Saturated fat to the rescue

[Guest guest]

" WC Douglass " <realhealth

 

Saturated fat to the rescue

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:58:18 -0500

 

Daily Dose

 

Monday January 17, 2005

 

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The " American Paradox? "

 

I've spent a good chunk of the last thirty years debunking the

notion that saturated fat (specifically, fat derived from

animals) in the diet leads to increased rates of coronary heart

disease — an absurd assertion that the politically correct, yet

medically ignorant mainstream media has been trumpeting

for an equally long spell. As usual, the boob-tube-and-byline

pundits have got it all wrong…

 

Yet they'll likely not spill one drop of ink reporting on the

latest in a long string of studies that point to saturated fat as a

boon to the heart-healthy, not the scourge the headlines

routinely portray it to be.

 

The new study, published in a recent issue of the Journal of

Clinical Nutrition, flies directly in the face of some of the fat

police's most widely-cited research: A 1959-1971 Finnish

mental hospital study which seemed to show that a diet high

in saturated fat (in this case, an institutional diet which was

no doubt also sky-high in refined carbohydrates and sugars)

correlated to an up to 65% greater incidence of coronary

heart disease among test subjects than did a diet higher in

unsaturated fats.

 

But in this latest research, an American study of post-

menopausal women with heart disease, saturated fat in the

diet proved to be associated with a LESSER progression of

the disease than did higher consumption of " healthy "

unsaturated fats. Higher fat intakes in the study were

correlated with favorable trends in both HDL (good)

cholesterol and harmful triacylglycerol levels. In other

words: Hated saturated fats effectively slowed down heart

disease.

 

To refresh your memory, saturated fats are those that remain

solid at room temperature (like animal fats)(Moderator's Note: NOT ALL

solid fats at room temperature are healthy, learn about fats ). They

are also a major component of healthy cells, the preferred fuel for

the heart and muscles, powerful antiviral and antifungal agents,

and serve as cancer-fighting genetic " regulators " in the body.

Why didn't you already know these things (if you haven't

been with me for a while)? Because our fat-phobic, animal-

rights obsessed mainstream media wouldn't report on it if it

were the cure for cancer…

 

Since this under-reported study used today's " gold standard "

evaluative method (quantitative angiography) to derive its

results, it poses a direct challenge to less precise prior

research — as well as to the misguided popular assumption

that saturated fat in the diet drives heart disease. Now that we

Americans are finally starting to realize the heart-healthy,

waistline-trimming benefits of a higher-fat, low-carbohydrate

diet (thanks to the late, great Dr. Atkins and others), it will be

interesting to see whether this " American Paradox " will get

any play at all in USA Today, Time magazine or on the

evening news...

 

I'm not holding my breath.

 

 

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Wining and dining

 

I've written long and loud about the benefits of wine —

especially red wine — for the prevention of heart disease,

cancer, and for your overall good health and well-being. But

here's another reason to sing wine's praises:

 

It's a powerful antibacterial.

 

Reported in the November/December 2004 Journal of Food

Science, a recent U.S. study of both red and white wines

showed that all varieties tested (but again, the reds

especially) proved effective in neutralizing some of the most

common killers in the kitchen — including E. coli, Listeria,

Salmonella, and Staphylococcus.

 

The study's researchers hypothesized that the combined

effects of organic acids, ethanol, and a low pH were

responsible for this effect.

 

If this research is accurate, it means that marinating or

cooking those chicken breasts or fish filets in wine adds not

just a powerful dose of healthy antioxidants and alcohol, but

a tasty measure of protection against some of the bacterial

baddies that may be lurking in even the cleanest kitchen.

 

Bon appetit!

 

 

Always " cleaning up " — after the misguided mainstream,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD

 

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