When I was a child there was a poor man who lived near a bridge not far from the church. People had seen him slip into the church and eat the candles left for supplicants to light and place before a shrine. They decided he must be touched, not quite right in the head; but my grandfather had another possible explanation. The poor bachelor was eating tallow to compensate for a nutritional deficiency. Unable to afford the fattier meat butchers sold in those days, he had found an alternative source of the fatty acids for which he hungered.
Like the candle eater I have been rebalancing my diet, reducing carbohydrate in the form of bread and potato, and allowing animal fat from meat into my cooking. For the occasions when I dine alone I have been buying the cheaper, tastier cuts shunned by most customers – neck and ribs of mutton, pork ribs and belly, burgers and chicken legs. I ask for suet when buying meat to roast and save the fat skimmed from stews or drained from a roasting tin. I don't eat excessive amounts of fat. I suspect my fat consumption is still no higher, and possibly lower than average. I have never owned a deep fat fryer, my consumption of cheese has decreased, and that of fat concealed in cakes, biscuits, ice cream or sweets is confined to weekend meals.
After a breakfast consisting of slices of fried black and white pudding, tomato and one slice of fried wholemeal soda bread, I feel so satisfied I have no urge to eat for more than six hours while experiencing an abundance of energy. This breakfast can fuel hours of activity.
Through eating less refined carbohydrate I can avoid the undesirable effects of high levels of circulating insulin, including the formation of small, dense, atherogenic low density lipoproteins and the resurgence of feelings of hunger not long after a meal. With adequate fatty acids in circulation to fuel muscle movement I don't think I'll have to resort to eating candles.
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