Saturated Fat--Is Okay?

1

Those of us on pretty high fat/low carb diets have suspected this as we’ve watched our lipid profiles improve. Newer research links high carb diets to high triglycerides & LDL.

We’ve been fed the low-fat guidelines constantly for decades.

Below from Diabetes Daily www.diabetesdaily.com

Saturated Fat May
Not Increase Heart Attack Risk

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition just published an analysis of 21 studies covering 384,000 adults for up to 21 years. The results:
saturated fat intake may not be linked to heart attacks!

Quote:
The saturated fat found mainly in meat and dairy products has a
bad reputation, but a new analysis of published studies finds no clear
link between people's intake of saturated fat and their risk of
developing heart disease.

Research has shown that saturated fat can raise blood levels of "bad"
LDL cholesterol, and elevated LDL is a risk factor for heart disease
and stroke. Because of this, experts generally advise people to limit
their intake of fatty meat, butter and full-fat dairy....

But in the new analysis, which combined the results of 21 previous
studies, researchers found no clear evidence that higher saturated fat
intakes led to higher risks of heart disease or stroke.

The findings, published in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, may sound like good news for
steak lovers, but a past AHA president cautioned against "over
interpreting" the results.

"No one is saying that some saturated fat is going to harm you...people
should enjoy their food," said Dr. Robert H. Eckel, a professor of
medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver....

Perhaps more importantly, though, Eckel said that the thinking on diet
and heart health is moving away from a focus on single nutrients and
toward "dietary patterns."


2

If you were a fan of GCBC by Gary Taubes, you already were on to this. The articles in AJCN are worth a read if you are into that sort of thing. The authors themselves are broadly respected resarchers, so it is pretty hard to discount the results. I do however expect that the media will downplay the study and many groups like the AHA will criticize it. Ron Krauss (a study co-author) was actually a former participant in the NCEP (National Cholesterol Education Panel) and the former chair of the AHA nutrition committe. He is probably now known as Dr. AntiChrist. How’s them apples. The full dd article is at http://www.diabetesdaily.com/forum/diabetes-news/38827-saturated-fa….

3

Big fan of Gary Taubes!

No doubt there will be backlash. There always is. The more entrenched & institutionalized the organization the harder they will fight, not to mention the food industry who’s been marketing low-fat.

4

Of course, it is called “Cognitive Dissonance.” I just read the book “Mistakes were made (but not by me): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts” where it was all explained to me. Heck they even were able to explain the Bush presidency, the fact that we went to war over a lie about WMD and nobody seemed to have a problem with that. It turns out it was all “Cognitive Dissonance.”

5

Cognitive dissonance & brainwashing. Say something enough times & it becomes truth.

Some cognitive dissonance is good. The ability to hold oppositional/contradictory views can lead to great ideas.

6

Hi Gerri,

All I can say is that my lipid profile has improved immensely since being on Dr B’s diet and he made a believer out of me. It has gotten me back into the normal range in 6 months. Just got my lipids back this week from the Dr. Thanks for the post. Take care