For the past 60 years, conventional medicine has warned us that saturated animal fats cause heart disease and should be restricted in a heart-healthy diet. Even as recent as 2010, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) recommends reducing saturated fat intake to just 10% of your total calorie intake. Absurd! Informed health experts now know that we need from 50-70% good fats for optimal cardiovascular health! A recent editorial in The British Medical Journal (2013), “From the Heart, Saturated Fat is Not the Major Issue,” explains that saturated fat consumption does not cause heart disease. They explain further that avoiding saturated fat actually promotes poor health in many ways. Let’s explain this in terms that make sense. We go for our yearly check-up with our PCP and he/she sends us for some routine blood work, part of which is the “Lipid Panel.” Our blood work comes back clearly showing that our low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol or “bad” cholesterol is extremely elevated. Our doctor tells us to cut down on saturated fats, like those found in animal protein, eggs and cheese. He/she explains that we have 3 months to get that number down or it’s on the STATIN for us! Frightened and trusting that the doc has given us the right information, we comply, make changes and come back in 3 months for follow up blood work. Our new blood work shows that we have done a great job in lowering our LDL and doc says see you next year! So, what’s the problem? By reducing our saturated fat intake, we have reduced the large, buoyant (type A) LDL particles and not the small, dense (type B) particles. Type B LDL particles are the ones implicated in CVD and respond only to a reduction in carbohydrate intake or SUGAR!!!
Heart Disease: It’s Not The Fat, It’s The Sugar
