(Please forgive the lack of formatting on my posts, I only have an Android smartphone and haven't quite mastered eSteem format functionality yet)
As you can see from the screenshot, the west of Ukraine will be experiencing a serious cold spell to coincide with their Christmas, which falls on the 7th of January.
What strikes me every time I return to Lviv from England is how much thinner the general Ukrainian population is to that of us Brits, but they don't seem to mind the cold as much even though they are thinner.
After observing their diet for the past 8 or so years it is apparent that they are unaware that eating fat, especially saturated fat, is supposed to makes you fat. They eat things like salo which is pure pig fat, butter in thick wedges on black bread, a big spoon of smetana with everything which is 25% to 35% full fat cream, fatty meat, other foods swimming in butter, along with sunflower seeds by the lorry load which are 51% fat, I could go on.
(Salo animal fat from a pig, often eaten in slices with vodka)
Fast food here has only recently started to take a hold and replace the traditional foods. I have noticed that children are reflecting this trend with weight gain and worsening complexions in recent years.
(An interesting fact: McDonalds used beef tallow, a saturated fat, to cook their fries in until 1990 at which time they switched to vegetable oils)
Fast food is also very high in fat so why the weight gain if one fat is simply replacing another?
The answer lies in the type of fat used to replace the traditional 'unprocessed' fats. I have written about the work of Professor Brian Peskin before but a quick recap here.
Fat is absolutely essential for the body, every one of your 100 trillion cells is coated in a lipid/ fat membrane. However, 'adulterated' or processed polyunsaturated fats, as used by the fast food chains and in foods containing fat that have a 'shelf life', are highly damaging and coat the cell in a less permeable layer that restricts oxygen and nutrient transfer.
Do yourself a favour, research the Professor's work, throw out all oils not cold pressed as well as all margarines and increase your intake of unprocessed fats/oil in the form of nuts and seeds, animal fats and full fat cream or butter, eggs and cold pressed coconut or olive oil.
If you experience anything similar to me after 3 months following a diet high in unprocessed fats, you will gain significant energy, loose weight, increase mental clarity and enjoy the cold weather with an internal heat I was only able to dream of at this time of year in Ukraine.