Meat, Coconut Oil, Saturated Fat and Cholesterol – WTF?
- Friday, 16 September 2011 09:59
After a long discussion with a client concerned about switching to a diet containing animal fats and how that will affect his heart health, I thought it would be worth jotting down a few notes to put some long held beliefs and fears to one side.
Do saturated fats and dietary cholesterol cause heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and/or cancer?
This is a popular argument with vegetarians and the medical community because it is believed that eating animal proteins and fats will lead to heart disease and cancer. Before I say anything else let me get one thing clear, this is a complicated topic! What I propose in this article is to highlight some key references that I have found useful in coaching people about nutrition, and to outline how we at Boddy Language approach this complicated topic. Educate yourself, and please draw your own conclusions.
Here is one of my favourite quotes from a Paul Chek lecture at www.chekconnect.com that sums up this topic nicely:
“Did you see the article about the increase in cases of heart disease among African Lions consuming a diet high in animal proteins? …. no? …. You didn’t see that? …. You want to know why? ….. because it’s bullshit!”
I am going to lead with this one: “The biological meaning of cholesterol is just starting to be explored. Everything that doctors know about cholesterol is wrong”. (Dr Ray Peat Ph D; Cholesterol, Longevity & Health; Copyright 2007; www.raypeat.com)
In this excellent article, Ray Peat explains how the theory that heart disease is "caused by cholesterol" has gone through several stages, and most recently the use of the "statin" drugs has revived it in a radical way. He details how this gained particular momentum in the 1950’s when the vegetable oil industry learned that polyunsaturated fat lowered serum cholesterol. At the same time, trans-fats entered the market as household margarine, and the general public were subject to a mass marketing campaign to teach them that the very substance that had sustained them for millennia (good fats like animal fat, lard & full fat butter) was killing them, and that inflammatory and free radical cancer producing diets high in vegetable oils and trans fats was the answer. There was only one problem, IT WAS BOLLOCKS, and clearly there was no conflict of interest. This line has been bought up and swallowed by the general public.
So let’s start with a basic one: what is cholesterol and what does it do?
Sally Fallon (read “Nourishing Traditions” Copyright 1999 New Trends Publishing) explains this topic very simply: cholesterol “…is not the cause of heart disease but rather a potent antioxidant weapon against free radicals in the blood, and a repair substance that helps heal arterial damage.” As your body produces more cholesterol to fight the damage you cause to it, blaming high levels of its existence would be akin to blaming increased police numbers in a high crime area. Lowering serum cholesterol is like lowering that police presence.
An excellent article by Anthony Colpo in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (2005) details numerous studies which clearly indicate that there is no correlation between serum levels of LDL Cholesterol and incidents of Coronary Heart Disease. He quotes “while the war on cholesterol has proved extremely lucrative for the food and drug industries, it has delivered no benefit to public health.” He also shows how the “relentless drive to steer people to low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets has been accompanied by a marked increase in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes.”
Cholesterol is a high molecular-weight alcohol that is manufactured in the liver and in most human cells. Your body produces saturated fat and cholesterol all on its own and here are some of their many vital roles:
- Gives cells stability and stiffness
- Acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer, and to sex hormone production
- Precursor to Vitamin D, a fat soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and nervous system, insulin production and immune system function
- Vital antioxidant, protecting us from free radical damage
- Needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain (the body’s natural “feel good” chemical) and guarding against violent mood swings and depression.
- Plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall and digestive health.
- Boosts intelligence, longevity and health
Although saturated fats and cholesterol are believed to be the head honchos in "clogged arteries" many studies by prominent researchers like Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, and several others have shown that arterial plaque is primarily composed of unsaturated fats, particularly polyunsaturated ones, and not the saturated fat of animals, palm or coconut.
Ray Peat shows how a diet high in coconut fats like Coconoil do reduce overall levels of serum cholesterol, but they do this in a very beneficial way. This is because they don’t restrict the liver’s ability to produce cholesterol, but moreover they stimulate the thyroid’s capacity to promote that cholesterol’s capacity to convert to steroid hormones. In fact, eating appropriate quantities of this awesome fat has many extra side effects, like assisting your immune system and boosting your metabolism, that thing that will help you burn fat!
So if saturated fats aren’t to blame, then what is? When you are told that your cholesterol levels are too high, then when you are constructing a plan with your health professional to get you back to good health then perhaps contemplate not only what can you take to get you healthier, but what should you take away. Now we need to think about what is causing the free-radical damage and inflammation in the first place. Here is my top list:
- Margarine (full of trans-fats, preservatives, colourings and many other very unhealthy substances)
- Soy, for more information read “The Ploy of Soy” at www.westonprice.com”. Soy is so NOT a health food.
- Vegetable oils (I highly recommend significantly reducing and even eliminating all vegetable oil intake). If you use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, then never cook with it at temperatures higher than 160 degrees. It is the spontaneous oxidisation of these oils that has been linked with inflammation and free radical damage causing heart disease.
- Roasted nuts. They are full of oils that turn rancid and all free-radically when heated.
- Trans-fatty acids. There is no recommended safe level of consumption. Refraining from consuming any and all processed foods is the safest way to make sure you are clear.
- Excessive sugar intake
Now it is time to remind everyone that this is a very complicated topic. Having said this there is a wealth of information out there that clearly indicates that it is certainly more complicated than simply avoiding fat intake and taking statins.
If you want to learn how to incorporate healthy eating strategies into your daily life, why not contact us for personalised coaching on how to eat and exercise for better health today.
