lovesouthernsocial.com

Saturated fat, like that in coconut oil, does not need to be avoided at all costs, like artificial trans fat. Understand

Edited and resized image of Daria Nepriakhina, is available on Unsplash

The saturated fat in coconut oil, palm oil, vegetable ghee butter, fatty meats and dark chocolate has been seen as the villain of heart health since the 20th century. However, significant studies have failed to prove the link between saturated fat and heart disease. They show that substituting saturated fats for unsaturated fats reduces the risk of cardiac events (but not death) by 14%. This does not imply that saturated fat is "bad", just that certain types of unsaturated fats (mostly omega-3s) are protective, while saturated fat is neutral.

• Foods rich in omega 3, 6 and 9: examples and benefits

What is saturated fat?

Fats are macronutrients. This means that, consumed in large quantities, they provide energy. Each fat molecule consists of a glycerol molecule and three fatty acids, which can be saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated.

Saturated fatty acids do not have double bonds, monounsaturated fatty acids have a double bond, and polyunsaturated fatty acids have two or more double bonds.

Another way of expressing this is to say that saturated fatty acids have all of their carbon (C) atoms fully "saturated" with hydrogen (H) atoms.

Foods high in saturated fat include fatty meats of animal origin; dairy products such as butter; and coconut oil, palm oil, dark chocolate and butter ghee vegetable.

• Coconut oil: benefits, what is it for and how to use it
• Seven Benefits of Dark Chocolate

In fact, "fats" contain a combination of different fatty acids. No fat is purely saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated.

Even foods like beef also contain significant amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Fats that are mostly saturated (like coconut oil) tend to be solid at room temperature, while fats that are mostly unsaturated (like olive oil) are liquid at room temperature.

Like other fats, saturated fat contains 9 calories per gram.

Why do people think it's harmful?

In the 20th century, there was a great epidemic of heart disease running rampant in America. It used to be a rare disease, but very quickly it skyrocketed and became the number one cause of early death, still being today.

Intake of saturated fat has been associated with increased levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream. This was an important finding at the time, because researchers knew that having high cholesterol was also linked to a risk of developing heart disease.

If saturated fat raises cholesterol (A causes B) and cholesterol causes heart disease (B causes C), then that must mean saturated fat causes heart disease (A causes C). However, at the time, this was not based on any experimental evidence in humans.

This hypothesis (called the "diet-heart hypothesis") was based on assumptions, observational data, and animal studies. The diet-heart hypothesis then turned into public policy before it proved to be true.

Even though there is now experimental data in humans showing that these initial assumptions were wrong, people are still being told to avoid saturated fat to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Saturated fat can raise LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) but also HDL (the "good" cholesterol)

It's important to note that the word "cholesterol" is often used loosely. HDL and LDL, commonly called "good" and "bad" cholesterol respectively, are not actually cholesterol. They are cholesterol-carrying proteins known as lipoproteins.

The acronym LDL stands for Low Density Lipoprotein and HDL stands for High Density Lipoprotein. All "cholesterol" is identical.

At first, scientists measured only "total" cholesterol, which includes both LDL and HDL cholesterol. Later, they learned that while LDL was linked to increased risk, HDL was linked to reduced risk (see studies about it here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

"Total" cholesterol is actually a very poor marker because it also includes HDL. Therefore, having a high (protective) HDL actually contributes to a high "total" cholesterol.

Since saturated fat raised LDL levels, it seemed logical to assume that this would increase the risk of heart disease. But scientists ignored the fact that saturated fat also raises HDL.

LDL is not necessarily "bad" because there are different subtypes of LDL (see studies about it here: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12):

• Small, Dense LDL: These are small lipoproteins that can easily penetrate the arterial wall, leading to heart disease;
• Large LDL: These lipoproteins are large and fluffy and do not easily penetrate arteries.

Small, dense particles are also much more susceptible to becoming oxidized, which is a crucial step in the heart disease process (see studies on this here: 13, 14, 15).

People with mostly small LDL particles have a three times greater risk of heart disease compared to those with mostly large LDL particles (see study on this: 16).

So, to reduce the risk of heart disease, you need to have more LDL particles as small as possible. An interesting piece of information that is often overlooked by some health professionals is that eating saturated fat changes the size of LDL particles (see studies on this here: 17, 18, 19). This means that while saturated fat may slightly raise LDL, it shifts LDL to a benign subtype associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.

Even the effects of saturated fat on LDL are not as dramatic as people think. Although they increase LDL in the short term, many long-term observational studies have found no link between saturated fat consumption and LDL levels (see studies here: 20, 21, 22).

The interaction also appears to depend on the "chain length" of the fatty acid. Palmitic acid (16 carbons), for example, can raise LDL, while stearic acid (18 carbons) does not (see study about it here: 23).

It's not just the LDL concentration or particle size, but the number of LDL particles (called LDL-p ) that float in the bloodstream.

Low-carbohydrate diets, which tend to be high in saturated fat, can lower LDL-p, while low-fat diets can have an adverse effect and raise LDL-p (see studies about it here: 24, 25, 26, 27).

