Super Saturated Fats
I have noticed an inspiring turn of events. People within the Paleo community are reversing Fat-Phobia.
Maligned since the 1970s, when questionable research swept the anti-fat movement (followed by more than 30 years of progressively declining public health), Fat may be about to make a comeback.
However, I’ve found that as much as we Paleo folks love nuts, avocados, and olive oil, there’s still some confusion about saturated fat. I recently saw a bit of Facebook Sat-Fat-Fear-Mongering by an excellent Paleo-oriented gym. I wanted to reach out and give that gym a hug and tell them not to be afraid of their bacon and beef tallow.
According to Ph.D. Mary Enig, a highly respected fat researcher and author of Know Your Fats, the fear of saturated fat is rooted in speculation by commercial cooking oil companies, the Soybean Oil Guys, and others. .
While I don’t see the word “conspiracy” being used in this regard, I tend to believe that if he walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… he’s probably trying to sell you soybean oil.
“Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease, or any other chronic disease of civilization.”
So says Gary Taubes, author of Good Calories, Bad Calories. Taubes has spent more than fifteen years researching, evaluating, and synthesizing thousands of so-called “studies” on health and the connection between diet, obesity, and traditional health markers such as cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes. .
As early as the late 1980s, results from a women’s health study indicated that higher fat and saturated fat intake correlated with less breast cancer. The Nurses’ Health Study indicated in 1999 that “for every 5 percent of calories from saturated fat that replaced dietary carbohydrates, the risk of breast cancer decreased by 9 percent.”
And yet, I just heard a radio ad extolling the virtues of a vegetarian diet (almost certainly a low-fat lifestyle) for cancer treatment and prevention.
According to Nora Gedgaudas, author of Primal Body, Primal Mind, saturated fats from natural sources like eggs, grass-fed animal fats, and coconut oil increase “good” cholesterol, convert omega-3 essential fatty acids to EPA and DHA (essential for vision, among other things), helps in the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients, strengthens the immune system and helps in the normal production of hormones. Our brains and the protective structure around our hearts are largely made up of saturated fat.
And to think I spent years drinking the sugar-packed Sat Fat Haterade.
Beyond these obvious benefits, saturated fats are extremely stable and less vulnerable to oxidation than polyunsaturated fats and even monounsaturated fats like olive oil. I almost always cook with SatFats. According to Dr. Eades of Protein Power:
“Saturated fats are not prone to free radical attack, only unsaturated fats can be damaged by free radicals.”
Eades also says that saturated fats are “immune to heat damage. You can cook with them, you can hit them with a hammer, you can drop them and jump on them. And they stay the same. Saturated fats are stable fats.”
Not only am I heading home to start pounding various foods with a hammer (Gallagher-style), but I’m also going to enjoy some scrambled eggs in coconut oil, with a side of bacon.
Sources:
– Mary Enig, Know Your Fats
– Nora Gedgaudas, Primal Body, Primal Mind
– Gary Taubes, Calories Good, Calories Bad