It seems as if the experts got it wrong again. Or at least they weren’t being honest…..but I won’t go there.
New evidence has shown that saturated fats DO NOT cause heart disease as the experts have been saying for years. This information came out in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 13, 2010. Hot off the press! But have you heard anything on the daily news telling you to go ahead and eat your bacon and eggs? No…and I don’t think you will. There’s too much at stake.
It’s green and it comes in different denominations! Besides, it’s not the bacon and eggs sold in the grocery that I believe will give you the best health benefits, it’s the kind grown in our own backyards from free ranging cows, pigs and chickens! It’s the food with a greater amount of Omega-3 to Omega-6. It’s saturated fats from animals raised well.
In light of all of this you may of seen in my sidebar that I’m reading the book above simply titled FAT: an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient, with recipes. What a great title. So far I love it! Jennifer McLagan has it right and I’m excited to try some of her wonderful recipes using nutrient dense fat!
Here’s the study unveiled by Dr Ronald Krauss:
ABSTRACT
“Background: A reduction in dietary saturated fat has generally been thought to improve cardiovascular health.
Objective: The objective of this meta-analysis was to summarize the evidence related to the association of dietary saturated fat with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and cardiovascular disease (CVD; CHD inclusive of stroke) in prospective epidemiologic studies.
Design: Twenty-one studies identified by searching MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and secondary referencing qualified for inclusion in this study. A random-effects model was used to derive composite relative risk estimates for CHD, stroke, and CVD.
Results: During 5–23 y of follow-up of 347,747 subjects, 11,006 developed CHD or stroke. Intake of saturated fat was not associated with an increased risk of CHD, stroke, or CVD. The pooled relative risk estimates that compared extreme quantiles of saturated fat intake were 1.07 (95% CI: 0.96, 1.19; P = 0.22) for CHD, 0.81 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.05; P = 0.11) for stroke, and 1.00 (95% CI: 0.89, 1.11; P = 0.95) for CVD. Consideration of age, sex, and study quality did not change the results.
Conclusions: 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.” (1)
The last line is my favorite…..let’s see if there’s evidence to show that the crap they told us to eat instead of real fats, just might be causing CVD. I can bet you that if it’s their fault….we’ll never hear about it!
As my friend Nita pointed out on Lard, The Evil Fat?, not all fat is equal. Although that’s not the point of this study, I only eat fats that come from animals that are raised on grass, and not given antibiotics or growth hormones. You must always know the source of your food, because really, your life depends on it. We know that toxins are stored in fat, so you must be sure that the fat you eat is pure.
As of January 19, 2010, The American Heart Association has this posted on their site: NO REFLECTION OF THE NEW RELEASED ABSTRACT BY DR KRAUSS!
SO SORRY I DON’T KNOW HOW TO RESIZE THIS THING…JUST READ BETWEEN THE LINES!
 Fat AHA Scientific Position AHA Recommendation
What are saturated fatty acids? Saturated fatty acids have all the hydrogen the carbon atoms can hold. Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature, and they’re more stable — that is, they don’t combine readily with oxygen. Saturated fats and trans fats are the main dietary factors in raising blood cholesterol.The main sources of saturated fat in the typical American diet are foods from animals and some plants. |
I wonder when someone will tell the AHA about Dr Ronald Krauss’ review article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition? No matter. They will deny the abstract by Dr Ronald Krauss and continue to push bad information. Can you imagine if we all ate traditional foods as our ancestors did. The grocery shelves would be unnecessary. We would have markets like in India. Now that’s a Farmer’s Market if I ever saw one!!! (I’m the one on the other side of the camera!!)
For me the facts are simple. Real Foods heal and give life. Our ancestors knew what real foods were and they did not die of CHD. They usually died of old age. They were plump and worked hard. They had stores for energy and for times of famine and times of exertion.
Thanks to my friend Shannon at Nourishing Days for pointing this new info out to me.
This is part of Frugal Fridays carnival.
Show Hide 13 comments
Right. I just don’t think in terms of the general public anymore. I’ve been eating real food for so long, when I talk about food in general, I mean real food….but I realize that most of society does not. Thanks for clarifying. I haven’t shopped at a big box grocery for over 10 yrs! I almost get dizzy when I go in. Literally, the smells are so toxic to me they knock me off my feet!
