The benefits of saturated fats

The much-maligned saturated fats—which Americans are trying to avoid—are not the cause of our modern diseases. In fact, they play many important roles in the body chemistry:

1. Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what gives our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.
   
   
2. They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.³⁸
   
   
3. They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.³⁹ They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol.⁴⁰
   
   
4. They enhance the immune system.⁴¹
   
   
5. They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
   Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats. ⁴²
   
   
6. Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated.⁴³ The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.
   
   
7. Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.

The scientific evidence, honestly evaluated, does not support the assertion that "artery-clogging" saturated fats cause heart disease.44 Actually, evaluation of the fat in artery clogs reveals that only about 26% is saturated. The rest is unsaturated, of which more than half is polyunsaturated.⁴⁵

What about Cholesterol?

And what about cholesterol? Here, too, the public has been misinformed. Our blood vessels can become damaged in a number of ways—through irritations caused by free radicals or viruses, or because they are structurally weak—and when this happens, the body’s natural healing substance steps in to repair the damage. That substance is cholesterol. Cholesterol is a high-molecular-weight alcohol that is manufactured in the liver and in most human cells. Like saturated fats, the cholesterol we make and consume plays many vital roles:

1. Along with saturated fats, cholesterol in the cell membrane gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability. When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane, so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is "driven" into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet.⁴⁶
   
   
2. Cholesterol 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 the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
   
   
3. Cholesterol is a precursor to vitamin D, a very important fat-soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and nervous system, proper growth, mineral metabolism, muscle tone, insulin production, reproduction and immune system function.
   
   
4. The bile salts are made from cholesterol. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet.
   
   
5. Recent research shows that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant.⁴⁷ This is the likely explanation for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer.
   
   
6. Cholesterol is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain.⁴⁸ Serotonin is the body's natural "feel-good" chemical. Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicidal tendencies.
   
   
7. Mother's milk is especially rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme that helps the baby utilize this nutrient. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system.
   
   
8. Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall.⁴⁹ This is why low-cholesterol vegetarian diets can lead to leaky gut syndrome and other intestinal disorders.

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 (although the arterial plaques themselves contain very little cholesterol.) However, like fats, cholesterol may be damaged by exposure to heat and oxygen. This damaged or oxidized cholesterol seems to promote both injury to the arterial cells as well as a pathological buildup of plaque in the arteries.⁵⁰ Damaged cholesterol is found in powdered eggs, in powdered milk (added to reduced-fat milks to give them body) and in meats and fats that have been heated to high temperatures in frying and other high-temperature processes.

High serum cholesterol levels often indicate that the body needs cholesterol to protect itself from high levels of altered, free-radical-containing fats. Just as a large police force is needed in a locality where crime occurs frequently, so cholesterol is needed in a poorly nourished body to protect the individual from a tendency to heart disease and cancer. Blaming coronary heart disease on cholesterol is like blaming the police for murder and theft in a high crime area.

Poor thyroid function (hypothyroidism) will often result in high cholesterol levels. When thyroid function is poor, usually due to a diet high in sugar and low in usable iodine, fat-soluble vitamins and other nutrients, the body floods the blood with cholesterol as an adaptive and protective mechanism, providing a superabundance of materials needed to heal tissues and produce protective steroids. Hypothyroid individuals are particularly susceptible to infections, heart disease and cancer.⁵¹

Read on

Switching to grassfed products helps balance the essential fats in your diet

There are two types of fats that are essential for your health—omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. The typical western diet is overloaded with omega-6 fatty acids and deficient in omega-3s, upsetting a critical balance. Look at the graph below and you will see that fresh pasture has two times more omega-3 than omega-6 fatty acids. Grain and soy, on the other hand, have far more omega-6s than omega-3s.

Therefore, when you switch to grassfed products, you are helping to correct the gross imbalance in the western diet. Eating a balanced ratio of essential fatty acids is linked with a lower risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and mental disorders. (To learn more about this essential balance, read The Omega Diet by Simopoulos and Robinson, HarperCollins 1999.)

( US Dairy Forage Research Center, 1995 Research Summaries.)

BEST SOURCES OF FAT

• Fresh Butter and Cream from pasture fed cows – preferably raw and cultured
• Lard
• Beef, Bison, Elk, Lamb, Goose, and Duck fat from 100% grass-fed/pasture-raised or wild animals
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Unrefined Flax Seed Oil in small amounts
• Coconut and Palm Oil

Benefits of Fresh Butter and Cream

1)   Fat Soluble Vitamins

This includes true vitamin A or retinol, vitamin D, vitamin K and vitamin E as well as all their naturally occurring cofactors needed to provide maximum benefit.  Butter is America’s best source of these important nutrients.  In fact, vitamin A is more easily absorbed and utilized from butter than from other sources.  The fat-soluble vitamins occur in large amount only when the butter comes from cows eating green grass.

2)   The Wulzen Factor

Called the “antistiffness” factor, this compound is present in raw animal fat.  Researcher Rosalind Wulzen discovered that this substance protects humans and animals from calcification of the joints – degenerative arthritis.  It also protects against hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland.  Calves fed pasteurized milk or skim milk develop joint stiffness and do not thrive.  Their symptoms are reversed when raw butterfat is added to the diet.  Pasteurization destroys the Wulzen factor – it is present only in raw butter, cream and whole milk.

3)   The Price Factor or Activator X

Discovered by Dr. Price, Activator X is a powerful catalyst which, like vitamins A and D, helps the body absorb and utilize minerals.  It is found in organ meats from grazing animals and some seafood.  Butter can be especially rich source of Activator X when it comes from cows eating rapidly growing grass in the spring and fall seasons.  It disappears in cow fed cottonseed meal, high protein soy based feeds or even hay.  Fortunately, Activator X is not destroyed by pasteurization.

