Fat could almost be a four-letter word these days, but we actually do need some fat for our bodies to function. The question is, is saturated fat bad or good for you?
To answer this question, we’ll look at what separates saturated fats from its fellow fats, the controversy surrounding saturated fats, and how it can affect your health.
What Makes Saturated Fat…Saturated?
To really understand what saturated fat is, we need to go into a little bit of chemistry. Glycerol, a sugar alcohol, binds with fatty acids to form triglycerides – chemically speaking, all fats are triglycerides.
To determine what kind of fat it is, you need to look at the amount of hydrogen and carbon atoms in the fatty acid itself. If all of the spaces for hydrogen atoms are taken up, we call the fat saturated. You may metabolize saturated fats differently depending on how long the chains of carbon atoms. When there is room for more hydrogen atoms, we call the fat unsaturated.
In general, saturated fats remain solid at room temperature and unsaturated fats remain liquid. Examples of food containing saturated fats are non-skim dairy, meat, and coconut oil. Unsaturated fats are found in nuts, vegetable oils, meat, and olives.
What Does Saturated Fat Do In My Body?
Actually, quite a bit. We need them for hormone production, as important components of cell membranes, and as a valuable source of energy. This all seems beneficial, right? So why is it drilled into our heads that saturated fat is bad for us?
The Controversy Around Saturated Fat
Many established health authorities, such as the American Diabetic Association, World Health Organization, American Heart Association, and the US FDA caution that saturated fat is a risk factor for heart disease.
The idea is that saturated fats raise your cholesterol, and high cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. Therefore, a low fat diet, which has been touted as “the healthy way to eat” for decades, should lower your risk of heart disease. Since the American Heart Association took this stance decades ago, the food industry has created and sold more “fat free” and “low fat” products (many of which are highly processed and contain significant amounts of added sugar) than anyone could count.
Still, the incidence of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes is rising, leading to the question, “is the ‘dietary fat = poor health’ theory flawed?” There is much confusion and controversy over this idea and you can find studies that support either side.
The Evidence That Saturated Fat Is Bad For You
In a 2011, a paper published in the Cochrane Library showed that people who restrict their saturated fat intake lower their risk of a cardiovascular event by 14%.1 Interestingly, lowering dietary fat intake did not reduce deaths, but even in the absence of dying, not having a heart attack is better than having a heart attack.
In a review of multiple research studies, authors found that you can reduce your risk of heart disease by substituting unsaturated fats for saturated fats.2
There are other studies that reach the same conclusions, and most mainstream health authorities still maintain that lower fat diets are best for disease prevention.
The Evidence That Saturated Fat Is Good For You
In 2011, the Journal of Nutrition published an article that examines the research behind saturated fat and whether the evidence matches the recommendation to limit it.3
Saturated fat increases both the good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL).4 The ratio is unchanged. Consuming unsaturated fat improves the LDL/HDL ratio, and since essentially all natural sources of fat contain both unsaturated and saturated, the net effect of eating natural fats is an improvement in cholesterol. However, eating carbohydrates in place of fat does not improve cholesterol.
The author of the article pours over scientific literature and concludes: “The results and conclusions about saturated fat intake in relation to CVD, from leading advisory committees, do not reflect the available scientific literature.”
It is important to remember that cardiovascular disease depends on many things besides cholesterol. Many experts believe inflammation is the real issue (made worse by things such as obesity and diabetes), because it causes cholesterol to stick to the walls of arteries. No inflammation means no artery blockage, regardless of the amount of cholesterol floating around in the blood.
So, Should I Cut Out Saturated Fats?
Is saturated fat bad for you? The answer depends on who you ask, but overall lifestyle choices will always trump the intake of specific nutrients when it comes to health. A grass fed filet with a sweet potato and steamed asparagus contains a significant amount of saturated fat, but is more likely to support a healthy lifestyle rather than interfere with it. Fat free cookies, on the other hand, despite the absence of fat, are not nearly as healthy.
Moderation and common sense, practiced in such a way that allows you to maintain a low body fat percentage and live a healthy lifestyle, are much more important than whether you get 7% or 14% of your calories from saturated fat.
Thank you for this article. I have always wondered what is it all this fuss about saturated and unsaturated fat. Even without any kind of research, I assumed, saturated may not be good..
What is your opinion about Oats, then. It has fats and also a good percent of dietary fibre and proteins too. Is an Oat meal a good muscle building one. Please.
