For the longest time, well since the early nineties for me personally, I have been fed the story that saturated fat is bad for me. It makes me fat, makes my skin greasy and worst of all will kill me by clogging my arteries with cholesterol. Since I’ve experimented with different diets I look at the low carb high fat diet and what I learned since that experiment has changed my life forever. Unfortunately it seems people like myself are the only ones paying attention to the science that is still taking place on fore front of health and nutrition research. It’s frightening to see otherwise well-intentioned nutritionists continue to hold firm to the beliefs that were fed to them in college in the late eighties and early nineties and well quite frankly STILL TODAY.
Myth: High intake of saturated fat is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, along with smoking lack of exercise and genetics.
Fact: People who eat large amounts of saturated fat have a longer life span than those who have claimed to rid themselves of the “vile” (or natural, rather) oil and have since replaced it with “healthy” oils like corn oil (hey if it comes from plants it has to be healthier right?).
Lots of sarcasm here but the bottom line is this. Life is too short to continue feeding into the bullshit. Saturated fat is no more a threat to our health and well being than the air we breathe. Ultimately oxidation is one of the factors in the plaque that forms in our vessels so why not just blame oxygen? But seriously, ever since the corn growers association, eerrrrrrrr I mean the USDA indoctrinated us into the myth that saturated fat kills and corn oil is the perfect replacement we have actually seen the numbers of deaths from CVD increase, and at a hectic clip as well.
But you know what? I’m not writing all this to convince you of anything. I am sharing my opinion and I hope you can spend some time researching your own theories behind what is healthy and not healthy for us.
Here’s a great meta-analysis I recently found that I think you will find very interesting. Here’s the conclusion if you don’t like big numbers and fancy words:
” A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.”
NOW. Before you comment about theories or beliefs you have held for a long time but have no real basis for, PLEASE take some time to find studies that reveal the opposite of what I am discussing here. Please share them. Because as of now I have not seen one single peer reviewed study that shows a clear and direct link between saturated fat intake and mortality due to CVD. Please share it with me.
