7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat

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7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat

by ph Mercola

Recently by ph Mercola: Medicines and Treatments That Patients Don't

Need

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/mercola44.1.html

Tim Ferriss of The Four-Hour Work Week has posted an exclusive excerpt from

Drs. and Eades' newest book, The 6-Week Cure for the

Middle-Aged Middle.

The two doctors note that no matter how the story spins from the denizens of

the anti-fat camp, one piece of their advice remains staunchly constant:

" You should sharply limit your intake of saturated fats. " But will saturated

fats really increase your risk of heart disease and raise your cholesterol?

In a word, no. In fact, humans need them, and here are just a few reasons

why:

1) Improved cardiovascular risk factors

Saturated fat plays a key role in cardiovascular health. The addition of

saturated fat to the diet reduces the levels of a substance called

lipoprotein(a) that correlates strongly with risk for heart disease.

Research has shown that when women diet, those eating the greatest

percentage of the total fat in their diets as saturated fat, lose the most

weight.

2) Stronger bones

Saturated fat is required for calcium to be effectively incorporated into

bone. According to one of the foremost research experts in dietary fats and

human health, Dr. Enig, Ph.D., there's a case to be made for having as

much as 50 percent of the fats in your diet as saturated fats for this

reason.

3) Improved liver health

Saturated fat has been shown to protect the liver from alcohol and

medications, including acetaminophen and other drugs commonly used for pain

and arthritis.

4) Healthy lungs

For proper function, the airspaces of the lungs have to be coated with a

thin layer of lung surfactant. The fat content of lung surfactant is 100

percent saturated fatty acids. Replacement of these critical fats by other

types of fat makes faulty surfactant and potentially causes breathing

difficulties.

5) Healthy brain

Your brain is mainly made of fat and cholesterol. The lion's share of the

fatty acids in the brain are actually saturated. A diet that skimps on

healthy saturated fats robs your brain of the raw materials it needs to

function optimally.

6) Proper nerve signaling

Certain saturated fats, particularly those found in butter, lard, coconut

oil, and palm oil, function directly as signaling messengers that influence

metabolism, including such critical jobs as the appropriate release of

insulin.

7) Strong immune system

Saturated fats found in butter and coconut oil (myristic acid and lauric

acid) play key roles in immune health. Loss of sufficient saturated fatty

acids in white blood cells hampers their ability to recognize and destroy

foreign invaders, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Source: Four Hour Work Week September 6, 2009

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

A misguided fallacy that persists to this day is the belief that saturated

fat will increase your risk of heart disease and heart attacks. This is

simply another myth that has been harming your health for the last 30 or 40

years.

The truth is, saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a

concentrated source of energy in your diet, and they provide the building

blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like

substances.

When you eat saturated fats as part of your meal, they slow down absorption

so that you can go longer without feeling hungry. In addition, they act as

carriers for the important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats

are also needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral

absorption, and for a host of other biological processes.

Saturated fats are also:

a.. The preferred fuel for your heart, and also used as a source of fuel

during energy expenditure

b.. Useful antiviral agents (caprylic acid)

c.. Effective as an anticaries, antiplaque and anti-fungal agent (lauric

acid)

d.. Useful to actually lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and stearic

acids)

e.. Modulators of genetic regulation and prevent cancer (butyric acid)

If the fact that saturated fats are actually good for you sounds

conflicting, at least in terms of what is repeated by public health

agencies, I urge you to read Enig and Sally Fallon's classic article

The Truth About Saturated Fats.

It is one of the best and most thorough introductions to this topic, and you

can read through it in just a few minutes.

Have You Heard of the Lipid Hypothesis?

If not by name, you've certainly heard of the concept behind the " lipid

hypothesis, " and that is that dietary fat causes heart disease.

This flawed theory was largely spread by Ancel Keys, a diet researcher for

whom military K-rations are named, and it was because of the lipid

hypothesis that Americans were soon encouraged to substitute vegetable-based

fats for animal fats, and to avoid red meat completely.

However, when Keys published his analysis that claimed to prove the link

between dietary fats and coronary heart disease, he selectively analyzed

information from only six countries to prove his correlation, rather than

comparing all the data available at the time - from 22 countries.

As a result of this " cherry-picked " data, government health organizations

began bombarding the public with advice that has contributed to the diabetes

and obesity epidemics going on today: eat a low-fat diet.

Of course, as Americans cut out nutritious animal fats from their diets,

they were left hungry. So they began eating more processed grains, more

vegetable oils, and more high-fructose corn syrup, all of which are

nutritional disasters.

What About the Studies That DO Show a Link Between Fat and Heart Disease?

Keys believed that dietary fat was causing heart disease in Americans back

in the 1950s, and he soon got others to jump on the bandwagon.

Even the American Heart Association, which concluded in 1957 that " the

evidence that dietary fat correlates with heart disease does not stand up to

critical examination, " changed its position in 1960.

Why? Because Keys was on the committee issuing a new report that a low-fat

diet was advised for people at risk of heart disease. Sadly, the theory

continued to be accepted as nutritional wisdom, even though clinical trials

found no connection.

There are, however, some studies that have found a link between fat and

heart disease, and they are often used by saturated fat opponents to " prove "

their case.

The problem lies in the fact that most of these studies make no effort to

differentiate between saturated fat and trans fat. I believe this is the

missing link.

If researchers were to more carefully evaluate the risks of heart disease by

measuring the levels of trans and saturated fat, I believe they would find a

completely different story.

Trans fat is known to increase your LDL levels, or " bad " cholesterol, while

lowering your levels of HDL, known as " good " cholesterol, which is the

complete opposite of what you need in order to maintain good heart health.

It can also cause major clogging of arteries, type-2 diabetes and other

serious health problems.

On the other hand, your body needs some amount of saturated fat to stay

healthy. It is virtually impossible to achieve a nutritionally adequate diet

that has no saturated fat. What you don't need, however, are trans fats.

Further, there are some people who do well with a low-saturated-fat diet -

the one-third who are carb nutritional types. Even then, however, some

animal fats are necessary and healthy, and two-thirds of people actually

require moderate- to high-saturated-fat diets to thrive.

Healthy Sources of Saturated Fats to Add to Your Diet

Saturated fat is not the root of all evil . and it is NOT to blame for the

modern disease epidemics facing Americans. Saturated fat is actually an

incredibly healthy, nourishing and all natural fat that humans have been

thriving on for generations.

Again, as Fallon and Enig point out:

a.. Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50 percent of your cell

membranes. They are what gives your cells necessary stiffness and integrity.

b.. They play a vital role in the health of your bones. For calcium to be

effectively incorporated into your skeletal structure, at least 50 percent

of your dietary fats should be saturated.

c.. They lower Lp(a), a substance in your blood that indicates proneness

to heart disease.

d.. They protect your liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol

and other drugs.

e.. They enhance your immune system.

f.. They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.

Elongated omega-3 fats are better retained in your tissues when your diet is

rich in saturated fats.

g.. Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the

preferred foods for your heart, which is why the fat around your heart

muscle is highly saturated. Your heart draws on this reserve of fat in times

of stress.

h.. Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important

antimicrobial properties. They protect you against harmful microorganisms in

your digestive tract.

So please do not shun saturated fats from your diet. If you'd like to get

the most tailored information about which fats, and how much of them, to

include in your optimal diet, first find out your nutritional type. Then,

make sure your meals include some of these delicious and healthy sources of

saturated fat:

a.. Grass-fed organic beef and beef fat

a.. Naturally raised lamb

a.. Organic raw dairy products (butter, cheese, milk, cream)

a.. Coconut oil

June 18, 2010