No all bread products of course, there are some good sprouted grain breads out there. But the general population isn’t purchasing them and eating them either. Thanks to General Mills huge advertising campaign, they would have you believe that a product marketed as Whole Grain, (even though it has been processed within an inch of it’s life) is good for you.
Great series of posts!
Nita your story makes me sad even to read it. I didn’t even know that bread products contain powdered milk. Thanks as always!!!!
I don’t think many people know that most purchased bread products and mixes contain that milk powder and soy lecithin, it’s no wonder people are sick.
I too had a friend who grew up on powdered milk, among other things, hardly any animal proteins and little fat. The mom and 4 of the 7 kids have died of cancer all before the age of 50. I can’t say if their diet caused that, but it certainly didn’t help. My friend begged for everyone’s leftovers in the cafeteria. I never could understand her hunger as a child or teen, but now I do. She needed real food for her body and got very little.
Always good info from you Nita! You’ve walked this walk a lot longer than I have and I always appreciate your additions!!! My friend grew up on powdered milk….I can only think of what his heart health is to be like.
Besides the non-traditional oils and refined flours and sugars – we must not forget that homogenized milk and dry milk products with the oxidized cholesterol are a biggie too, and are implicated in heart disease. I cringe when I see recipes using powdered milk, even the homogenized stuff is better than that.
Shelf life/bottom is the main concern of the food industry – not nutrition.
I read the link that Emily left and I have a few thoughts…..first I am not a doctor and I don’t by any means try to portray myself as a researcher….BUT the article said, 60% of the world’s heart disease was found in India in 2008. My first thought was that since India’s popluation is over 1.5 Billion people, they are the 2nd largest population in the world, and have 17% or the worlds population living in mostly in Urban areas which is more than 10x that of the USA….then you would expect that when compared to the worlds % of heart disease that they would have a higher rate. Right? I’m also not in any way a mathematician and dropped Psych as a major in college due to statistics!!!!! I also dropped Nutrition due to Science…so you can take or leave my take on this research. Also the research indicated that 75% of the CREATE patients were from middle & low class populations. I’m wondering if Emily thought that meant Indians living in rural areas are the poor…..TRUST me, Mumbai has MANY poor people. It’s enough to break your heart. I personally believe that the rural folks are probably exposed to more choices in their diets as far as traditional foods. That’s just my thought.
Anyone want to take stab at this?????
So far it’s just been my own personal experience Mike, but I can tell you that there are NO Pizza Huts, or McDonalds in the rural areas. In fact other than what’s being sold at the markets, I didn’t see any eateries. We did visit a restaurant that served traditional Indian food that I could die for! I will look into it more. It is very interesting. I have not heard of the book you mention, but I made note of it so I could read it.
Very interesting information. If you ever happen across any online articles based on the rural Indian diet you described to Emily I would love to read them. I agree with you that a diet based on traditional foods would empty the store shelves and probably the hospitals as well. Have you ever read “The Centarians Of The Andes” by David Davies? It is an fascinating study on the health, diet, and longevity of a people in the Andean Highlands.
Chanelle & Laurie, it is a really great book, although it’s not WAP completely it’s basically along the same lines. She does use Corn Syrup in one recipe.
Emily, unfortunately processed foods are making their way into most underdeveloped countries, India still has some very healthy people in the rural areas. They still have wide pallets and very nicely spaced teeth. The Americans bring candy to the orphanages and that is causing tooth decay at least where I was. I’ll take a look at the link you left. The funny thing is this post wasn’t about the Indian people, but they have marvelous markets in the rural areas and their diets mostly consisted of veggies, lentils, graham, wheat chapatis, and small portions of meat. When I was there they did use veggie oils instead of traditional fats which aren’t readily available esp to the poor in the rural areas. They do fry a lot using modern veggie oils.
Wahoo! Love your title, love your content. Bring on the fat, bring on the real, nutrient dense food. I’m so tired of being told we’re supposed to survive on rabbit food and be happy about it. I love my fresh garden produce, but a person needs more than that to be healthy and satiated.
great coverage of this contentios issue! unfortnately though, Indians are now experiencing heart disease at very high rates too- see this blog post with a link to a study abot india’s heart problems.
This book looks great. Bring on the fat! The more literature like this out there, the more people will start to catch on, and things will slowly start to change with what people eat.