Good Fats: Demystifying The Old “Saturated Fat Equals Heart Disease”
Since the 1950s it is a known “fact” that diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol clog the arteries and cause heart disease.
We then should eat a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol. At the same time the market came with new answers to this dilemma: vegetable oils and low fat foods. These 2 big industries are the economic drive behind the theory.
Photo courtesy of Ben Heine
Good fats - History of The Theory
In 1.908 a Russian scientist fed foods rich in animal protein to a bunch of rabbits. He discovered that these rabbits soon had their arteries clogged. Some years later, other scientists found out the same thing could happen to chicken, guinea pigs and goats if they had a high fat diet.
Years later these experiments were the base to say that a high fat diet is the cause of cardiovascular disease. They did not mind that the digestive system of these animals was designed for plants not saturated fats or protein; they just extrapolated the results to humans.
After these initial experiments there have been dozens of controlled trials to prove the link between high fat high cholesterol diet and heart disease but none could prove the veracity of such a theory.
In fact what statistics show say is the opposite:
- 70% of the people that goes to a hospital with a heart attack have normal cholesterol levels and
- After the age of 50 years, when most heart attacks occur, lower cholesterol levels is related to possible shorter life.
Good fats - High Saturated Fats Societies
In Africa lives a group called the Maasai and in the Artic the Inuits, they have very high saturated fats diets. Do they have high incidence of heart disease? No, actually quite the opposite.
The Maasai are lean and free of heart disease but have a high saturated fat diet from their cattle, they even drink the blood of their cattle. They are very healthy in their original state, they even had low cholesterol when measured. But when they go a city and eat a “modern” diet their cholesterol goes thru the roof.
The same with the Inuits. The arctic did only allow a diet high in animal fat and protein. The studies found that they were virtually free of cardiovascular disease
Good fats - More Studies
In 1972 they enrolled 350.000 men with high risk of cardiovascular disease. Some of the participants had a 42% reduction in cholesterol, 28% reduction in saturated fat and 21% less calories. The idea with this big effort was to demonstrate once and for all the relationship between heart disease, saturated fat and cholesterol. What happened? Nothing could be proved.
The same results were found in a study of more than 20.000 women that received a low saturated fat diet for 8 years. They could not find a link between the diet and a reduction in the rates of heart disease or stroke.
Finally, in 1988 the General Surgeon in the US decided to put an end to the discussion. After 11 years and millions of dollars spend on the cause, the project was ended. They could not find a link between saturated fat and heart disease or mortality rates.
Good fats - Inflammation, The Modern Demon
What doctors tell their patients is that fat and cholesterol adhere to the walls of the arteries and build up, and then arteries become stiff and narrow. This is what happens but it does not explain why fat and cholesterol clog the arteries, the main point.
When we eat foods that are foreign to our nature and physiology or we have nutritional deficiencies, the internal lining of the arteries become inflamed, irritated and swollen, as an answer of our immune system. Inflammation is a sign of damage, that our body reads as something has to be repaired.
Then the immune system comes to the rescue making fat and cholesterol stick to the arteries as part a natural repair system. The plaque covers and heals the damage areas. With the years of inflammation, this plaque completely clogs the arteries at certain points or breaks up, causing a heart attack or stroke.
So, if you want to reduce or stop plaque buildup you have to reduce the inflammation not the fat or cholesterol. Claiming that cholesterol and fat are the cause of build up could be similar to selling the sofa if you find your wife cheating.
Good fats - Chronic Inflammation, How To Measure It
Chronic Inflammation is the root of most degenerative diseases we have today and is the cause of accelerated aging. Disease such as hypertension, cancer, arthritis, macular degeneration, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, etc.
When you have chronic inflammation your liver releases a substance called C Reactive Protein (CRP) proportional to the amount of inflammation in your body. CRP is the way to measure chronic inflammation and can predict the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack or stroke, more reliable than LDL cholesterol.
People with lower than 1mg/dL have very little risk of a heart attack.
