If I mention saturated fat, what comes to mind? Heart attacks, stroke, and dying right? Maybe thoughts of thick yellow plaque filling our blood vessels.The reality is that saturated fat is healthy for us to eat.

I will discuss the proof in a little while but let me first start off with a simple fact.

• Humans have been eating saturated fat for millions of years.

Actually, every food containing fat has some percentage that is saturated. The other fats are mono and polyunsaturated.

Saturated fats from animal sources such as beef, pork, and duck are excellent to cook with. Interestingly, before the year 1900, animal fat and butter where the only items available. Heart disease became common AFTER other oils were used for cooking.

Coconut oil is also high in sat fat and therefore useful for cooking. Without going into a chemistry lesson, it’s the unique properties of sat fat that make it stable for cooking and less likely to get oxidized (damaged) during storage.

Saturated fat is critical

for all of us to eat. Removing sat fat and cholesterol from our diets is depriving our bodies of the nutrients necessary for optimal health. Could low fat diets be the source of diseases and symptoms related to menopause? Let me say that I have seen many women going through the “change” who felt much better once we introduced animal fat back into the diet.

“Wait a second, aren’t you a cardiologist?”

I am a board certified cardiologist and wholeheartedly endorse saturated fat. As stated above, we have been eating sat fat for millions of years. Incidentally, breast milk contains loads of sat fat and cholesterol. That alone should confirm sat fat and cholesterol are not the problem.

Still not sure? Let me share a couple studies with you regarding saturated fat.

From the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) in 2004, women who ate the most amount of saturated fat had the least progression of coronary artery disease. The high carb women had the most progression (1).

A report from 2010 looking at almost 350,000 people confirmed saturated fat intake does NOT increase the risk of heart disease (2). That is a lot of patients!

The bottom line is that saturated fat, from quality sources such as grass-fed beef, other meats, and wild seafood is part of a healthy diet. For your health, for the environment, and for the benefit of the animals, choose to eat grass-fed

1) Am J Clin Nutr.  Nov 2004; 80(5): 1175–1184.

2) Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar;91(3):535-46.

Jack Wolfson D.O.- The Natural Cardiologist