The fat of the land

Wednesday January 20, 2010

Is it possible, asks Karen McTigue, for a single January to pass without the media falling prey to the urge to force us into abstinence of some kind or another?

Haven’t given up the excesses of the past year yet? Alcohol, cigarettes, television, chocolate, sex … No? Well, how about a reminder of the obesity crisis which is apparently about to overwhelm us, that ought to do it. The good Dr Shyam Kolvekar must heartily (excuse the pun) regret using the B word yesterday. Fortunately the ‘ban’ word still holds some power in our collective consciousness and the columnists were off on the butter wagon, or should that be mountain/ slippery slope etc …?

Either way, it’s all good, and that’s rather the point, isn’t it? Butter is lovable, sensuous, pure – it’s straight from our glorious heritage of dairy farms, milkmaids a-churning and wooden butter presses. What’s not to like? We’ve seen Nigel slathering it over his crumpets and Nigella licking it from her fingers, we’ve tasted the alternatives and we can’t believe anything could be better. Because it isn’t.

The Daily Telegraph quotes Dr Kolkevar’s advice: “It’s because most kids start the day with some toast and butter, it’s a staple of breakfast, but not very good for you. By adjusting your diet by replacing butter with a healthy spread or margarine is a very simple thing to do and makes a whole world of difference.”

He went on: “In reality people don’t stick to complicated diets. By banning butter and replacing it with a healthy spread the average daily fat intake would be reduced by 8g – that’s 40 per cent of a women’s GDA (Guideline Daily Amount). The GDA for a woman is 20g and for a man it’s 30g. People should also avoid any foods that are solid at room temperature like cheese and red meat. And if you can’t survive without red meat then make sure you cut all the fat off it. This would save thousands of lives each year and help to protect them from cardiovascular disease – the UK’s biggest killer.”

Increase

Interestingly the article quotes a statistic from North Karelia in Finland which claims that there has been an 82 per cent reduction in heart disease amongst men over the last 40 years, from 1969 to 2002. Dr Karela believes “This has been directly linked to a decrease in butter consumption.”

What he doesn’t mention however is that Finland has also one of the highest rates for suicide, perhaps removing all the butter and cheese from your diet, along with trimming the fat from your meat might just mean one doesn’t have the happiest of lifestyles.

Interestingly, back in the good old days of 2009 the Spectator ran an article exhorting the health benefits historically associated with butter and its fellow dairy comforts, now under threat. The standard medication for convalescents was to be administered alongside copious amounts of butter and cream, (a low-fat spread, one feels, really wouldn’t have hit the spot).

In Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford the Vicar’s daughter Sophy Hutton becomes seriously ill when she believes herself to have been crossed in love, and is fed back to health on a diet rich in fresh cream. In High Wages by Dorothy Whipple , the protagonist, Jane Carter, whose nerves are all in pieces from an impossible romance, is brought egg and milk by her char-lady, Lily. Who said fat was not a feminist issue?

Evidence

If this is not evidence enough of the British love affair with butter, take heed from our remaining one fat lady. Writing in its defence in the Daily Mail Clarissa Dickson Wright said:

“On my 18th birthday, my godfather made me make him a solemn vow. ‘Please, Clarissa,’ he said, ‘promise me that you will never, ever, ever eat margarine.’

I was a dutiful girl and fond of my godfather so was happy to oblige, but I did want to know why.

‘Clarissa, my dear,’ he replied solemnly, ‘you have no idea what goes into it.’

And Clarissa’s godfather certainly did. Rudi Jurgens’ family owned the Dutch company, Margarine Unie, which a few years later would merge with Lever Brothers and become Unilever, makers of Flora margarine. Curiously the PR company that acts for Unilever also published Dr Kolkevar’s latest ‘advice’.

Enthuse

Of course it’s not only us British who enthuse over butter. The Guardian pointed out that the French eat four times as much butter and 60% more cheese than the Americans, but their death rate from coronary heart disease are utterly disproportionate.

According to Agnès Poirier: “Since when has butter been bad for you? There is nothing I like more than half a loaf of quatre-quarts, a Breton recipe made of a quarter eggs, a quarter butter, a quarter flour and a quarter sugar. With cheese, I have a particular fondness for Chaource and Brillat-Savarin , a triple-cream creation from the famous Androuet brothers. Named after the great 18th century epicurean and gastronome, it is so rich that they call it the “foie gras of cheese”. The (English) man of my life used to scowl – while savouring it with delight – “do you want to kill me or what?” each time I brought Brillat-Savarin back from Paris. In Brittany, Kouig Amman, literally “butter cake”, is a must. Need I go on? My diet is very rich and yet I am thin. So, is this what they call the French Paradox? Could be.”

Luckily, it would seem, this call to ban one of our remaining pleasures has fallen on stony ground. Words from on high, the Food Standards Agency comments “It’s OK to eat a small amount of butter as part of a healthy balanced diet.” Let’s hope the same advice still holds true next year. Be still, my beating heart.