Mary G. Enig

Enig attended the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) where she received a MS and later a PhD in Nutritional Sciences in 1984.Passwater, Richard A. (November 1993 – January 1994). [http://www.healthy.net/scr/interview.aspx?Id=162 Health Risks from Processed Foods and Trans Fats]. Interview with Dr. Mary Enig. Whole Foods Magazine. From 1984 through 1991 she was a faculty research associate at UMD with the Lipids Research Group in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry where she participated in biochemical research on lipids.

Enig was a Licensed Nutritionist in Maryland from May 1988 to October 2008.{{cite web|title=Verification Page|publisher=Maryland Board of Dietetic Practice|url=https://mdbnc.dhmh.md.gov/dietVerification/Details.aspx?ID=6878|access-date=June 8, 2011}} She was a Master of the American College of Nutrition.{{cite journal|last=Eauclaire|first=Sally|date=July 1996|title=Soy backlash|journal=Vegetarian Times|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0820/is_n227/ai_18432895|access-date=May 16, 2016}}[http://www.americancollegeofnutrition.org/Default.aspx?tabid=121 Awards Information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807151711/http://www.americancollegeofnutrition.org/Default.aspx?tabid=121 |date=August 7, 2011 }}, americancollegeofnutrition.org; retrieved June 17, 2011. and was a former editor of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition where she published articles on food fats and oils.{{cite book|last=Bowden|first=Jonny|title=The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why|url=https://archive.org/details/150healthiestfoo0000bowd|url-access=registration|year=2007|publisher=Fair Winds Press|location=Gloucester, MA|isbn=978-1-59233-228-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/150healthiestfoo0000bowd/page/108 108], 167, 177, 301, 311}}{{cite news|last=Burros|first=Marian|title=Now What? U.S. Study Says Margarine May Be Harmful|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/07/garden/now-what-us-study-says-margarine-may-be-harmful.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|access-date=June 9, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 7, 1992}}

Enig was a board member and vice-president of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) which she co-founded with Sally Fallon in 1999 to promote nutrition and health advice based on the work of early 20th century dentist and researcher Weston A. Price.{{cite web|title=Board of Directors|url=http://www.westonaprice.org/board-of-directors|publisher=Weston A. Price Foundation|access-date=June 9, 2011}}

{{further|Lipid hypothesis#THINCS}}

Enig, a member of The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS),[http://www.thincs.org/members.php THINCS Membership] disputed the widely accepted view in the scientific community that consumption of saturated fats contributes to heart disease.{{cite journal|author=Ravnskov, U.|title=Studies of dietary fat and heart disease|journal=Science|volume=295|issue=5559|pages=1464–66|date=February 2002|pmid=11859893|doi=10.1126/science.295.5559.1464c|author2=Allen C.|author3=Atrens D.|display-authors=3|last4=Enig|first4=MG|last5=Groves|first5=B.|last6=Kauffman|first6=J.M.|last7=Kroneld|first7=R.|last8=Rosch|first8=P.J.|last9=Rosenman|first9=R.|s2cid=31990802}} Her chapter in the book Coronary Heart Disease: The Dietary Sense and Nonsense – An evaluation by scientists was reviewed in the New England Journal of Medicine, which noted that while she provided an appropriate discussion of trans fats in diet, she did not accurately depict the medical literature on the connection between diet and coronary disease, and that she wrote with an inflammatory tone that was unjustified.{{cite journal|last1=Stone|first1=Neil J.|year=1994|title=Book Review – Coronary Heart Disease: The Dietary Sense and Nonsense – An Evaluation by Scientists|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|volume=330|issue=9|pages=943–44|publisher=Massachusetts Medical Society|doi=10.1056/NEJM199403313301321|pmid=8114883}} Enig responded in a letter published in the journal.{{Cite journal|pmid=8047097|year=1994|last1=Enig|first1=MG|title=More on Coronary heart disease: The dietary sense and nonsense|volume=331|issue=9|pages=615; author reply 615–6|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|doi=10.1056/nejm199409013310914}}

Enig criticized vegetarianism and low-fat diets. She argued against medical consensus by stating, "heart disease has been correlated most consistently with consumption of sugar and an excess in polyunsaturated oils". She denied studies linking heart disease to red meat consumption. She opposed the use of processed foods such as pasteurized milk, sugar, vegetables oils and white flour.

