Nutrition News

The Skinny on Fats - Part 2
The Misconceptions about Saturated Fats
By Dr. Jeff Bartlett

Last month, Dr. Craig gave you a breakdown of the different categories of dietary fats. I’m going to focus on the most controversial of the group – saturated fats. It’s going to take some time for nutritionists, doctors, and especially the public to realize that certain fats are vital for human health. Dr. Craig mentioned last month that “although it is a common belief that all saturated fats are extremely unhealthy for you and that they are the culprit for heart disease in America, emerging research is showing that some saturated fats are actually very beneficial and much healthier for you than poly unsaturated-TRANS fats”. There are other factors that more significantly influence heart disease including, but not limited to, high glycemic carbohydrates (sugar & starches), oxidative stress from TRANS fats (partially hydrogenated oils), stress, smoking, and lack of exercise to name a few.

My goal today is to bring new insight to this misunderstood fat, and challenge the anti-fat movement for convincing the public that saturated fat is the “villain”. Since 1988, when the surgeon general recommended that Americans severely reduce their consumption of fat, especially saturated fat, the race was on to banish fats from our diet. This movement was based on a theory that too much fat accumulation in the arteries causes heart disease, and that too much fat accumulation in fat cells causes obesity. Therefore, it seemed logical that if we reduce fat intake, we’ll solve these problems. But it hasn’t worked! It hasn’t worked because this way of thinking has a fundamental flaw; it doesn’t take into account the body’s biochemistry. The public and medical community has come to believe that increasing fat in our diet leads to increased triglycerides in our blood, which can lead to heart disease. This is not entirely true! In fact, research on the relationship between saturated fat and heart disease is contradictory, inconclusive, and ambiguous at best. Scientists and medical researchers have found that eating dietary saturated fat actually lowers triglycerides, raises HDL (good cholesterol), and lowers the risk of heart disease (Framingham Study by NHLBI). Then, ‘why are we told that fat is the enemy?’ It has been said that you really need a high level of proof to change these recommendations, which is ironic, because they never had a high level of proof in setting them. In other words, despite decades of research, there is no evidence linking dietary saturated fats to heart disease. Hundreds of millions of dollars in trials have not managed to generate compelling evidence that healthy individuals can extend their lives by more than a few weeks, if that, by eating less fat. To put it simply, there is NO substantiating data proving a link between reducing total fat intake with lowering the incidence of heart disease and obesity, and improving overall health. In fact, a low fat diet will encourage a shift to high-carbohydrate diet (hyperinsulinemia), which is now being recognized as the major culprit leading to weight gain, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes. Please refer back to our June issue for more details.

In the quest to determine what foods humans were meant to consume, I consider the studies and research on the ‘Paleolithic Diet/ Hunter-Gatherer Diet’ as our best answer. Most experts agree that game-hunting was the primary means of sustenance for our ancestors for 700,000 years. Only 8,000 to 10,000 years ago we introduced the agriculture industry, which brought the addition of carbohydrates to our diet. So, for 6,000 centuries man has lived on a diet composed predominantly of meat of one sort or another. Thus, 60 to 90 percent of the calories consumed were from meat, fat, roots, shoots, and berries. For 700,000 years evolution has shaped and molded our physiology to function optimally on a diet very similar to the ‘Paleolithic Diet’. Therefore, our bodies were designed to break down natural saturated fats, and utilize the fats for positive means.

What are saturated fats? Saturated fats are found in meat, dairy, and other animal products, as well as in coconut and palm oils. This fat is solid at room temperature and has an extended shelf life. There are short chain, medium chain, and long chain fatty acids that make up the array of fats. The scientific evidence, honestly evaluated, demonstrates that saturated fats play many important roles in our body chemistry and general health. Saturated fats have antimicrobial properties, are absorbed directly for quick energy, induce the neurochemical reaction that tells our body we are satiated, and contribute to the health of the immune system.

The ‘bad’ saturated fat, simply put, is the half-inch layer of stored fat you find on the side of meat. For example, the stored fat found on the side of a steak, bacon, or pork loin tends to be high in arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid (AA) is a fatty acid essential to life but also incredibly destructive in excessive amounts. You can also add insult to injury by heating these fats to high temperatures with the process of frying. This can change the natural configuration of the fat to a trans configuration (trans-fat!). It’s best to grill or bake!

One saturated fat that we highly recommend is coconut oil. We predict it will be getting a lot of press very soon, because the medical community is beginning to realize the health potentials directly linked to this tropical oil. There are many virtues of coconut oil; for instance, it’s extremely stable under high heat and is the best cooking oil one can use. Coconut oil is a staple in the diets of the South Pacific & Asian countries. Population studies show that these countries are among the healthiest on earth; their incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer is far lower than that of the western world. Coconut is rich in lauric acid, which is a proven antiviral and antibacterial agent. (Lauric acid is in breast milk!) It has also been shown to help with weight loss, boost energy and metabolism, and raise body temperature of thyroid sufferers.

I can’t believe you said butter! Yes, that’s right, our second recommendation is butter because it is a naturally saturated fat—no TRANS fats. The healthiest form of butter is from cows who have been grass fed, as it is packed full of nutrients and fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. This butter (‘grass fed’ in origin) may be hard to come by, but likely found at Whole Foods or Trader Joes.

To bring this all together, your take home message today is to avoid trans fats (partially hydrogenated oil) at all costs. Start incorporating healthy dietary fats into your daily diet. In no way should this article be misconstrued to have you thinking that you can now eat all the fat you want. Again, select fats from Dr. Craig’s list of “good fats” (see last month’s article) and eat them responsibly. We must understand that food moderation, a proper selection of foods, and incorporating exercise into your life is the key to success. On the topic of FATS, we will finish with this; “Fat in the diet has never been the problem. Avoiding fat is the problem.”