saturated fats

Quandary About Fats in the Diet

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 01 May 2024 22:19:17 +0000

The human body is the most complex machine on the face of the Earth. Like any machine, it requires an input of fuel to function along with a variety of chemicals for proper maintenance. In this case, those requirements are met by food. But food is incredibly complex, even a simple meal is composed of hundreds of compounds.

The Fat Conundrum

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:36:09 +0000

Butter or margarine? Olive oil or canola oil? Low fat diets or high fat diets? You would think that after literally thousands of studies we would have some straight forward answers about the effect of fat on our health. But such is not the case. There is pretty solid evidence that saturated fats raise blood cholesterol. There is also solid evidence that high levels of blood cholesterol are a risk factor for heart disease. But then there is the conundrum. Studies have not been able to show that saturated fats raise the risk of heart disease. How is that to be explained?

Are all Fats created equal?

OSS — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:25:22 +0000

Not all saturated fats are created equal. They have a different effect on blood cholesterol depending on the number of carbon atoms in their molecular structure. Lauric acid, the predominant fatty acid in coconut oil has twelve carbons and unlike longer chain fatty acids does not raise LDL the "bad cholesterol" significantly but does elevate HDL, the "good cholesterol." This does not make it into any sort of "miracle fat" because like any other fat, it is high in calories (9 calories per gram).