Re: Dr Mercola BLASTS the lipid hypothesis of cardiovascular disease

[Guest guest]

Ah yes, proving once again that it's the transfats, stupid!

Leave your food alone and it won't hurt you. Although I am a bit surprised

about the rate of heart disease being 24x the rate of Mexico, in Finland, in

1953. Was there that much transfatting going on in Finland then?!

Alan

Dr Mercola BLASTS the lipid hypothesis of cardiovascular

disease

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:

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:

Meat

Dairy products

Some oils

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:

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

energy

expenditure

Useful antiviral agents (caprylic acid)

Effective as an anticaries, antiplaque and anti fungal agents (lauric acid)

Useful to actually lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and stearic acids)

Modulators of genetic regulation and prevent cancer (butyric acid)

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. "

[Guest guest]

You know, Ancel Keys was one of our own (lived here in the Twin

Cities). I always wanted to visit him and ask him if he still believed

in his hypothesis, but I never got around to it before he died. He

even obliged by living to 101 or something like that! And I still

missed my chance! I wonder what HE ate??? I think his wife is still

around...I wonder if she would talk?

Kathy

[Guest guest]

>

> He

> even obliged by living to 101 or something like that! And I still

> missed my chance! I wonder what HE ate???

I've had the same thoughts, and more. Did he walk his talk? How much

did he get paid to promote his views? Did he ever reconsider his

research and its flaws? Did he want to recant his position but

couldn't b/c of the industry pressures to manufacture/sell their

rancid oils?

Questions, questions! We may never know now, but it is simply

astounding how brainwashed people are about fats.

~Joe

[Guest guest]

Being of Finnish descent and having recently visited my relatives in

Finland, I want to comment on the Finnish rates of heart disease and

what I have seen firsthand. More than consuming trans-fats, the Finns

tend to eat lots of white flour and sugar. They are such lovely hosts

with their tables full of homemade rolls and breads, but I think these

foods really mess with their triglyceride levels.

As much I agree with and love Dr. Mercola's article, I want to point

out that trans fats probably aren't the only culprit in heart disease.

[Guest guest]

, isn't it true that ALL Finns drink a quart of vodka a day, smoke ciggies

like chimneys

and are all psychos?

No, while some of the above is true, the Finns do have to put up with one of the

shortest day

lengths of any populated countries (and total sun in the summer), plus they have

to put up

with all those intrusive Russians. It's a pretty stressed-out country. Certainly

24 times as

stressed out as the average Mexican.

Will