Is Saturated Fat Really Healthy?
That’s right. Healthy. The kind found in nature anyway, especially the fine marbling of a nice steak. Most people would be quick to tell you that saturated fat is bad for you. We’ve all been told since day 1 that eating too much saturated fat clogs your arteries and causes heart attacks. This is just plain wrong.
Just from my experience with talking to people I know about this little tidbit of information, I know most of you that read this are not going to believe me. I understand how hard it is to doubt something that you’ve known as truth for so long but just hear me out and make your own decision. I tend to believe things that are proven through research and in this case, there is zero evidence that a diet high in saturated fat causes any heart problems whatsoever.
The idea that high levels of saturated fat started with a study done by Ancel Keys in the 1950’s that proved a connection between the two. Long story short, he admitted he left out a bunch of information, specifically data that proved what he was saying was dead wrong. That study has been the basis of everything we know about saturated fat, and it’s just not correct.
To get to the point, saturated fats have been believed to raise cholesterol, triglycerides, and risk of cardiac disease. The have no effect on triglycerides, and it is published. Saturated fats do raise cholesterol, they make LDL and HDL go up. At worst, this a neutral effect of sat fats. More and more research is proving that total cholesterol levels do not necessarily indicate a risk of heart problems. Also, many researchers believe that a high HDL number is much more important than lowering LDL. There is a ton of research on this topic and I plan on linking a bunch of articles in Quick Reads for anyone that has time and wants proof.
Saturated fats are responsible for forming over half of the membrane in just about every cell in our body and are needed to ensure that our cells function properly. That should be reason enough but here’s more:
- They help facilitate the absorption and transport of fat soluble vitamins.
- Something I found out pretty recently, the heart uses energy primarily in the form of saturated fats. I guess it’s pretty important to keep your ticker working right.
- Saturated fat is responsible for the transport of calcium through your body. A lot of experts think that osteoporosis might be due to a low fat diet in which not enough calcium is reaching important bones.
- Less saturated fat means more fat from vegetable oils which are high in Omega-6’s and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA’s).
PUFA’s are more readily oxidized in the body than natural saturated fats and this oxidation is one of the main causes of blood vessel blockage. Quick bite of information, We get more than enough Omega-6’s and way too little Omega-3’s in our diet, the closer the ratio of intake of these is 1:1, the better. Less vegetable oils, more steak and butter. I know it’s hard to believe. But try to think about why everything I just said is hard to believe. Because we’ve been taught by dietitians to think that saturated fat is bad and causes health problems. This is the simplest I can think to put it, but that idea has been proven wrong. What HAS been proven is that saturated fats from natural sources are a very necessary part of our diet and it’s even encouraged that you get more, once again, from NATURAL sources. Steak, eggs, coconut, cream and butter. Not a snickers bar.
Fat eaten does not mean fat put on, carbs are responsible for your body storing fat. Carbs raise insulin, insulin signals cells to take up fat and tells the liver to make more fat from sugar. Fat is an extremely delicious, satisfying source of energy that your body knows what to do with, unlike artificial sugars. I’m eating A LOT more protein and fat these days. The last few times I’ve given blood, which has been kind of frequently in the last couple years due to the issues I’ve mentioned, my LDL has been very slightly on the high side and my HDL has always been very low. I’ve been right around 20 mg/dL and the healthy number to shoot for is greater than 60 mg/dL.
I do have some belly fat to lose before my abs start poking through so after about a month of eating low carb and high fat, I’m going to see what my stomach looks like and how the numbers measure up with a blood test. I’m first in line to see what the results are and whether I’m writing about nonsense or if what I’m saying has some merit.