Does saturated fat cause heart disease?

The supposedly harmful effects of saturated fat are the cornerstone of modern dietary guidelines. Despite decades of research and billions of dollars spent, scientists have yet to demonstrate a clear link.

Several recent review studies that combined data from several other studies found that there really isn't a link between saturated fat consumption and heart disease.

This includes a review of 21 studies, with a total of 347,747 participants, published in 2010. Their conclusion: There is absolutely no association between saturated fat and heart disease.

Another review published in 2014 analyzed data from 76 studies (both observational and controlled studies) with a total of 643,226 participants; and found no link between saturated fat and heart disease. Another review that combines data from numerous randomized controlled trials also found no relationship.

According to another study, published in 2011, saturated fat does not cause death from heart disease.

However, they found that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats reduced the risk of cardiac events (but not death) by 14%.

This does not imply that saturated fats are "bad", just that certain types of unsaturated fats (mostly Omega-3s) are protective, while saturated fats are neutral.

In addition to these studies mentioned, there is yet another review of five recent studies on saturated fat and health.

Does a diet low in saturated fat have any health benefits or help you live longer?

Several studies have been carried out on the low-fat diet. This is the USDA recommended diet (United States Department of Agriculture), and health organizations around the world.

The main purpose of this diet is to reduce your intake of saturated fat and cholesterol. She also recommends increasing your intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and reducing your intake of sugar.

• Sugar: the newest health villain

A randomized controlled trial of 46,835 women, who were instructed to maintain a low-fat diet after 7.5-8 years, reduced only 0.4 kg in body weight. The results showed that the difference in weight, risk of heart disease, cancer or death was null (see articles about that same study here: 28, 29, 30, 31).

Other massive studies have confirmed this result. Low-fat diet offers no benefits for heart disease or risk of death (see studies here: 32, 33).

Several studies that replaced saturated fat with polyunsaturated oils showed that more people died in the polyunsaturated oil groups (see studies here: 34, 35).

It's interesting to see that since the low-fat guidelines emerged, the prevalence of obesity has skyrocketed. The obesity epidemic started in full force at the same time that low-fat was on the rise. The type 2 diabetes epidemic followed shortly thereafter.

• Diabetes: what it is, types and symptoms

It's also interesting, looking at the literature, that in almost every study comparing the "expert-approved" low-fat diet to other diets (including paleo, vegan, low-carb and the diet of the Mediterranean), she loses (see studies about it: 34, 35, 36, 37).

It may be necessary for some people to reduce their intake of saturated fat.

The results of most studies are based on means. Studies clearly show that, on average, saturated fat does not increase the risk of heart disease.

However, within these averages, there is room for individual variability. Perhaps most people don't see any effect, while others experience a lower risk and still others experience an increased risk.

There are definitely some people who need to minimize saturated fat in their diet. This includes individuals with a genetic disorder called Familial Hypercholesterolemia, as well as people who have a gene variant called ApoE4 (see study on this: 38).

Over time, the science of genetics will certainly discover more ways in which diet affects our individual risk of disease.

Saturated fat is excellent for cooking

Saturated fat has some important beneficial aspects that are rarely mentioned. They are excellent for cooking as they have no double bonds and are highly resistant to heat-induced damage.

Coconut oil, which is rich in saturated fat, was considered the best oil for frying. Studies have shown that even after eight hours of continuous frying at 180 °C, its quality does not deteriorate. Learn more about this topic in the article: "What is the best frying oil?".

Polyunsaturated fats, on the other hand, oxidize easily when heated (see study about it here: 39). Foods that are naturally high in saturated fat also tend to be healthy and nutritious, as long as you're eating quality unprocessed foods. Examples in this regard are palm oil, vegetable ghee butter and dark chocolate.

The "bad" fats you should avoid at all costs

There are many types of fat. Some are good, some are neutral, some are clearly harmful. Evidence indicates that saturated and monounsaturated fats are perfectly safe and perhaps even healthy.

However, the situation is a little more complicated with polyunsaturated fats. When it comes to that, there are omega-3s and omega-6s. These two fatty acids need to be ingested in a certain balance, but most people are eating too many omega-6 fatty acids.

It's a good idea to eat plenty of omega-3s (like the one in flaxseed oil), but most people would do better to reduce their omega-6 intake (see study on this: 40).

The best way to do this is to avoid soy and corn oil, as well as processed foods that contain them.

Another class of fat, artificial trans fats, is also very harmful. They are produced by exposing polyunsaturated vegetable oils to a chemical process involving high heat, hydrogen gas and a metal catalyst.

Studies show that trans fats lead to insulin resistance, inflammation, accumulation of belly fat and dramatically increase the risk of heart disease (see studies on this here: 41, 42, 43, 44).

Therefore, it is recommended, in moderation, the intake of saturated fats, monounsaturated fats and omega-3s. But it is necessary to avoid trans fats and processed vegetable oils ​​such as soy oil.

• Herbicide used on soy and sugarcane causes cancer in rats