Fry bread isn't going anywhere despite links to diabetes and obesity, experts in Indian culture and food say.

Joyce Begay-Foss, the director of education at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe, urges cooks to fry their dough in vegetable or corn oil instead of lard. "The frybread's there; it�s not going away," she told The New Mexican.

Lois Ellen Frank, the author of the cookbook Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations, agrees. She hopes traditional Native foods return to the table but believe fry bread will remain a powerful symbol in Indian Country.

"There used to be T-shirts that said 'Frybread power.' Now there are T-shirts with a red circle with a line through it (meaning) �No frybread,'" she says.

Begay-Foss and Frank say fry bread should be eaten in moderation. They also point out that high rates of diabetes and obesity can be linked to junk food and other fatty foods.

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Out of the frying pan (The Santa Fe New Mexican 8/16)
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