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Saturated Fat Still a Big Problem in High Cholesterol 06/29/11

I recently published a paper showing that eating foods high in saturated fat is a prime culprit in raising blood cholesterol levels. It’s amazing how many practitioners have written to me, questioning and challenging this well-established feature of human physiology, based on information they have received from other sources. Don’t be mistaken, high cholesterol is a cardinal risk factor for heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and other vascular problems. Moreover, eating saturated fat, trans-fats and deep fried foods is a sure-fire way to raise your cholesterol and cause these problems for yourself. It’s not the only way. If you eat too many carbohydrates at one time, then the excess calories are converted into fat within the liver and sent to the fat cells. To do this, the liver must synthesize cholesterol to help transport the fat. However, it produces even more cholesterol when you eat saturated fat than when you over- eat carbs. The point is, you have to limit high fat dairy and meat products (the main source of saturated fat, along with chocolate, coconut and palm oil), with the exception of fish. As well, you have to make sure you are not getting fat from eating too many carbs, as well. The strategies go hand-in-hand.

As for individuals who don’t believe that saturated fat is a main culprit in high cholesterol and heart disease, take a look at the only research that has ever shown a reversal of heart disease using dietary intervention. That would be the work of Dr Dean Ornish, MD, who has pre- and post-angiogram proof that a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, not only lowers blood cholesterol, but also reverses the plaque in the artery wall, and improves outcomes for high-risk cardiac patients (those who have already had heart attacks, or suffer from angina or peripheral vascular disease).

You are dreaming in technicolor if you don’t accept the fact that foods high in saturated fat raise cholesterol, and that high blood cholesterol is a cardinal risk for premature death and morbidity from vascular disease.

Remember too, that people with a total cholesterol below 3.0 mmol (150 mg/dl) are the least likely to suffer a heart attack (Framingham Heart Study).

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