Is saturated fat really killing us?

It is believed that the consumption of fatty foods is best kept to a minimum, because at best it will lead to weight gain, and at worst - to death from cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, over the past five years, many studies have emerged that refute this belief. Saturated fats are gradually being justified, after many years they are no longer considered harmful.

Let's try to figure out how much saturated fat you can eat without harm to your health. But before moving on to the research data, let's understand how fatty acids differ.

How fatty acids differ

In the body, fats (triglycerides) are broken down to fatty acids with a different structure. If there are single bonds between the carbon atoms, then the fatty acids are saturated, if there is one double bond - monounsaturated, if more than one double bond - polyunsaturated.

There is also another type of LEVEL OF TRANS FATTY ACIDS IN THE NEW ZEALAND FOOD SUPPLY of unsaturated fats - trans fats. These are unsaturated fatty acids with a modified structure, in which the bonds with hydrogen atoms are on opposite sides of the chain from the bond of carbon atoms.

One type of fat can contain different fatty acids: saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats. For example, butter contains 34% monounsaturated oleic acid and 44.5% saturated (24% palmitic, 11% myristic and 9.5% stearic) fatty acids.

If saturated fatty acids predominate in a product, it usually remains solid at room temperature: lard, butter (with the exception of fish and chicken fat). And if there are more unsaturated ones in it, the product becomes liquid (with the exception of palm, coconut and cocoa butter).

Trans fats are found in small amounts in animal fats: for example, among the fats in dairy products, they are 2–5%. But in vegetable oils that have gone through hydrogenation - the addition of hydrogen to the double bond of unsaturated fatty acids - there are a lot of trans fats. For example, 100 grams of hard margarine contains 14.5 grams of trans fats from the total amount of fatty acids, and 100 grams of butter contains only 7 grams.

The main sources of Trans fats-sources, health risks and alternative approach - A review of trans fats in the diet: pies, cookies, crackers, margarine, fries, chips and popcorn.

Trans fats are not formed in vegetable oils when frying.

For non-hydrogenated vegetable oil to form trans fats, it must be used many times.

Saturated Fats Are Not That Bad

Research Revisiting dietary fat guidelines?, which involved more than 135,000 people from 18 countries, showed that higher consumption of carbohydrates, not fat, is associated with increased mortality. Study leader Mahshid Dehghan said, "Our experiments did not support current guidelines for limiting fat to 30% of total calories and saturated fat to 10%."

Limiting total fat does not improve public health. If fat is 35% of the diet and carbohydrates are less than 60%, the risk of CVD is reduced.

People whose diets are more than 60% carbohydrate will benefit from more fat.

The highest versus lowest fat intake reduced the risk of stroke by 18% and mortality by 30% (excluding CVD mortality). Moreover, the risk decreased with the consumption of any fat: saturated reduced the risk by 14%, monounsaturated - by 19%, and polyunsaturated - by 20%. A higher intake of saturated fat reduced the risk of stroke by 21%.

The researchers noted that the consumption of saturated fat increases the content of "bad" cholesterol (low density lipoproteins), but so does the content of "good". As a result, there is no harm to health.

And this isn't the only research justifying saturated fat.

A 2014 scientific review of Dietary fatty acids in the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression found no association between saturated fat intake and CVD.

A review of The association between dietary saturated fatty acids and ischemic heart disease depends on the type and source of fatty acid in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands nutritional cohort in the Netherlands showed that high intake of saturated fat does not increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Conversely, the risk was slightly reduced by consuming dairy products, including butter, cheese and milk, and increased by replacing fat with animal protein and carbohydrates.

Analysis of Dietary Saturated Fatty Acids and Coronary Heart Disease Risk in a Dutch Middle-Aged and Elderly Population of Danish dietary preferences also showed that saturated fat intake was not associated with CVD risk. The risk only increased when fat was replaced with animal protein.

In a recent Norwegian study, Saturated fat could be good for you, a study suggests people are put on a high-fat diet of butter, sour cream and cold-pressed vegetable oils. Saturated fat made up about 50% of the total fat. As a result, the participants decreased weight and body fat, decreased blood pressure, triglyceride and blood sugar levels.

Most healthy people tolerate high amounts of saturated fat as long as it comes from good quality foods and the total calories are within the normal range. They can even provide health benefits.

Ottar Nygård Study Director, Professor and Cardiologist

Should you swap saturated fats for unsaturated fats?

The benefits of polyunsaturated fats have been proven by numerous studies: they reduce the risk of CVD by Polyunsaturated fatty acids and their effects on cardiovascular disease, protect hair from dryness and breakage, and the skin from aging, provide Omega-3 fatty acids: for the brain.

There are several studies supporting the benefits of substituting polyunsaturated fats for saturated fats. For example, a 2015 analysis of Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease concluded that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat reduced the risk of CVD by 17%. At the same time, replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates or protein did not have such an effect.

Another 2015 review of Saturated Fats Compared With Unsaturated Fats and Sources of Carbohydrates in Relation to Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study found that replacing saturated fats with carbohydrates from whole grains, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated acids reduced the risk of CVD by 8, 15 and 25%, respectively.

However, even strict dietary guides are not advised to completely replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats. What's more, some saturated acids have proven beneficial effects. For example, butanoic acid, found in butter, cheese and cream, is a major metabolite of intestinal bacteria, a key source of energy for intestinal epithelial cells, and also has anti-inflammatory effects of sodium butyrate on human monocytes: potent inhibition of IL-12 and up -regulation of IL-10 production anti-inflammatory effect.

What fats are bad for health

In the 2003 study Effect of different forms of dietary hydrogenated fats on LDL particle size, it was found that increased levels of low density lipoprotein ("bad" cholesterol) were associated with trans fats.

If you replace Saturated Fats Compared With Unsaturated Fats and Sources of Carbohydrates in Relation to Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study from saturated fats to trans fats and carbohydrates from starchy and sugary foods, your risk of CVD increases by 1-5%.

Unlike saturated fats, trans fats increase Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies the risk of death, ischemic attacks and type 2 diabetes. …

How much fat can you eat without harm to health?

Let's summarize all of the above.

Saturated fats are not harmful to your health if you do not exceed the daily calorie intake and get them from healthy sources: high-quality dairy products, animal fats.
If saturated fat comes from healthy sources, you can go over 10% with no cardiovascular health effects (exception: if you have high cholesterol).
If you consume more than 60% carbohydrates, reconsider your diet: reduce the amount of carbohydrates and add more fat - up to 35%, and half of them can be saturated.
Add more polyunsaturated fats to your diet, including essential omega-3 and omega-6 from vegetable oils, nuts and fish.
Avoid trans fats, which are found in excess in junk food and chips, commercial baked goods, cookies, crackers and margarine. Beware of margarine, read the packaging carefully so as not to buy it instead of butter.