Enig claimed butter and coconut oil are good for heart health. She published articles on the properties of coconut oil and was a vocal advocate for its consumption.{{cite news|last=Webb|first=Densie|title=Processed oils rival butter in raising cholesterol|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BaUsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2981,2080798&dq=mary-enig&hl=en|access-date=June 9, 2011|newspaper=Wilmington Morning Star|date=September 5, 1990}}"Trimming the Fats", The Washington Post, December 10, 2003. Citing the work of Jon J. Kabara, she claimed that unprocessed coconut oil could be effective in the treatment of viral infections including HIV/AIDS.{{cite book|last=Enig|first=Mary G.|title=Know Your Fats|publisher=Bethesda Press|date=May 2000|page=114|isbn=978-0-9678126-0-1}}{{cite journal|last=Enig |first=Mary G. |title=Health and nutritional benefits from coconut oil and its advantages over competing oils |date=September 1995 |journal=Indian Coconut Journal |url=https://www.coconutboard.in/images/Articles/English-Article-MaryEnig.pdf|access-date=October 30, 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=611111&publicationSubCategoryId=77|title=Garin: Claims on health benefits of VCO need proof|date=September 12, 2010|publisher=The Philippine Star|access-date=June 9, 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jJkkAAAAIBAJ&pg=6447,3991868&dq=mary+enig&hl=en|title=Research on coconuts for Aids urged|date=December 29, 1997|publisher=The Nation|access-date=June 9, 2011}}

Enig was an early researcher of trans fatty acids, warning of their dangers before they were widely accepted.Pollan, Michael. (2008). In Defense of Food – An Eater's Manifesto. Penguin. p. 45; {{ISBN|1-59420-145-5}}. She believed that trans fats lower the beneficial type of cholesterol-carrying particles (HDL) and pushed for improved labeling of trans fats on products, which is now mandatory on food products in the U.S. and in Europe.{{cite news|title=Companies pull trans fats before label rules|author=Joe Milicia|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kMBOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6717,1758291&dq=mary+enig&hl=en|newspaper=The Bryan Times|date=January 19, 2005|access-date=June 16, 2011}}

In 1989, Sally Fallon, an advocate for the nutritional theories of Weston A. Price, recruited Enig to utilize her nutritional training to co-write a book to promote Price's work, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. It has sold more than 400,000 copies as of 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/03/17/sally-fallon-is-not-afraid-of-fat/|title=Sally Fallon is not afraid of fat|publisher=Articles.chicagotribune.com|date=March 17, 2011|access-date=June 10, 2011}}

Enig co-wrote another book with Fallon called Eat Fat, Lose Fat which promotes what Enig considered "good" fats, and argued that many who follow low-fat diets feel low on energy because they are "fat deficient".{{cite web|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/774046851.html?dids=774046851:774046851&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+05%2C+2005&author=Sylvia+Carter&pub=Newsday+%28Combined+editions%29&desc=A+LA+CARTER%2C+Chewing+the+fat+to+lose+weight&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106121745/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/774046851.html?dids=774046851:774046851&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+05,+2005&author=Sylvia+Carter&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=A+LA+CARTER,+Chewing+the+fat+to+lose+weight&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 6, 2012|title=A LA CARTER, Chewing the fat to lose weight|publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com|access-date=June 10, 2011}}

• Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (1999, with Sally Fallon)
• Eat Fat, Lose Fat: Lose Weight and Feel Great with Three Delicious, Science-Based Coconut Diets (2004, with Sally Fallon) {{ISBN|978-1-59463-005-7}}

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{{Low-carbohydrate diets}}

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Category:1931 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:American cookbook writers

Category:American food scientists

Category:American women nutritionists

Category:American nutritionists

Category:Fellows of the American College of Nutrition

Category:High-fat diet advocates

Category:Low-carbohydrate cookbook writers

Category:Low-carbohydrate diet advocates

Category:Place of death missing

Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni

Category:Writers from Indianapolis