Saturated Fats

Lyadeia

First of all...I'm not arguing. I'm not stating a position. I may not even respond to responses...I am here to read and learn.

Tell me why saturated fats are "bad." And please back it up with sources...not blogs, magazines, Dr. Oz, or anything like that, but peer reviewed scientific articles.

If you don't believe they are "bad" then please also tell me why and give support.

I'm ready to learn. :flowerforyou:

Lyadeia

LOL, so glad everyone is full of information.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Saturated fats are NOT bad............quite the contrary.

http://trusted.md/blog/vreni_gurd/2007/04/06/saturated_fat_the_misunderstood_nutrient#axzz0zknkn0yT

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/nutrition/saturated_fat.htm

http://www.health-report.co.uk/saturated_fats_health_benefits.htm

neanderthin

Other than correlations based on epidemiology studies, which never actually show cause and effect, there aren't studies that I'm aware of and I've been looking for over a decade that show natural saturated fats to be bad for us.

Juliste

As far as saturated fats are concerned, the following is an excerpt from Lyle McDonald (bodyrecomposition.com)

Quite a long explanation ... however, here goes
Saturated Fat

For a couple of decades now, saturated fat has been the veritable whipping boy of the nutritional world (forced out of the number one position by trans-fatty acids only recently). Blamed for everything in the world including heart disease and probably terrorism, saturated fats have received the brunt of negative press when it comes to the issue of dietary fats.

However, in recent years, there has been a counterargument regarding saturated fat intake that they are of no health risk at all, that the real problem is with excessive polyunsaturated fatty acids/vegetable oils (discussed next), etc.

This has led to a lot of confusion for people.

Now, anybody who has regularly read this site knows that I tend to shy away from nutritional extremism, I usually find that whenever there are competing extremist positions, the truth generally lies somewhere in the middle.

This is certainly the case for saturated fat in my opinion. Now, for anybody who reads nutritional research, there is little to no argument that saturated fat can cause a variety of problems. Whether you’re looking at blood lipid levels, inflammation, etc. there’s really little debate in the field and there are a zillion and one studies that support that excessive saturated fat intake can cause a variety of health problems.

However, as always it gets more complicated.

A a huge part of the problem is that the term saturated fats actually refers to a category that includes a number of different fatty acids. Lauric acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and many others are all included under the general heading of saturated fat.

And at least part of the problem is that they don’t all act the same way in the body. Some specific saturated fatty acids have distinctly negative effects on the body, others do not. For anybody truly interested in the science of this topic, I’d recommend the paper Saturated Fats: What Dietary Intake which examines the issue in some detail.

As well, as I have discussed in other articles on this site such as Carbohydrate and Fat Controversies Part 1 and Carbohydrate and Fat Controversies Part 2, I think there is a huge issue of context in terms of the effect of saturated fat (or any nutrient for that matter) on overall health.

For someone who is lean, active, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, who is in caloric balance there appears to be no real danger (in a health context) to an increased intake of saturated fats. One study I recall in cyclists found that, as long as they were in caloric balance, an increase intake of saturated fats had no impact on blood cholesterol one way or the other.

It’s worth mentioning in this context that some research suggests that saturated fat is required for optimal hormone levels (e.g. testosterone) so trying to reduce saturated fat excessively may be a mistake for athletes in the first place.

But not all individuals are lean, active athletes who are eating lots of fruits and vegetables who are in caloric balance. For someone who is overweight (which is an inflammatory state in and of itself), inactive (which has a host of negative health effects), is under a lot of stress, not eating sufficient fruits and vegetables, etc. , saturated fats may have a very different impact on the body.

There is often also an impact of weight loss or weight gain in terms of how saturated fats affect blood lipid levels; in general when weight is lost, blood cholesterol levels improve almost irrespective of the type of fat consumed. But when weight is being gained or even maintained, often blood cholesterol levels worsen with a high saturated fat intake.

I should mention that the changes that typically occur in blood cholesterol levels with changing saturated fat intake tend to occur in both the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol fractions. That is, when saturated fat is reduced, both good and bad cholesterol typically goes down and vice versa. Therefore the overall impact on health risk is a bit more complex than many think.

In any case, I think that saying that saturated fats are good, bad or neutral is too simplistic. Context, as always, is important and I find that many of the extremists in each group tend to forget that. What is drastically unhealthy in one context may be neutral or at least irrelevant in another. Which still won’t stop some very silly comments from appearing on this article as people accuse me of being ‘anti-saturated fat’.

In any case, finishing up, saturated fats are found more or less exclusively in animal source products and are typically solid at room temperature. A couple of odd exceptions are coconut and palm kernel oil (both of which contain a lot of saturated fat but primarily in the form of medium chain triglycerides, discussed below). As well, milk fat contains a decent amount of saturated fat.

From a body fat perspective, it’s at least worth mentioning that saturated fats tend to be stored a bit more easily than polyunsaturated fats (more accurately, when polyunsaturated fats are consumed, the body tends to burn them off a bit more readily) but the effect is not massive.

