Is Saturated Fat Really Bad For You?

The article reminds us that national studies in which dietary fat was replaced with dietary carbohydrate failed to reverse trends of increasing obesity - carbohydrates increase the concentration of glucose in the blood, thus stimulating insulin production. In turn, this promotes an increase fat tissue and weight gain ("Metabolic Syndrome").

The initial studies that supposedly linked dietary fat, cholesterol and heart disease were epidemiological studies, involving comparison of fat intake in different countries with different fat intake. These authors point out that the data is inconsistent: France and Finland have similar intakes of cholesterol and saturated fat, yet their death rate from heart disease is very different. In their words, "results of the epidemiologic and experimental studies are inconclusive or even contradictory". They state that "The conclusion of an analysis of the history and politics behind the diet-heart hypothesis was that after 50 y of research, there was no evidence that a diet low in saturated fat prolongs life".

The authors note that increased LDL cholesterol is believed to cause heart disease. However this does not mean that the relation between saturated fat and heart disease is equally strong! Saturated fats do increase the total cholesterol level, but at the same time, they increase the level of HDL, the "good" cholesterol. They state that the current lack of detailed understanding "should be a warning that population-wide recommendations for all persons at all ages and circumstances to reduce their intake of saturated fats may be premature".