Is Saturated Fat Really Bad For You?

To many people this is a surprising question. After all, we all "know" that saturated fat raises cholesterol, and that raising cholesterol raises your risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. However, it turns out that actual research that shows a link between saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular diseases is not very convincing. We have already discussed this topic in our series on Cholesterol Skeptics, where we report on the discussion between Dr. Uve Ravnskov and Dr. William Weintraub. Following that discussion, we opined that changing quantities and ratios of fats in one's diet within normal limits make very little difference to one's risk, even if one's cholesterol level does change. The mere fact that an effect is so difficult to pinpoint, and is open to discussion after so many years of diet advice, shows that it cannot be very significant.

In a new article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, v 80 p 2250 (2004), Drs. German and Dillard attempt to infer what the appropriate intake of saturated fats should be for optimum health from existing studies. They start by considering low-fat diets, and note that long-term use of these diets has a potentially detrimental effect of cholesterol levels in some people. They compare two diets: one with 60% of total calories from carbohydrates, 15% from protein and 25% from fat; the other, 40% carbohydrate, 15% protein and 45% from fat. The diet higher in carbohydrates results in higher triglycerides (a fat used in the body as an energy source. Elevated triglycerides contribute to heart disease), remnant lipoprotein (intermediate density lipoproteins that are recognized as potential factors in coronary heart disease), and lower HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol), without changing LDL-cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol) concentrations. This leads one to question whether it is appropriate to recommend that everyone replace saturated fat with carbohydrates.

Another phenomenon the article points to, is that different individuals respond differently to different fat intake - there are "hyper-responders" and "minimal responders". Also, men and women differ in their response to dietary changes: studies show that men have a greater response of total cholesterol change as a result of changed saturated fat intake compared to women. People who are on a low-fat diet, and people who have different levels of fitness also respond differently. Thus, dietary recommendations should be based on individually monitored responses, and not on general recommendations.

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Last Modification - January 29, 2005