Afraid of Fat?

Well… You shouldn’t be. Not completely anyway. And here are some critical

facts you aren’t getting from the headlines…

So I’m not sure if anyone has been seeing the recent studies on butter but it is now suggesting that scientists have been wrong all along and you can now cut loose and eat all the butter, sour cream and lard fried chicken that you been craving for years. They are claiming that high-profile studies concluded that saturated fat does not increase the risk for heart disease although we have been told this for years. They’re actually basing their analysis on about 80 top-flight studies published in the Annual of Internal Medicine. But what you’re not being told in these headlines is that scientists have not concluded that you can eat saturated fat with abundance. What’s more accurate about all this is that fat and other food components are less important than the totality of your diet.

We have long been told that high cholesterol can cause heart disease and that saturated fat fuels high cholesterol. While it is true that saturated fat does increase blood levels of LDL (the “bad” cholesterol), concentrations of LDL are not the only important risk factor for heart disease. Recently they have said that saturated fat also increases HDL (the “good” cholesterol) and it reduces harmful blood fats called triglycerides. Compared with carbohydrates, saturated fat has little effect on the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol.  This ratio has also been the best simple lipid marker for overall risk of atherosclerosis.

Now, I am not saying that saturated fat is completely okay for you and that you should just stay away from carbs and that’s it… however, there is a much bigger picture that we need to look at. For example, low-fat foods such as certain yogurts and cookies and ice cream are frequently advertised as being healthier than their full fat counterparts. But if these low-fat foods are loaded with sugar – a refined carbohydrate – they might be worse for your heart than a rack of ribs or a buttery corn on the cob.  Saturated fat by itself does not make the food healthier or unhealthy. It really depends on the overall diet. Someone who eats redmeat a few times a week might have a healthier overall diet then someone who eats no meat but consumes trans fat, sodium, refined grains, starches and/or sugars. Research has shown that people who similar diets and consume the most saturated fat have about the same rates of heart disease as those who consume less.

Unfortunately, Americans have been encouraged to scrutinize food labels and buy foods that meet certain guidelines, such as being low in saturated fat. Manufacturers know this and then exploit and produce foods that seem to be healthy but really are not. Regular turkey sausage, for example, is marketed at a low-fat alternative to beef sausage. However, it’s really not any healthier. (Promise!). People think it is because they focus on the fat content and what the label tells them. What they don’t realize is that actually processed meats cause more diabetes and heart disease than natural meats, regardless of the fat content. And the same thing has happened with carbohydrates. People who have cut back on saturated fat have to replace it was something… And unfortunately they often pick packaged foods that are low in fat but high in refined carbs, sugar and sodium, all of which are bad for you when consumed in large amounts. Now, how does oils such as olive oil play a part in all this versus saturated fat….? Polyunsaturated fats (such as soybean oil and canola oil) are good for the heart, and extra-virgin olive oil also lowers heart disease risk. These fats are better than saturated fat but they are also way better for you than carbohydrates. Because carbohydrates are about 50% of the normal American diet, increasing these healthy vegetable oils should be the priority. Not reducing saturated fat per se. I would also like to add that most vegetable oils do have a small amount of saturated fat in them as well.

If you’re making a choice about which oils to use for most of your salad dressings and cooking, I would take soybean, canola, or extra-virgin olive oil. There is also preliminary evidence that dairy, in particular yogurt and perhaps cheese, May actually lower diabetes risk as well. If I were to make a suggestion I would say one or two servings per day of dairy, including unsweetened yogurt and unprocessed cheese, is just fine for you.  (Notice the unsweetened and unprocessed part.).  I say this because currently there is little empirical evidence indicating whether low-fat or full fat is more beneficial, so I advise to choose whichever you prefer. (As long as it’s unsweetened and unprocessed).

One other thing I would like to point out that is usually focused around a higher fat diet is the reputation of the Mediterranean diet.  What people may not realize is that this diet is a high-fat diet – traditionally about 40% of total calories coming from fat, which is a much higher percentage than the typical US diet. Now, much of their fat comes from olive oil, vegetable oil and other unsaturated fats with small amounts from dairy and meat.  A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine said eating a Mediterranean diet lowered the risk for cardiovascular events and diabetes without any changes in saturated fat. They stated the diet is good because it includes so many wholesome, minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, high-fiber grains, fish and nuts. The second benefit is what it does NOT include – an excess of refined carbohydrates, including sugars, starches and also sodium.Another thing to note as well, is that although fats have more than twice as many calories by weight as carbohydrates or protein, they are not any more likely to cause any more weight gain. You are far more likely to gain weight if you eat a lot of fine carbohydrates such as white rice, white bread and potatoes.

So am I saying that saturated fat is amazing and wonderful drug that you should eat in large quantities …? Absolutely not. But what I am saying is that you do not need to focus so much on your fat intake. A combination of overall healthy diet which includes non-processed and natural foods, organics, fruits and veggies, lean meats and nuts, and the elimination of simple carbohydrates, in moderation,… Fat can be your friend.