4)   Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

Butter from pasture fed cows also contains a form of rearranged CLA, which has strong anticancer properties.  It also encourages the buildup of muscle and prevents weight gain.  CLA disappears when cows are fed even small amounts of grain and processed food.

5)    Glycosphinogolipids

This type of fat protects against gastrointestinal infections, especially in the very young and the elderly.  For this reason, children who drink skimmed milk have diarrhea at rates three to five times greater than children who drink whole milk.

6)   Short- and Medium-Chained Fatty Acids

Butter contains about 12-15% short- and medium chain fatty acids.  This type of saturated fat does not need to be emulsified by bile salts but is absorbed directly from the small intestine to the liver, where it is converted to quick energy.  These fatty acids also have antimicrobial, antitumor and immune system supporting properties, especially 12 carbon lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid not found in other animal fats.  Highly protective lauric acid should be called a conditionally essential fatty acid because it is made only by the mammary gland and not in the liver like other saturated fats.  We must obtain it from one of two dietary sources – small amount of butterfat or large amounts of coconut oil.  Four carbon butyric acid is practically unique to butter.  It has antifungal properties as well as antitumor effects.

7)   Omega-6 and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

These occur in butter in small but nearly equal amounts.  This excellent balance between linoleic and linolenic acid prevents the kind of problems associated with overconsumption of omega-6 fatty acids.

8)   Lecithin

Lecithin is a natural component of butter that assists in the proper assimilation and metabolization of cholesterol and other fat constitutes.

9)   Cholesterol

Mother’s milk is high in cholesterol because it is essential for growth and development.  Cholesterol is also needed to produce a variety of steroids that protect against cancer, heart disease and mental illness.

10) Trace Minerals

Many trace minerals are incorporated into the fat globule membrane of butterfat, including manganese, zinc, chromium and iodine.  In mountainous areas far from the sea, iodine in butter protects against goiter.  Butter is extremely rich in selenium, a trace mineral with antioxidant properties, containing more per gram than herring or wheat germ.

Benefits of Lard

Lard or pork fat is about 40% saturated, 48% monosaturated (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and 12% polyunsaturated.  Like the fat of birds, the amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in lard will vary accordingly to the diet of the pigs.  In the topics, lard may also be a source of lauric acid if the pigs have eaten coconuts.  Like duck and goose fat, lard is stable and a preferred fat for frying.  It was widely used in America at the turn of the century.  It is an excellent source of vitamin D, especially in third-world countries where other animal foods are likely to expensive.  Some researches believe that pork products should be avoided because they may contribute to cancer.  Others suggest that only pork meat presents a problem and that pig fat in the form of lard is safe an healthy.

Benefits of Duck and Goose Fat

Duck and Goose Fat are semisolid at room temperature, containing about 35% saturated fat., 52% monosaturated fat (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and about 13% polyunsaturated fat.  The proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids depends on what the birds have eaten.  Duck and goose fat are quite stable and are highly prized in Europe for frying potatoes.

Benefits of Olive Oil

Olive Oil contains 75% oleic acid, the stable monounsaturated fat, along with 13% saturated fat, 10% omega-6 linoleic acid and 2% omega-3 linolenic acid.  The high percentage of oleic acid makes olive oil ideal for salads and for cooking at moderate temperature.  Extra virgin olive oil is also rich in antioxidants.  It should be cloudy, indicating that it has nor been filtered, and have a golden yellow color, indicating that it is made from fully ripened olives.  Olive oil has also withstood the test of time; it is the safest vegetable oil you can use, but don’t overdo.  The longer-chain fatty acids found in olive oil are more likely to contribute to the buildup of body fat than the short- and medium- chain fatty acids found in butter and coconut oil.

Benefits of Tropical Oils

Tropical Oils are more saturated than other vegetable oils.  Palm oil is about 50% saturated, with 41% oleic acid and about 9 percent linoleic acid.  Coconut oil is 92% saturated with over two thirds of the saturated fat as medium-chain fatty acids (often called medium chain triglycerides).  Of particular interest is lauric acid, found in large quantities in both coconut oil and in mother’s milk.  This fatty acid has strong antifungal and antimicrobial properties.  Coconut oil protects tropical populations from bacteria and fungus so prevalent in their food supply; as third-world nations in tropical areas have switched to polyunsaturated vegetable oils, the incidence of intestinal disorders and immune deficiency diseases have increased.  Because coconut oil contains lauric acid, it is often used in baby formulas.  Palm kernel oil, used primarily in candy coatings, also contains high levels of lauric acid.  These oils are stable and can be kept at room temperature for many months without becoming rancid.  Highly saturated tropical oils do not contribute to heart disease but have nourished healthy populations for millennia.  It is a shame we do not use these oils for cooking and baking – bad rap they have received is the result of intense lobbying by the domestic vegetable oil industry.  Red palm oil has a strong taste that most will find disagreeable – although it is used extensively throughout Africa – but clarified palm oil, which is tasteless and white in color, was formerly used as shortening and in the production of commercial French Fries, while coconut oil was used in cookies, crackers, and pastries.  The saturated fat scare has forced manufacturers to abandon these safe and healthy oils in favor of hydrogenated soybean, corn, canola, and cottonseed oils.

Benefits of Flax Seed Oil

Flax Seed Oil contains 9% saturated fatty acids, 18% oleic acid, 16% omega-6 and 57% omega-3.  With its extremely high omega-3 content, flax seed oil provides a remedy for the omega-6/omega-3 imbalance so prevalent in America today.  Not surprisingly, Scandinavian folk lore values flax seed oil as a health food.  New extraction and bottling methods have minimized rancidity problems.  It should always be kept refrigerated, never heated, and consumed in small amounts in salad dressings and spreads.

Referenced from “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon