Are Doctors Wrong About Saturated Fats?

Most doctors and health professionals advice people to reduce saturated fats in their diets. But, could they all be wrong?

Nina Teicholz is a journalist, who worked for a time as a food critic. Despite a diet rich in saturated fats, the writer lost 10 pounds during her assignment. Her cholesterol levels also remained at a steady, healthy concentration. This led her to being an investigation into saturated fats and the role they play in human health. Now, she has released a book about her findings.

The description of the work reads, “What if the very foods we’ve been denying ourselves — the creamy cheeses, the sizzling steaks — are themselves the key to reversing the epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease?”

An analysis published by a team of international scientists in March also questions conventional wisdom on the subject. The reported stated researchers were unable to find any link between high levels of saturated fats and heart disease. The use of various oils for cooking also did not appear to have any link to heart disease.

Another study, this one published in the medical journal BMJ, draws attention to different types of cholesterol. Most people know about LDL and HDL forms of the lipoproteins. Generally, it is the LDL form which is considered to be “bad” cholesterol. However, this report noted Type A LDL’s are the ones present in saturated fats, while Type B’s, found in carbohydrates, are the variety that cause heart disease.

Teicholz stated the cause of widespread obesity in the United States is due to the large quantities of carbohydrates and breads consumed by Americans.

If the author is correct about her conclusions, you may not need to feel guilty about cooking steaks on the grill this summer.