselves. Adding exercise (to counter habitual inactivity) can then increase the balancing effect of the foods. It should be pointed out that the fat-and-salt-free fruit and vegetable diet will be the easiest to maintain in a warm climate; during the winter, however, it tends to make people colder than usual.

On the other hand, people who have been eating a mostly dairy-free vegetarian diet, with lots of fruits, salads, grain, vegetables, or even sugar or sweets, will not necessarily do well on a low-fat regime: they may get colds, have trouble with skin or hair, or become deficient in the fat soluble vitamins A and D. Balance is the key: too little can cause trouble just as surely as too much, albeit of a different kind. And some people's kidneys need a bit of salt to help them do their jobs efficiently.

A vegetarian diet without fat is hard to follow -- the mind may be willing but the body will protest by falling into ice cream and nut butter binges. Remember that mother's milk has four times more fat than protein -- human beings NEED fat for proper functioning. Twenty to twenty-five percent of total caloric intake -- halfway between Pritikin and the standard American -- seems to be sustainable; that means adding one or two teaspoons of oil (extra virgin olive oil is best) or raw sweet butter to each meal.

A vegetarian diet without salt is tricky: no problem with fruit, salad, steamed or baked vegetables, but harder with tofu, tempeh, grain, beans, and starches in general. These are foods that tend to create an acid condition in the body, and as salt is alkalizing, it helps to balance them.

Be cautious, then, before you follow any general blanket dietary recommendations automatically. Look at your context, note where you're coming from, what have been your excesses, and rebalance by going to the opposite, if that is what you need. Remember we're all different, and we all keep changing. Our diet must reflect that too.

Here's a vegetarian recipe with some fat and salt which is nevertheless quite healthful:

*** Spicy Guacamole *** 2 large ripe avocados 1-1/2 to 2 T lime juice 1-1/2 medium ripe Jersey tomatoes 3 tomatillos 1/2 medium onion 1/4 to 1/2 chili pepper to taste, depending on sharpness 1-1/2 T coriander leaves 1/4 to 1/2 t sea salt

1) Peel avocados. With a fork, mash avocado flesh with lime juice.
2) Dice remaining ingredients finely by hand, reserving about 1 tsp chopped coriander as garnish.
3) Test for seasonings and adjust if necessary. Garnish with remaining coriander. Serve as an appetizer with corn chips. Serves 6-8.

Note: This recipe can be made 1 to 2 hours ahead of time. Garnish with remaining coriander. Serve as an appetizer with corn chips. Serves 6-8.

Note: This recipe can be made 1 to 2 hours ahead of time.