Carnivor0us

Sat fat is win


Source:
I like saturated fats

lithezebra

I don't know if saturated fat is healthy or not. Not all saturated fat is the same, as there are varying lengths of fatty acid chains. It seems to be complicated. For example, in this study, saturated fat from dairy sources was associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, while saturated fat from meat was associated with a higher incidence of the same. Maybe the specific saturated fatty acid chains make a difference, maybe the presence of specific unsaturated fatty acid chains makes a difference, or maybe other compounds present in different foods containing saturated fat make a difference.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/96/2/397.short

neanderthin

As far as saturated fats are concerned, the following is an excerpt from Lyle McDonald (bodyrecomposition.com)

Quite a long explanation ... however, here goes

I’d recommend the paper Saturated Fats: What Dietary Intake which examines the issue in some detail.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/80/3/550.full
Saturated fat: what dietary intake

The approach of many mainstream investigators in studying the effect of consuming saturated fats has been narrowly focused to produce and evaluate evidence in support of the hypothesis that dietary saturated fat elevates LDL cholesterol and thus the risk of CAD. The evidence is not strong, and, overall, dietary intervention by lowering saturated fat intake does not lower the incidence of nonfatal CAD; nor does such dietary intervention lower coronary disease or total mortality

Twenty years ago, government guidelines recommended that all persons consume a low-fat diet, with the advice being to “avoid too much fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol” (121). Consumption of a low-fat diet (defined as one containing 20% of energy from fat) was subsequently shown to induce atherogenic dyslipidemia (122, 123). On the basis of government guidelines, the food industry was obliged to change the formulation of foods to a preponderance of low-fat and nonfat products, with calories from carbohydrates being substituted for fat. It is now known that a high-carbohydrate diet can lead to the lipoprotein pattern (124) that characterizes atherogenic dyslipidemia

spikeithard

sadly today my saturated fat was really high due to my 2 chicken burger with cheese cheat meal

question... is it normal for a very lean and healthy diet to be over 50% sat fat out of all the total fats going in?

lithezebra

I wish that MFP would give us a breakdown of the kind of fat we consume.

It's pretty simple for me. I eat a diet higher in fat than is recommended because I'm a lot less hungry, and consequently thinner, that way, than I am getting 50 or 60% of my calories from carbs. I eat more saturated fat than is recommended because that is what is in meat, my primary source of protein.

spikeithard

I wish that MFP would give us a breakdown of the kind of fat we consume.

It's pretty simple for me. I eat a diet higher in fat than is recommended because I'm a lot less hungry, and consequently thinner, that way, than I am getting 50 or 60% of my calories from carbs. I eat more saturated fat than is recommended because that is what is in meat, my primary source of protein.

Im pretty sure mine tells me how many grams of each kind I ate?? yes.. actually it does

neanderthin

sadly today my saturated fat was really high due to my 2 chicken burger with cheese cheat meal

question... is it normal for a very lean and healthy diet to be over 50% sat fat out of all the total fats going in?

That would be tough to do unless your consuming lots of coconut oil. For example the saturated fat in chicken represents about 35% with the rest (65%) being unsaturated fat.

spikeithard

sadly today my saturated fat was really high due to my 2 chicken burger with cheese cheat meal

question... is it normal for a very lean and healthy diet to be over 50% sat fat out of all the total fats going in?

That would be tough to do unless your consuming lots of coconut oil. For example the saturated fat in chicken represents about 35% with the rest (65%) being unsaturated fat.

today was bad compared to the last 5 days of starting to eat better.. maybe check out my diary and see where I went wrong? I think I had it unlocked?? thanks

neanderthin

sadly today my saturated fat was really high due to my 2 chicken burger with cheese cheat meal

question... is it normal for a very lean and healthy diet to be over 50% sat fat out of all the total fats going in?

That would be tough to do unless your consuming lots of coconut oil. For example the saturated fat in chicken represents about 35% with the rest (65%) being unsaturated fat.

today was bad compared to the last 5 days of starting to eat better.. maybe check out my diary and see where I went wrong? I think I had it unlocked?? thanks

Your fine. Just over 50 g's of fat was from extra lean turkey and from an avocado........no way your total sat fats were that much and like I said it would be almost impossible unless you were a South Pacific Islander consuming tons of natural coconut oil, kidding.

lithezebra

I wish that MFP would give us a breakdown of the kind of fat we consume.

It's pretty simple for me. I eat a diet higher in fat than is recommended because I'm a lot less hungry, and consequently thinner, that way, than I am getting 50 or 60% of my calories from carbs. I eat more saturated fat than is recommended because that is what is in meat, my primary source of protein.

Im pretty sure mine tells me how many grams of each kind I ate?? yes.. actually it does

Where are you looking? Mine just gives grams of fat.

spikeithard

I go to 'daily' tab in my app and it breaks down all the fat, cholesterol, carbs etc..

spikeithard

and neanderthin, how did you see my diary? I cant seem to view other peoples even if its unlocked I dont think

neanderthin

and neanderthin, how did you see my diary? I cant seem to view other peoples even if its unlocked I dont think

Under your name it has a tab that says Send Message, Add as Friend and View Diary. If that doesn't show up then it's locked.

Lyadeia

I appreciate everyone's input.

While I wouldn't consider myself an athlete, I do consider myself lean (23.7% and falling body fat) and active. I am trying to eat a minimum of 0.35g of fat per pound bodyweight, and I was finding it difficult to limit saturated fats by doing this (especially since I enjoy meat and dairy on a daily basis which also helps me meet my minimum protein goal). I had heard anecdotes for both sides of the "it is bad/it is not bad" argument, but it is nice to read real science about it. I think I will just take saturated fats off my diary as something to track. After reading through the info here, it doesn't appear to be as harmful as the "it's bad" crowd would want me to believe.