@Rajesh – I would like to hear Charlie’s opinion, but oats are a solid source of carbohydrates and a decent nutrient profile. Oats are gluten-free as well. But if for some reason you have any issues digesting them, I would opt for other foods.
I agree. I am a big fan of oats. They work in a variety of preparations. I make a “pancake” with equal parts egg whites, oats and low fat cottage cheese. Blend it up, add a touch of vanilla extract and cook like a pancake. It is high in protein and healthy carbs and is very filling.
The idea that saturated fat replacements are more healthy than the saturated fats is simply dangerous mythology. Humans have been consuming saturated fats for millions of years. They have been consuming the replacements (mainly highly-processed, polyunsaturated seed oils) for about 100 years – especially the last few decades. Which would you put your money on as the one most likely to cause problems? Charlie equivocates about which one is better but the simple fact is that oxidation in the body causes inflammation and damage which may well be the root cause of many diseases including heart disease and cancer. Simply put, the more reactive a food is with oxygen, the more dangerous it is to consume in large quantities. Polyunsaturated oils, processed grains and sugar are all highly reactive with oxygen and, not coincidentally, are the 3 pillars of the Western Diet which is likely the unhealthiest in the world. Saturated fats, because of their chemistry, do not oxidize easily (which also makes them ideal for cooking) and therefore do not cause inflammation. They also help us feel full and, as Charlie pointed out, are integral to our health in many ways. Even if they do raise LDL levels, they raise the benign type that forms as large particles (not the small dense particles that can lodge in arteries and form in the presence of oxidized substances).
The assertion that “you can reduce your risk of heart disease by substituting unsaturated fats for saturated fats” is predicated on the assumption that lowering total cholesterol by any means reduces risk of heart attack. In truth, when cholesterol levels are plotted against mortality, the lowest risk is for those with cholesterol levels between 200 and 240 mg/dL. http://renegadewellness.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/cholesterol-mortality-chart.pdf
In a recent New York Times article, 99-year-old biochemist Fred Kummerow said, “Cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease, except if it’s oxidized.” The article further said, “Oxidation is a chemical process that happens widely in the body, contributing to aging and the development of degenerative and chronic diseases. Dr. Kummerow contends that the high temperatures used in commercial frying cause inherently unstable polyunsaturated oils to oxidize, and that these oxidized fatty acids become a destructive part of LDL particles. Even when not oxidized by frying, soybean and corn oils can oxidize inside the body.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/health/a-lifelong-fight-against-trans-fat.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
What we have then is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics telling consumers to replace saturated fats, which are not subject to oxidation, with polyunsaturated industrial seed oils, which are.
Readers who wish to explore the matter further can read this article:
Readers interested in the biochemistry of inflammation should read “The Modern Nutritional Diseases: and How to Prevent Them”. https://amzn.to/3gcumuF
David- You bring up a lot of interesting points. However, the study I referenced with regard to the statement “you can reduce your risk of heart disease by substituting unsaturated fats for saturated fats” did not look at cholesterol. The endpoints of that study were heart attack and/or cardiac death. Regardless of whether lowering cholesterol lowers risk of heart attack, at least in this study, changing out unsaturated fats for saturated ones lowers risk of a cardiac event.
Mozafarrian D, Micha R, Wallace S. Effects on coronary heart disease of increasing polyunsaturated fat in place of saturated fat: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Mar 2010. PloS Med 7(3): e1000252.
There’s a lot of discussion about Trans Fats which may increase “bad” cholesterol and decrease “good” cholesterol, in many countries this is classed as a possible health hazard but is not listed on products. I think as a general rule try and reduce the amount of fat you eat.
Dr. Seltzer,
Thanks for your response. Here’s an excerpt from the study you cited.
