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Now I have for the past two years eaten in a more "Mediterranean style" with lots of pasta, bread, nuts, fish, olive oil, etc., and I stopped gaining weight.

If you want a READABLE dissertation on the mechanism that makes the mediteranean diet work check out the eicosanoid section of "Protein Power". It is an excellent READABLE discussion. The implications of the mediteranean fat balance goes farther than just heart related. It also has other powerful physical and psychological implications. It is a very interesting subject and will be the basis for some true wonder medicines in the future. It is truly exciting. Go to pubmed and do a search on PGE series one and three. (ProstGlandin Eicosanoid).

The fats our forefathers ate are what we are supposed to eat. Give me butter, fish oils, olive oil and lard. Keep the hydrogenated BS, oleos and SOYBEAN OILS. < tinfoil>I, and I am all alone here, even on the internet, believe soybean oils and foods are responsible for the spate of auto immune diseases we have seen surge since 1980. (Coincident with the rise of soy products). < /tinfoil>

I will definitely be exploring the articles you speak of regarding the mediterranean diet. I've developed a real taste for olive oil, garlic, hot peppers, (raw) tomatoes, etc. I now use olive oil totally in place of butter and I even stick a small container of it in my wife's purse when we go to restaurants, because unless it is an Italian restaurant (which I shouldn't be going to anymore anyhow since I am avoiding pasta during my weight-loss phase), they just don't have olive oil on the table (but lots of butter and salt). I think olive oil is a much better substitute for butter. Though I would take butter over margarine in heartbeat. Margarine is just a stick of chemicals that is loaded with trans-fats. I have no idea why people think margarine is a healthier choice.

< tinfoil>I, and I am all alone here, even on the internet, believe soybean oils and foods are responsible for the spate of auto immune diseases we have seen surge since 1980.

You're not alone about the soy products. I don't think they're good for you either... there was a study done on dogs and soy, but I've never seen one on humans. The dog study - and I can't find it - showed that soy was not good... affected the thyroid levels and other hormones.