Many of us grew up in an era where we were taught that foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat were downright dangerous for our health. This misconceived notion of tying saturated fat and dietary cholesterol to heart disease has been so deeply ingrained in our culture that few people even question its validity.
Let’s take a look at 5 reasons why Saturated Fat and Cholesterol are not your enemies
1. Saturated fat, like the stuff found in egg yolks, butter and red meat plays a key role in cardiovascular health. The addition of saturated fat to the diet reduces the levels of small, dense LDL particles (subclass pattern B) which are directly tied to the risk factor for atherosclerotic diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke. (1)
2. Cholesterol is a vital substance that is found in every cell in our body, where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamins, and bile that assists in the digestion of fat. Cholesterol also helps in the formation of all neurological function. (2)
3. The saturated fat war has been in effect for many decades. It was initially based on flawed studies, but despite those flaws it became publicly accepted with disastrous consequences. The worst part is that the government and health organizations have yet to change their position, despite the overwhelming evidence that it was wrong.
There is absolutely no evidence that eating saturated fat is associated with heart disease. It is a myth that was never proven. In 2010 a large review article was published with over 21 studies done with over 340,000 subjects. The findings concluded that there is no correlation between saturated fat and the risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) or Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). (3)
And yet for some reason this way of thinking became common, and both the media and health professionals seem to have accepted it as “fact” that saturated fats are harmful and the cause of heart disease. The idea that saturated fats cause heart disease is a long standing myth based on flawed studies and the biased opinions of scientists that were in love with their theories. (4)
4. Eggs, red meat and full fat dairy products have been demonized because of their high cholesterol and saturated fat content. But new studies now show that they don’t raise cholesterol in the blood or contribute to heart disease.
The truth is that only 25 percent of the cholesterol in our body comes from our diet, the other 75 percent is produced by our own body. Just like other automatic processes the body tightly regulates the amount of cholesterol in our blood by controlling the internal production. When the cholesterol intake in our diet goes up, the body produces less. When cholesterol intake in our diet goes down, the body produces more.
Many doctors and nutrition professionals have had an unrealistic bias when it comes to steering their clients away from perfectly healthy foods. Probably the worst example of that are eggs, which are among the healthiest foods on the planet. Think of it this way, this one single food has every nutrient required to turn a single cell into a live baby chicken. That’s pretty powerful stuff.
Despite this fact, because eggs contain large amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol, they’re believed to be unhealthy and cause heart disease. However, studies clearly show that the cholesterol in the diet from sources like eggs does not raise LDL (the bad cholesterol) in the blood. (5, 6, 7)
But instead what we have is an incredibly healthy food, loaded with vitamins, minerals and powerful nutrients that are important for the eyes and brain. (8)
5. Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels are actually quite poor markers of heart disease risk. Many people are being unnecessarily medicated because doctors tend to focus on these numbers. Probably the biggest mistake in modern medicine is focusing too much on total and LDL cholesterol levels as markers of heart disease risk. While it is being viewed that elevated levels of both are associated with increased risk, the complete picture is much more complicated than that.
First, total cholesterol actually includes HDL (also known as the good cholesterol), and having high HDL actually raises the total cholesterol number.
Second, LDL (or what is known to most as bad cholesterol) isn’t just LDL because there are actually subtypes.
We have the small, dense LDL particles (known as pattern B) which are very bad, and then we have the large, fluffy LDL particles (known as pattern A) which are good. The small particles (pattern B) are associated with heart disease, while the large ones (pattern A) are benign and actually quite heart friendly. (9, 10, 11)
Despite the weak predictive value of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, people with elevated numbers are often instructed to lower cholesterol by unnecessary means including a low-fat diet and/or statin drugs or both. Today, millions of people are taking cholesterol lowering drugs when they don’t need them, unnecessarily suffering from the drug’s many serious side effects. (12)
So, there you have 5 of the many reasons why saturated fat and cholesterol have been unjustifiably condemned as unhealthy bandits in our diet. The fact is many of the foods that are high in saturated fat and cholesterol are among some of the healthiest foods that we can consume. Adding these foods back into your diet will not only bring back many of the healthy staples that once formed the foundation of many of our plates, but will also let us reap the many health benefits associated with those foods.