“The researchers’ search of the published literature…identified eight trials in which participants were randomized to increase their PUFA intake for at least a year and in which CHD events were reported. 1,042 CHD events were recorded among the 13,614 participants enrolled in these trials. In their meta-analysis, the researchers found that on average the consumption of PUFA accounted for 14.9% of total energy intake in the intervention groups compared with only 5% of total energy intake in the control groups. Participants in the intervention groups had a 19% reduced risk of CHD events compared to participants in the control groups. Put another way, each 5% increase in the proportion of energy obtained from PUFA reduced the risk of CHD events by 10%. Finally, the researchers found that the benefits associated with PUFA consumption increased with longer duration of the trials.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2950931/
Interestingly, the Lyon Study showed a nearly 70% reduction in cardiovascular mortality and events when omega-6 linoleic acid intake was reduced to around 4% of caloric intake. Excerpt from page 7 of a 2009 paper entitled “Dietary Fat Quality and Coronary Heart Disease Prevention: A Unified Theory Based on Evolutionary, Historical, Global, and Modern Perspectives”:
Spectrum of evidence
Traditional Mediterranean, rural Japanese, and other populations with very low CHD risk have uniformly low LA intakes. Two US prospective cohort studies have reported inverse associations between LA intake and CHD risk. However, because LA intake was uniformly high, severalfold higher than evolutionary intakes and those of modern groups with very low CHD rates, these studies provide little insight into optimal LA intakes. Moreover, both studies relied on food frequency questionnaires, which have well-known limitations and may not be able to disentangle the effects of LA and n-3 ALA. Controlled trials in which high-LA oils replaced TFA- and SFA-rich fats have shown conflicting results, despite the fact that LA was accompanied by large amounts of medium- and long-chain n-3 PUFAs. A single small trial testing the specific effects of LA without n-3 PUFAs found increased CHD ris. The only long-term trial that reduced n-6 LA intake to resemble a traditional Mediterranean diet (but still higher than preindustrial LA intake) reduced CHD events and mortality by 70%. Although this does not prove that LA intake has adverse consequences, it clearly indicates that high LA intake is not necessary for profound CHD risk reduction.
To me a 70% reduction in risk of injury or death is far more attractive than a 19% reduction. Note: there are no trials testing the effects of dropping LA intake to pre-industrial levels.
Good stuff, David. And please call me Charlie. I agree we as a society consume way too much omega-6 fatty acids and reducing them is a fantastic idea for essentially everybody. (It is incidentally why I steer people away from supplementing with any fats other than straight omega-3s with the exception of CLA.) We get too much omega-6s already.
Charlie,
I’d ask why, but I suppose that is another topic to write on? 🙂 (hint wink nudge).
I started supplementing with evening primrose oil for hair loss – which is an omega 6. I don’t eat much processed food so I figured I’d be OK. It is coming back in (yeah!); but, I started some other medication a month after, so I cannot say what the cause was (I suspect the medication, but who knows?)
David, there are a lot of acronyms there (LA, PUFA etc.)! Is there a definition section available?
Interesting. I had heard the latest science/stance was hydrogenated fats bad. Saturated fats neutral. And unsaturated fats good.
I saw you briefly mentioned coconut/palm oil as a saturated fat. I had read that they are treated differently by the body than animal fats, so some folks don’t count these when they watch their saturated fat intake. Not sure of the science behind this. Have you heard anything about this?
Hey informative article:) this might be irrelevant but i have a question. My body fat percentage is 15% when i measure it near my belly button but my abs are not showing (im female) is that because i dont have enough muscle?
I’ve seen men who have 8% body still have trouble seeing their abdominal definition. Whether or not you can see your abs depends on a variety of factors including water retention, whether your abs muscles protrude or not, and if you have a low enough body fat level on your stomach so your abs muscles will show. Also, your body fat percentage is a measure of fat across your whole body, not just on one area. Hope that helps.
Kristin,
To clarify the acronyms: LA is linoleic acid, the most abundant form of polyunsaturated fatty acid in the food supply. Omega-6 refers to a family of unsaturated fatty acids that have in common a final carbon-carbon double bond in the n-6 position, that is, the sixth bond, counting from the methyl end. For more on that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-6_fatty_acid
PUFA stands for polyunsaturated fatty acid and refers to the shorter chain lengths of omega-6 and omega-3 commonly found in foods such as seeds, nuts, and fish.
In the past, researchers generally failed to pay attention to the ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s in food intake. This has led to confusion. Epidemiologists are still confused; biochemists much less so. For a clear explanation I suggest you watch this video featuring Dr. Bill Lands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kivrYNjiXk8
Watching this video in late 2009 literally saved my health and possibly my life. Four years ago I had leg pains which impaired my mobility. I also had elevated LDL cholesterol, gingivitis, and high blood pressure. After giving up peanut butter (high in omega-6 linoleic acid) my leg pains subsided, my gingivitis cleared up, my LDL dropped 30 mg/dL, and my blood pressure returned to normal (113/58).
When I realized that I had been inadvertently consuming a lot of omega-6 for most of my life, I began researching the omega-6 hazard, as I term it. I’ve collected a number of scientific journal articles. Collectively, they indicate that high industrial seed oil consumption has precipitated a public health disaster of unimaginable proportions. Non-the-less, the World’s top health authorities continue to demonize saturated fats and recommend excessively high intakes of omega-6s based on epidemiological studies that are essentially incapable of furnishing definitive answers.
