Saturated Fat: Is it Actually Bad?

Saturated fat

Is saturated fat bad? No. Is it healthy? No.

More than 60 years ago the court of public opinion, the American public convicted saturated fat of a crime of attempted murder of a U.S president. In 1955, while Dwight Eisenhower was on vacation in Colorado he suffered a heart attack. People were suddenly frantic to understand the cause of heart disease. In the years that followed it was established that fat and especially saturated fat was the cause.

If you have spent a lot of days in your life avoiding saturated fat, this moment is a big reason why. After the president’s heart attack his physician recommended the nation to cut down on fat and cholesterol, citing the work of a nutritionist named Ancel Keys.

How saturated fat became a villain

Later that decade, Keys published research connecting countries that consumed the most fat with high rates of heart diseases. His study wielded great influence on how Americans eat. In 1977, a Senate select committee cited his work while making recommendations to the American people. Stating that they should eat less red meat and less saturated fats so as to avoid heart diseases.

That message hardened into national policy when the government issued the 1980 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which advised people to trim the fat from their steaks and avoid saturated-fat foods like butter, cream and coconut oil.

Saturated fat comeback

An analysis by researchers at Harvard looked at 21 studies and found no link between saturated fat and heart disease hence conflicting Keys’ research. In 2014 an analysis of 76 observational studies and randomized controlled trials from the University of Cambridge concluded that saturated fatty acids were not associated with coronary disease. The study also noted that some fatty acids were actually associated with a lower risk of hearts diseases.

A couple of years later a third analysis published in the British Medical Journal reached a similar conclusion. Researchers found out that while reducing saturated fats may help lower cholesterol levels it does not, however, guarantee to a lower risk of death.

Saturated fat isn’t evil.

The scientific literature has led to a bigger shift in public perception. Some even argue that saturated fat is a long lost health food saying that you should get more of it by drinking butter in your coffee.

Clearly, both sides have been carried away a little and we should now look at what is really going on.

First, let us look at the Eisenhower heart attack. It was a gross oversimplification to place all the blame for that heart attack and eventually heart attacks in general on saturated fat. The man was the president at the time and a five-star general before that –both stressful jobs to say the least. He was also known to have temper.it would be fair to say there were confounding lifestyle issues.

Second, saturated fat is not something that most people eat in excess. USDA and World Health Organization recommended you cap your saturated fat consumption at 10 per cent of your daily calories. A 2007 analysis by researchers at Rutgers University showed that saturated fats male around 11 per cent of the average American diet. The top sources being cheese, pizza, cakes and pastries.

The most recent evidence which reviews all the evidence from the past decade shows that when you feed people more saturated fat, that doesn’t increase their chance of heart disease. That still doesn’t mean that saturated fat is good for you though.

The connection between saturated fat and cholesterol

There is a lot we don’t know about saturated fats effects on the body. But here is one thing we do know:

Saturated fat does increase LDL (i.e. bad cholesterol)

This has been proven many times. Elevated LDL doesn’t guarantee you will have a heart attack but it is just one risk factor among many. The general consensus is that if you want to live long keep your LDL low. When your LDL is high you are at a high risk of getting heart disease compared to someone who has a low LDL.

Modern evidence shows that, at the very least, the one fear of saturated fat is overblown. This though doesn’t necessarily mean that you should actively seek more saturated fats in your diet.

Looking at the Blue Zones that are the areas of the world where people live the longest, their cholesterol levels are low. They are not putting butter in their coffee, but at the same time, they are not entirely avoiding saturated fat. In fact, they consume lots of dairy products mostly inform of yoghurt and cheese.

Saturated fat and your diet.

Here is what to do now. You may however not need to make changes at all. Your body doesn’t actually need saturated fat. “There are actually two essential fatty acids,” says Patel. Those are alpha-linoleic acid and linoleic acid. Both of which are unsaturated.

While some people thrive on diets high in saturated fat, your body might not. If you have people in your family who had heart disease, despite having normal cholesterol, then you should probably do all you can to reduce the risk. But if you are still interested in adding more saturated fat to your diet there is a relatively easy way to monitor how your body reacts to it. Schedule two cholesterol tests spaced one month apart. Take the first test while eating your current diet. Then make the dietary changes you wanted and take your second test. This is the approach Nadolsky uses to assess his clients. From the tests, you can tell pretty quickly if you are going to have changes in your LDL cholesterol.

Another test, which some experts say is more accurate and should replace the standard cholesterol test examines your blood’s concentration of apolipoprotein B or the cholesterol-carrying protein that embed themselves within arterial walls. This test looks specifically at the particles of greatest threat.

The healthier way to eat more saturated fat

If bloodwork is a bit too intense for you, consider a simpler and safer way to add more fat to your diet. Skip the butter and eat nuts, avocado, and olive oil which are healthy fats instead. They are the safest fats to eat. They always have a positive effect on lipids and on the end result for heart disease and heart attack.

The bottom line is that saturated fat is a nutrient, not something that your entire diet should revolve around. The body evidence indicates that saturated fats are neutral. You should neither go out of our way to eat more of it nor concern yourself with avoiding it. You shouldn’t be scared of saturated fat but you would better off focusing on your overall diet says Nadolsky.