Good fats - How To Lower Inflammation
After reading the above, you can see why many of the dietary recommendations based on the “saturated fats causes heart disease” theory have actually shown to cause heart disease, diabetes, obesity( not to mention cancer and others).
Talking about the diet to avoid heart disease, forget about saturated fats and cholesterol.
Please, pay attention to the following recommendations to avoid inflammation:
- Low Carbohydrates Diet. Reduce the amounts of grains and grain oils. They are loaded with pro inflammatory omega 6, the main cause of inflammation in modern diets. Also eliminate sugar and sugary drinks from your table.
Reduce as much as possible omega-6 fatty acids in your diet. These come primarily from conventionally raised meats, processed foods, fried foods and vegetable and seed oils (corn, soybean, sunflower, cottonseed, etc.)
We are not designed to eat these Omega 6 fats in the quantities we do. The makeup of fat in the human body is normally about 97% monounsaturated and saturated. Only about 3% should be polyunsaturated (half of which should be omega-3 and the other half omega-6).
However, the type of fat in your diet dictates the type of fat in your cells. And if you consume extracted and concentrated plant oils, your cell membranes will incorporate these fat molecules.
The problem with polyunsaturated fats displacing saturated fats in cell structures is that these fats are highly unstable. This means that they are extremely vulnerable to oxidative stress and prone to causing inflammation.
The replacement of mono unsaturated and saturated fats with omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in the cell membranes causes a host of problems in the body. One of the ways we see this is in the formation of skin cancer.
- Exercise is anti inflammatory. Now we know why exercise is a panacea, it reduces inflammation; it lowers inflammation marker CRP level.
- Lose Weight. Keeping a healthy body weight is the best thing you can do to reduce inflammation. It also reduces the levels of CRP.
- Sleep. Lack of sleep causes inflammation .Chronic inflammation is now widely seen as a contributing factor to many diseases of old age. Consider that skimping on sleep increases the amount of inflammation in the body.
Even modest sleep loss triggers cellular and genetic processes involved in the immune system's inflammatory response to disease and injury. Inflammation and Sickness
- Vitamin D. Even small amounts of vitamin D can help reduce inflammation and the risks of degenerative diseases. But, why not take it free from the sun? If you have the opportunity to be outside for 20 minutes a day you can maintain an acceptable level of vitamin D
- Take omega 3 fish oil. Fish Oil is highly anti inflammatory; it will compensate some of the inflammatory effects of a high omega 6 diet. You will need 3.000 mg of fish oil per day, close to 900 mg of omega 3 fats (EPA plus DHA, from the label), if you are in good health and at your ideal weight. If you are overweight or have hypertension, high triglycerides, diabetes, arthritis or any other degenerative disease, please start with 6.000 mg of fish oil.
- Take an aspirin. It reduces the levels of CRP.
- Avoid smoking. Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death, according to the World Health Organization. I don't think we have to say why smoking is related to so many diseases. What is not that well known is that smoking triggers an immunologic response resulting in vascular injury, which is associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein and white blood cell count.
- Take Natural Supplements. The best way to obtain all of your daily vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients is by eating a diet high in fresh foods with lots of fruits and vegetables. In addition, supplement your diet with the following antioxidants to help reduce inflammation: Vitamin C, 3.000 milligrams a day. Vitamin E, 400 IU of natural mixed tocopherols. Not just synthetic Vitamin E with alpha tocopherol; Selenium, 200 micrograms of an organic (yeast-bound) form; CoQ10, 100-200 milligrams Alpha lipoic acid, 100 to 400 milligrams a day.
So, forget about your cholesterol. The next time you go for a checkup, ask to have your CRP measured, the lower the better. Higher than 1.0 and your risks of disease increase.
P.S. Don’t forget your daily omega 3 for your entire family. You can find omega 3 in Cod Liver Oil, Krill Oil and Fish Oil,molecularly distilled, free of impurities sent anywhere in the world at low reasonable price, Omega 3 Store
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