In truth, the body has only limited ability to control the action of omega-3s and 6s. When intake exceeds 1 to 2% of total calories, peroxidation becomes a problem. Excerpt:
“A known fact about omega 3 is that they are extremely heat and oxygen sensitive. Furthermore, inside the body, omega 3 fatty acids will rapidly oxidize. Evidence points to the fact that omega 3 will induce rapid lipid peroxidation and as a result will generate very large amounts of free radicals. Free radicals are defined as any molecule or atom with an unpaired electron. While free radicals are a necessary bi-product of metabolism, excessive free radicals are very dangerous to the body. Omega 3 will literally cause the breakdown and destruction of cells.” http://metabolichealing.com/education/articles/beyond-the-craze-and-hype-are-omega-3-fats-really-that-good/
Interestingly, trans fats consist of omega-6s and 9s, a fact that is almost never mentioned in articles about trans fats. The trans configuration of an omega-6 is just as subject to peroxidation as the cis form.
Kristin, addressing your question about coconut oil, I suggest you inform yourself about medium chain triglycerides.
What the body does with saturated fats as they enter the bloodstream depends on chain length. Butter, coconut oil, and palm kernel oils contain varying proportions of short, medium, and long chain triglycerides. In contrast, margarines contain only long (18 carbon) chain triglycerides which are more readily stored in fat cells than medium and short chain triglycerides.
Interestingly, when swine are fed excessive amounts of long chain omega-6s, the belly flap from which bacon is sliced becomes soft and difficult to slice. Animal feed researchers tried, with little apparent success, to firm up the fat by feeding the animals various kinds of saturated fats.
Thanks for the detailed reply David. I will check out the links 🙂
Wow, the article actually cites real research vs some book written by some self proclaimed guru and anecdotal evidence. I guess I should have expected as much from a built lean reader 😉
Thanks for such an informative article. I think the last paragraph has the key words: “moderation” and “overall lifestyle choices.” And, my common sense tells me that I’ll take my chances with a small pat of real butter every once in awhile, and pass on the chemical laden margarine. I also believe that inflammation is a critical variable in this whole discussion — maybe a future article could expand on this?
Dana-
Inflammation may be THE issue when it comes to disease. High body fat generally means more inflammation so optimizing body composition should be of the highest priority. If that means you need to have a doughnut every now and then to keep your sanity while staying lean, it is a better option than avoiding anything “pro-inflammatory” but eating pounds of almonds every day and spilling over the top of your jeans.
Analysis that claims to combine the results of vastly disparate studies into one comprehensive finding is always highly suspect, especially in terms of human health and nutrition. The campaign against animal fat has yet to produce credible evidence supporting its righteousness, since it claims causality in the face of well-documented counter-examples. These are charmingly dismissed as “paradoxes” when in fact they prove there is no simple cause-effect relationship between fat intake and much of anything other than total calories. As only one example, consider the Inuit diet consisting almost exclusively of animal fat and fatty protein, with very little of anything found in the “Food Pyramid” (or its cosmetically transformed cousin, the Balanced Plate). Inuit do not have significant CVD. (see http://www.naturalnews.com/022868.html# ). If animal fat directly caused CVD, our northern friends would have a much larger incidence of CVD than most Western citizens, yet the opposite is the case.
Humans existed for a relatively long time as consumers of large amounts of animal fat with no apparent ill effect. The Paleo case is grounded in that fact, along with the archaeological evidence of the relative loss of health that seemed to occur with the rise of agriculture. Combine this with the disastrous rise of obesity and diabetes that has occurred as the Herbivorous Huns have invaded the past forty years of American dietary recommendations, and you have a strong case that our diets are more threatened by that which grows in the earth than anything which walks upon it.
Interesting theme… But, whatever you say about it, it sums that we all have the same problem . Our cultures teach us to choose wrong sources of nutrients. That is, instead of using variety, we are concentrated on same kind of foods, all the time. That’s why we have problems with both kinds of fat… But this is just my opinion
At age 66, I have switched my beliefs concerning fats. Recently I have been eating sat. fats from raw milk,yogurt eggs, homemade kefir,raw cheese, all from a farm within my state every day. I workout hard 6 days a week and supplement with krill and a dozen others. I do blood work annually testing for CRP and lipids(VAP) so I can see small density LDL”s. I’m do for my check up this week. Now I will know how sat. fat effects me individually, and that’s how I think everyone ought to figure it out. I’ll post my results for anyone interested.
