The Conundrum of Saturated Fat
In 1955 an American physiologist named Ancel Keys made a presentation to the World Health Organization and pretty much convinced them that saturated fat (animal fat, dairy, eggs, avocados etc) was going to increase the risk of heart attacks and that polyunsaturated fats (processed vegetable oils) were going to lower the risks.
Keys had concluded that saturated fats, as found in milk and meat have adverse effects, while unsaturated fats found in vegetable oils had beneficial effects. This message was obscured for a 20-year period starting around 1985, when all dietary fats were considered unhealthy. This was driven largely by the hypothesis that all dietary fats cause obesity and cancer. A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis by the Cochrane Collaboration, an organisation which promotes evidence-based medicine, found that reducing saturated fat intake reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease, concluding: “Lifestyle advice to all those at risk of cardiovascular disease and to lower risk population groups should continue to include permanent reduction of dietary saturated fat and partial replacement by unsaturated fats.”
I’m not going to speculate on Ancel Key’s intentions or where his payments were coming from but it was after his theories were presented and too a large genre accepted that we started ditching butter for margarine and processed food became low fat, not surprisingly high in sugar, glucose/fructose. Low fat food basically tasted so crappy that the food processors had to start introducing sugar and all sorts of chemicals to improve the taste. His hypothesis also contributed to the use of vegetable oils which are now known to be toxic and are now in just about every food in the supermarket.
It is quite possible that this was the genesis of the modern illnesses that have been plaguing mankind for the past 60 years. Metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease all went out of control in the decades after his presentation.
Mankind is a naive bunch and tends to emphatically believe the “experts”, so it wasn’t hard to convince the majority of people that butter, fatty meat and cream, cheese, eggs were going to contribute to an early heart attack and premature death. I grew up thinking that this was true and can remember being suspicious of butter, eggs, meat and other so called unhealthy foods. In actual fact I ate hardly any fat for decades unless I had toxic vegetable oil that was used to cook my hot chips and potato cakes.
The joke on mankind was that Ancel Keys, the man who created the K-rations for the American soldiers during WW2 got it wrong.
It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I started hearing that saturated fat wasn’t all that bad for you. In actual fact the word was that it might be actually quite good for you. There’s a whole lot we need to understand about Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids and it is really quite crucial to understand the difference between 3 and 6 and the effect they have on our the bodies. We need both of these fatty acids but the correct ratios are significantly important.
Take a look at the talk by Sydney nutritionalist and sports doctor, Paul Mason below. This should help you understand the new viewpoints on fat.
As I have said before I base my observations on my own results. Since I have been eating a ketogenic diet, which consists of approx 80% fat, 15% protein and 5% carbohydrates I have lost about 25 kgs. My belly was protruding out like a big balloon 3 years ago and now it’s pretty much flat. My health has improved hugely and I’m convinced this is because of my diet and lifestyle.
