A new study suggests that saturated fats, often linked to heart disease, aren’t as horrible as they’ve been made out to be. Findings from University of Ohio research revealed that the intake of saturated fats could be doubled and even tripled in someone’s diet and not drive up their level in the bloodstream. This discovery disrupts longstanding nutrition beliefs and guidelines.
On the other hand, they found that carbohydrates may be more closely associated with heightened levels of fatty acid that lead to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.
“The point is you don’t necessarily save the saturated fat that you eat, and the primary regulator of what you save in terms of fat is the carbohydrate in your diet,” senior author Jeff Volek of Ohio State University, said in the report.
The study, published in PLOS ONE, involved 16 participants who were put on strict diets for four and a half months. Every three weeks, their diets were changed to adjust carbohydrate, saturated fat and total fat levels.
The results revealed that when saturated fat levels increased, the amount of total saturated fat in the blood remained level and even decreased for many participants when compared to levels before their participation. On the contrary, higher levels of carbohydrates increased the level of palmitoleic acid, a fatty acid associated with “unhealthy metabolism of carbohydrates that can promote disease.” A higher level of this fatty acid means that a higher proportion of carbs are converted into fat instead of being burned by the body.
The finding “challenges the conventional wisdom that has demonized saturated fat and extends our knowledge of why dietary saturated fat doesn’t correlate with disease,” Volek added.
By the end of the trial, participants saw improvements in blood glucose, insulin and blood pressure and lost an average of 22 pounds.
“There is widespread misunderstanding about saturated fat. In population studies, there’s clearly no association of dietary saturated fat and heart disease, yet dietary guidelines continue to advocate restriction of saturated fat. That’s not scientific and not smart,” Volek said.
[Source: NY Daily News]