Thanks, Vern, for your insights.

In total, your dietary preferences add up to meet (most of) the Mediterranean diet requirements/recommendations. I’ll soon publish an article on that.

But just let me comment on some of the issues that you raised.

To avoid industrial trans-fats is indeed a good choice. They must appear on the food label if the food contains them. There are, however, natural trans-fats. They are mainly found in the milk and meat of ruminants. Their microbiome produces them, and these fats (conjugated linoleic and vaccenic acid) have beneficial health effects, so no need to fear them.

Your decision to quit processed meats is a good one. I was brought up in Germany on a regular daily diet of sausages (and meat). When I moved to Asia, I lost my appetite for sausages, because outside Germany, sausages and bread are, well, forgettable (other countries have very delicious foods that we can’t get in Germany, so there is always a nice compensation, wherever you live). But now, back in Germany, I hardly ever buy sausages for the same reasons you mentioned: processing. I rather buy fresh meat.

What I don’t agree with is blaming American weight gain on proprionate. First, it doesn’t deliver calories in any noticeable quantity. It is a food additive that basically enhances palatability as an emulsifier. Here in the EU, regulatory bodies see nothing wrong with it.

Americans (and not only they) gain weight because they eat too much, and move too little. Blaming their obesity epidemic on proprionate is as believable as my-dog-ate-my-homework.

Your #4 sums it up nicely: good choice in the Mediterranean tradition.