Dr Mercola BLASTS the lipid hypothesis of cardiovascular disease

[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:

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. "