What's the Skinney on Fat

Saturated fat has over the years been labelled as the big baddy in nutritional terms and its effects on increased cholesterol and heart disease and of course the giants of business have cashed in on this with a multitude of low fat foods and spreads which are loaded with sugars and chemicals.
But is saturated fat the real culprit here? There is in fact very little evidence of Saturated Fat being the cause of weight gain and heart disease and studies show that fatty acids are very important in maintaining cell membrane integrity, the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K and for the production of many hormones.

Further evidence shows that Fat isn't really the baddy in relation to heart disease and (LDL) Cholesterol the culprit was found to be high glycemic carbohydrates. The study covered 2 groups, one which consumed High Fat /Low carb diet and the other a High Carb / Low fat diet, the results where quite startling. The group that consumed the high Carbohydrate / low fat diet displayed an increased risk of heart disease of 33%!!

Further evidence taken from 41 European countries showed that France which had the highest Saturated fat intake (16% of their diet) had the lowest incidence of heart disease which in stark contrast compared to Bosnia who's saturated fat intake is only 4% had in fact the highest incidence of heart disease.

I often advocate high fat, high protein, low carbohydrates to many of my clients who choose to shed pounds of unwanted fat and of course I practice what I preach, my diet for next years Mr Wales will consist of a high ratio of Fats and proteins with minimal carbohydrates.

Ref; Jakobsen, M. U., Dethlefsen, C., Joensen, A. M., et al. (2010). Intake of carbohydrates compared with intake of saturated fatty acids and risk of myocardial infarction: importance of the glycemic index. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91, 1764-8.

European cardiovascular disease statistics (2008 edition). British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group Department of Public Health, University of Oxford and Health Economics Research Centre, Department of Public Health, University of Oxford.