What's the deal with saturated fat?

science
#1

All my life I’ve been told “saturated fat bad,” but just lurking around here a couple days I see some people actually try to get more saturated fats in their diets.

My wife doesn’t want to do keto with me cuz she’s read it’s bad for your heart. So, I read a few articles to try to expand my knowledge and it seems health experts say it’s the saturated fats in the diet that could lead to higher risk of heart disease.

I’m not a doctor, I don’t know what the truth is, and honestly I don’t think anyone knows definitively. But I’d like to know more if anyone can offer any insight into the health benefits and/or downsides of saturated fats in your diet.

(Bob M) #2

I think saturated fat has little to no evidence it is bad for you. There’s a theory it’s actually satiating.

(Tracy) #3

Everyone in my family who is diabetic has had at least one heart attack by the age of 60. None of them live on a low-carb/Keto diet. I’m watching a trend before my eyes and I’m deviating.

(Utility Muffin Research Kitchen) #4

You have two choices.
(1) Pick your nutritional values by throwing darts at a dart board on which you wrote all the theories on nutrition. Low fat, vegan, Ornish, Katz, raw veggies, SAD, 3 apples a day, whatever. They all claim to be the one and only, just like religion. And none of them offers any science. So, they will all be equally good even though they contradict each other like hell. Right?
Or maybe, choose

(2) Pick the one nutritional theory that has actual science behind it, and follow it. Everything you believed to know about nutrition is about to change… https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPxIHxsNKIZLcPj9YdGO_M43aWNROTxTf

(Bob M) #5

Here’s a set of articles questioning the guidance for saturated fat:

https://www.nutritioncoalition.us/expert-opinion-and-press-reports-questioning-whether-saturated-fats-cause-heart-disease?rq=saturated%20fat

A thoughtful article showing “both sides”:

https://www.nutritioncoalition.us/saturated-fats-do-they-cause-heart-disease

#6

Thanks for the links! I’ll have to dig into those articles.

('Jackie P') #7

Always a joy to share my favourite presentations on the subject,



I ditched my statins after watching these.
(Bob M) #8

Those are two of my favorite people too. Even if Dr. Kendrick did say that CAC scans were not that useful. I think he’s wrong there. I also think he underestimates the benefits of diet on heart disease. But, he’s still great.

('Jackie P') #9

I am always facinated about the presence of fibrinogen in most heart attack cases, but not much mention of it in standard thinking!

#10

Jackie, is that. do you mean fibrinogen as a blood test/ inflammation biomarker?

#11

Hi Jay. You are asking about the diet-heart hypothesis. Basically you went straight to the heart of concerns about eating a low carbohydrate, high healthy fats diet. And the big assumption from the mid 20th century that eating saturated fat caused heart attacks. Well they might in a junk food diet full of processed carbohydrate foods and industrial seed oils. Good stuff to research.

The diet-heart hypothesis has been shown to be an inaccurate hypothesis in the past 20 years. The most up-to-date research shows it to be false.

Here is something to read:

You can search the forums for “Diet heart hypothesis” for opinions.

('Jackie P') #12

Screenshot_20200206-121905_Chrome
Screenshot_20200206-121905_Chrome.jpg1280×720 250 KB

This is a screenshot from Dr Kendrick’s lecture that identifies fibrinogen as the highest risk factor (aside from previous MI) for coronary event. I have heard it before … Ivor Cummins I think and others.

#13

plasma fibrinogen a foundation for blood clots and also an inflammation marker.

I had also heard Dr. Zsofia Clemens mention it as one of the information biomarkers they monitor For changes in patients at Paleo Medicina.

(Bunny) #14

If you don’t eat saturated fat, your body is going to make it anyway when you eat even moderate carbohydrates?

My question would be what’s the difference whether you eat lots of carbohydrates or eat saturated fats?

Don’t believe me?

Read this:

You cannot escape saturated fats even if you don’t eat one drop of it?

('Jackie P') #15

Cigarette smoking raises fibrinogen and reduces platelets which makes it such a high risk factor.

(Polly) #16

Interesting! [the bit about cigarette smoking elevating fibrinogen]