The Truth About Saturated Fat

[Guest guest]

The Truth About Saturated Fat

The first scientific indictment of saturated fat was made in 1953. Dr.

Ancel Keys published an influential paper comparing fat intake and heart disease

mortality in six countries: the United States, Canada, Australia, England,

Italy, and Japan. The Americans ate the most fat and had the highest death rate

from heart disease; the Japanese ate the least fat and had the fewest heart

disease deaths.

But while data from those six countries seemed to support the diet-heart

hypothesis, statistics were actually available for 22 countries. When all 22

were analyzed, the apparent link disappeared. The death rate from heart disease

in Finland was 24 times that of Mexico, although fat-consumption rates in the

two nations were almost the same.

This fascinating MSNBC article examines in depth why saturated fat has

been unfairly demonized, and the truth about fats and heart health.

Sources:

a.. MSNBC December 13, 2007

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

I don't know if you fell for it, but I certainly did -- the low fat

myth. I bought it hook line and sinker in the 70s and early 80s, and it was all

based on flawed science. Low fat is actually quite good for the 1/3 of people

who are carb nutritional types. Unfortunately it wasn't very good for me at all

and caused some health challenges.

Fortunately though, I continued to study and learn and eventually

realized that fat was not the evil it was being made out to be.

A subset of the low fat myth that persists to this day is the belief

that saturated fat will increase your risk of heart attacks. In 2002 the

" expert " Food & Nutrition Board gave the following misguided statement:

" Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol have no known beneficial role in

preventing chronic disease and are not required at any level in the diet. "

Folks, this is simply another myth that has been harming your health

and your loved ones for the last 30 or 40 years, ever since Dr. Keys managed to

convince the establishment that his unproven hypothesis was fact.

Confusing the Facts is Part of the Problem

Part of the scientific confusion relates to the fact that your body

is capable of synthesizing saturated fats that it needs from carbohydrates, and

these saturated fats are principally the same ones present in dietary fats of

animal origin. However, and this is the key, not all saturated fatty acids are

the same. There are subtle differences that have profound health implications,

and if you avoid eating all saturated fats you will suffer serious health

consequences.

There are in fact more than a dozen different types of saturated

fat, but you predominantly consume only three: stearic acid, palmitic acid and

lauric acid.

It's already been well established that stearic acid (found in cocoa

and animal fat) has zero effect on your cholesterol levels, and actually gets

converted in your liver into the monounsaturated fat called oleic acid.

The other two, palmitic and lauric acid, do raise total cholesterol.

However, since they raise " good " cholesterol as much or more than " bad "

cholesterol, you're still actually lowering your risk of heart disease.

Why do You Need Saturated Fat?

Foods containing saturated fats include:

a.. Meat

b.. Dairy products

c.. Some oils

d.. Tropical plants such as coconut and palm trees

These (saturated) fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a

concentrated source of energy in your diet, and they provide the building blocks

for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone like substances.

When you eat fats as part of your meal, they slow down absorption so

that you can go longer without feeling hungry. In addition, they act as carriers

for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are also needed

for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a

host of other biological processes.

Humans have eaten animal products for most of their existence on

earth and therefore, they have consumed saturated fats for most of that time. If

saturated fats were of no value or were harmful to you, why would breast milk

produce saturated fats like butyric, caproic, caprylic, capric, lauric,

myristic, palmitic and stearic acids, which provide a naturally perfected source

of nourishment to ensure the growth, development and survival of your infants?

Saturated fats are also:

a.. The preferred fuel for your heart, and also used as a source

of fuel during energy expenditure

b.. Useful antiviral agents (caprylic acid)

c.. Effective as an anticaries, antiplaque and anti fungal agents

(lauric acid)

d.. Useful to actually lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and

stearic acids)

e.. Modulators of genetic regulation and prevent cancer (butyric

acid)

f..

However, There IS Still a Link Between Fat and Heart Disease!

Now, it is clear that there is some association between fat and

heart disease. The problem lies in the fact that most studies make no effort to

differentiate between saturated fat and trans fat. I believe this is the missing

link.

If researchers were to more carefully evaluate the risks of heart

disease by measuring the levels of trans and saturated fat, I believe they would

find a completely different story.

Trans fat is known to increase your LDL levels, or " bad "

cholesterol, while lowering your levels of HDL, known as " good " cholesterol,

which, of course is the complete opposite of what you need in order to maintain

good heart health. It can also cause major clogging of arteries, type 2 diabetes

and other serious health problems.

Unfortunately, many food companies use trans fat instead of oil

because it reduces cost, extends storage life of products and can improve flavor

and texture.

Your body needs some amount of saturated fat to stay healthy. It is

virtually impossible to achieve a nutritionally adequate diet that has no

saturated fat. What you don't need, however, are trans fats.

One point you should be aware of is the loophole used by many food

companies to get around the labeling requirements for trans fats. See, they can

still claim their product is trans fat-free if it has less than 500 mg trans fat

per serving. So many have decreased their serving size to the point that the

ratio of trans fat falls below 500 mg.

Therefore, if a serving size seems ridiculously low, it's probably

hiding trans fat content.

Contradictory Results SUPPORT Nutritional Typing

Studies also clearly show that despite great compliance to low

saturated fat diets, there is a wide difference in biological responses. What

could this mean? Is it just poor science or flawed studies?

Not necessarily, because for one, it absolutely supports nutritional

typing, which predicts that one-third of people will do very well on low

saturated fat diets (which supports the studies showing that they work), but

another one-third of people need high saturated fat diets to stay healthy. I

happen to be one of those who need a high saturated fat diet to stay healthy and

warm.

I would agree with the final conclusion of this MSNBC article, that

bad habits, such as lack of exercise and not eating the right foods for your

biochemical needs cause more heart disease than any specific " bad food. " As Dr.

Volek stated, " If you consistently consume more calories than you burn and you

gain weight, your risk of heart disease will increase - whether you favor eating

saturated fats, carbs, or both. "

Related Articles:

Are Saturated Fats Really Dangerous For You?

The Truth About Saturated Fat

Trans Fats, NOT Saturated Fats, Increase Diabetes Risk