Please do. Agreed, we’re all different and have different responses. Hope the check up goes well.
I’d be interested too 🙂
Lets get down to the final point. Though saturated fats may seem unhealthy, its been part of our lives. Lets just be aware about it and take it in moderation.
Two men move from the countryside to the city. Eighteen months later, one is thriving, the other has died from pollution. Genetics? That’s the thinking now. One man’s meat is another man’s poison indeed. p.s. Are oats gluten free?
The answer is “Yes”, oats are gluten free…as long as the facility that is processing the oats is not contaminated with wheat, barley, or rye. For people with extreme gluten intolerance like celiac disease, they need to be careful about contamination.
Oats can also be cross-reactivate with gluten, ie the body mistakes oats for gluten:
http://www.cyrexlabs.com/cyrextestsarrays/tabid/136/default.aspx
Note coffee, chocolate & eggs are on there too!
(note studies at bottom)
http://www.csaceliacs.info/guide_to_oats.jsp
Killer article. This website is the best when it comes about getting deeper into inconclusive health “facts” . Keep it up
Thanks, Diogo. Much appreciated!
Thanks for this article guys. I found it extremely informative, interesting and very well written. Very good work! I’m planning on sharing this on my blog too as it’s so good 🙂
Thanks, Lee. Charlie did an awesome job offering an objective, balanced viewpoint.
I think this was a great article and Charlie hit the nail on the head when he compared the benefits of eating a natural meal of filet, sweet potatoes and vegetables vs fat free cookies. The difference between the health benefits of food go beyond simple calories or what type of calories consumed (saturated fat) versus quality of food.
I just wanted to throw in two quick notes on saturated fat:
1 – Saturated fat is usually benign for a large percentage of the population when coming from whole food sources or in the case of the link, breast milk (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11745-010-3445-9/fulltext.html) . With that said, there are different genetic factors that contribute greatly to heart disease and the increases in heart disease with saturated fat intake. For instance, the APO allele has three types, E2, E3 and E4. E3 is the most common form and is estimated that about 65-70% of the population carries this allele, with the other 30 % being split between the E2 and E4. It’s this 15% of the population with the E4 variant that can really benefit from switching from Saturated fats to polyunsaturated fats and lowering fat intake overall.
http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=717641
https://www.sld.cu/galerias/pdf/sitios/genetica/apo_e.pdf
With that said, the E4 allele also usually doesn’t see much benefit from taking Omega 3’s (fish oil), at least not when taken by itself. If instead, they have a diet high in anti-oxidant rich foods, they will generally glean benefits from an increase in fish, and hence omega 3 intake.
And that’s just one example. There are a bunch of other genetic factors that come into play from APOA1 gene, inflammatory genes (Interleukin-6, -174G>6: – smoking is really bad for these individuals), (http://jn.nutrition.org/content/141/3/380.full) etc (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2881676/) .
2 –Research has only really started to point out that it’s not saturated fats that are inherently bad, but when combined with high-glycemic carbs (think fat and sugar) it can be particularly bad. In addition, replacing saturated fat with sugar really does no one any favors, as the body will start to convert that sugar to fat even in lower calories situations if it’s a high carb/low fat diet in those with metabolic disorders (aka, those with the highest risk of cardiovascular disease).
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/21978979
In the end, I do think the point made in the article was the right one that you should care more about the quality of your food than what particular percentage of your calories come from saturated fat if health is your main concern.
John,
That was just plain awesome.
I think the key about saturated fats is this: Does the saturated fat come from any animal or plant? If it comes from an animal, was that animal grass fed or grain fed? Grass fed animals tend to have a much, much higher omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio than grain fed animals and contribute to a healthier brain and body. Most saturated fats in the American diet today come from stressed out grain fed animals that are very high in omega-6 fats. Compare this with animals from before the 1940’s when animals were raised in fields eating grass.
Great Article Charlie! Sometimes it seems like the media will flip flop on what is good for you. Eggs are good some years and later studies find that they are bad; only to later discover again that they are good for you. I feel this is true for the question, “Is saturated fat bad for you?” I think you summarized it nicely in that it is the quality of food, and the quality of your foods, food.
I like to add Organic Coconut oil to my protein shakes to get a healthy dose of saturated fat in my diet. I think it adds a nice little flavor to it as well.