Since the weather outside has been a bit on the hellish side lately (very hot and humid), I thought it would be a perfect time to unveil my nutritional case in favor of devil worship!
No, I’m not suggesting replacing the familiar nutritional pyramid (which has just been replaced anyway) with a nutritional pentagram or anything, but rather I would like to use two familiar cakes as the starting point of a discussion on nutrition!
Everyone is familiar with angel food cakes and devil’s food cakes, right? Let’s consider what they can teach us!
I am convinced that the naming of these two cakes reflects our Puritanical roots. What we call angel food is white, fluffy and light (all qualities we might associate with clouds or Heaven), but also quite bland, in my opinion. Conversely, devil’s food is dark, thick and heavy, as well as significantly better tasting! Think about some of the adjectives that are frequently used to refer to a rich dessert like devil’s food…sinful, decadent and tempting come to mind. The dichotomy here seems to be a clear example of the Puritanical notion that we must deny ourselves anything pleasurable if we want to get to Heaven.
Aside from this, let’s consider the ingredients of these two cakes. I browsed several recipes on allrecipes.com, and clearly the prevailing theme in angel food cakes is “WHITE!” Most of them call for refined white flour, refined white sugar (or corn syrup, which is clear in color but still ultra-refined), salt (which, in most people’s kitchens, is also a refined, white product) and egg whites. The first three of these “foods” have all been stripped of most of their nutrition in the quest to make them look nice, white and clean. Don’t be fooled by slick packaging which tries to reassure us that these same foods have been “fortified” with various nutrients, most all of which are cheap synthetic versions of the original and woefully lacking in real value. As to the egg whites, they contain only a fraction of the good nutrition found in the egg yolks.
Here’s where I’ll throw in a quotation that I’ve always liked. This is in reference to white sugar, but it applies just as well to other white “foods.”
“It’s almost as if the devil sat down and listed all the criteria of a substance man could use to destroy himself. It would have to be pleasing to the eye and the taste. It would have to be pure white and easily available. It would have to appeal to all the people of this world. The destroying effects would have to be subtle and take such a long time that very few would realize what was happening until it was too late. The cruelest criteria of all is it would have to be supported and distributed by the kindest, most well-meaning people to the most innocent people.”–Bruce Pacetti, DDS, from the PPNF Health Journal
Now let’s take a look at the ingredients in devil’s food cake. In contrast to angel food, the prevailing idea here is “DARK!” The dark color of devil’s food typically comes from chocolate. With regards to chocolate as a health food, there is good news and bad news for chocolate lovers. The good news is that chocolate really does have some powerful, health-promoting attributes; the bad news is that this applies mostly just to unsweetened and very dark chocolate. Most people who crave chocolate are hooked on the milk chocolate variety, which is heavily sweetened and thus much more detrimental to your health. Totally unsweetened chocolate has lots of valuable antioxidant power and may serve as a dietary bitter, which is stimulating and strengthening to digestive function.
So devil’s food has chocolate (which is of course sweetened by sugar in the recipe), but it also has a boat-load of fat which is largely absent in angel food. The very first recipe that comes up on allrecipes.com calls for butter, whole milk and eggs with the yolks. All of this fat is bad, right? It certainly is according to modern nutritionists, again with that Puritanical heritage! Listen closely as I utter nutritional blasphemy: saturated fat and cholesterol are GOOD FOR YOU! You want them in your diet, regularly and in good amounts.
I’m not saying that devil’s food cake is health food, but I use it as an example to get people to reconsider the evidence on saturated fat and cholesterol. A quick summary is in order.
Saturated fats:
-constitute at least 50% of our cell membranes, giving cells the necessary stiffness and integrity;
-play a vital role in the health of our bones and are necessary in the human diet for proper calcium utilization;
-lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood which indicates proneness to heart disease;
-protect the liver from alcohol and toxins;
-enhance the immune system;
-allow for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids;
-are a component of the beneficial fat reserves stored around the heart, which are drawn upon in times of stress;
-have strong antimicrobial properties.
Cholesterol:
-assists saturated fat in giving our cell membranes stiffness and integrity, as well as providing a “waterproofing” factor;
-is a precursor to corticosteroid hormones and sex hormones;
-is a precursor to vitamin D (when produced by the action of sunlight);
-is a component of bile salts which are vital for digestion and assimilation;
-is actually a potent antioxidant;
-is necessary for the proper function of serotonin in the brain;
-plays an important role in maintaining the health of our intestinal walls;
-is richly present in human breast milk and especially important for the proper formation and development of the human brain and nervous system.
An honest re-evaluation of all the available scientific studies on dietary saturated fats and cholesterol will show that there is no damning evidence as to consuming these nutrients in their natural, un-damaged states. (Like any other food, they will become toxic to the human body after sufficient damage through processing.) The true cause of physical degeneration such as heart disease is not animal fats and cholesterol, but rather a combination of things such as over-consumption of vegetable oils and hydrogenated fats, over-consumption of refined carbohydrates, mineral deficiencies, deficiencies of naturally-occurring vitamins, etc. etc. etc. Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol are two highly protective factors against these disease conditions. (My source for this information is the book, Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig.)
If you’ve actually read this far, I thank you for your patience and perseverance! You needn’t go so far as to actually worship the devil, but maybe you can now take a secret delight the next time you have a bite of devil’s food cake!
Sat Nam,
Jim Earles
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