What’s the Skinny on Fat?
Best ever chocolate oatmeal no bake bars
By Mike Hehn, BSN, CPT
Smart Weight Nutrition & Fitness
Growing up in the 80’s was great. Big hair, colorful clothes, MC Hammer, Star Wars and fat
free cookies. The days of counting fat was over
because you could eat as much fat free foods
as you wanted and not get fat. At least that's
what we thought back then. Kind of like the
“Paleo” diet now, just kidding. It wasn't until 30
years later we started to make the connection
between excess processed carbohydrates and
obesity.
by Nicole Minderman
Ingredients:
1 c. peanut butter (all natural and no sugar
added)
1/2 c. raw honey (local is healthiest)
It seems to have started with an American scientist named Ancel Keys. I like to call him Vader. He was commissioned by the American
Medical Association (AMA) to study the relationship between fat and cardiovascular disease. He concluded the countries with the largest fat consumption had the highest levels of
heart disease, supporting the idea that dietary
fat has an indirect relationship to heart disease. The AMA ran with it and the “empire”
began.
1/2 c. unrefined organic coconut oil (you
could also substitute organic grass-fed butter
for a higher nutrient content)
2 c. old-fashioned oats (not quick oats)
1 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. chopped nuts and organic raisins or
dried no-sugar added cranberries
The problem was he allegedly cherry picked
data supporting his theory. The USDA picked
up on his guidelines for a low-fat, high carb
diet for everyone, and the food pyramid was
born. I kind of think that the USDA is more like
Jabba the Hutt, because that's what we look
like after following the food pyramid recommendations of 6 to 11 servings of grains a day.
Probably how we ended up on the complete
opposite end of the spectrum with those following a Paleo or no-grain diet.
1 1/4 c. dark chocolate chips or use 1/2 c.
cocoa powder and 1/4 c. organic cocoa nibs
1 t. vanilla extract
The Obi Wan of his time was John Yadkin, A
British physiologist and nutritionist, who declared sugar was really the dark force in the
universe. Unfortunately, his data was picked
apart and criticized by his peers including Ancel Keys. Remember what happened when
Vader and Obi Wan last saw each other? We
knew back in the late 50’s that excess sugar was really the link between obesity and disease but chose to
adopt a flawed theory instead. There are numerous Studies with in the last 5-10 years concluding there is no
actual connection between saturated fat and heart disease but a direct link between sugar and degenerated
diseases of aging.
Contact Mike Hehn, Smart Weight Nutrition & Fitness, for a nutrition and personal training
consult, 527-1319 or email him [email protected]
Directions:
Melt the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil over medium – low heat in a sauce pan on the
stove.
Remove from heat once it's melted together and add in the oats, shredded coconut, chocolate
chips, or cocoa mixture, nuts, raisins, and vanilla. Stir together until the chocolate is completely melted. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and cool in the fridge. If you like thicker bars,
you can pour the mixture into a smaller pan.
When the mixture is hardened, cut into bars and eat. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.