Saturated Fat: Friend or Foe?
“The next time you eat a piece of buttered toast, consider that butter is actually the more healthful component.”
-Harvard professor David Ludwig
Although buzz words like “paleo,” “primal,” “gluten-free,” and “low-carb” are becoming mainstream, people still have tough time overcoming their fat-phobias, and especially saturated fat-phobias.
Last summer, I did a little self-experiment and started my mornings with around 400 calories of pure saturated fat in my coffee and ended up dropping from 12% body fat to 8% in a few months!
That’s a story for another day, though!
Here’s a few more "scientific" saturated fat nuggets that might come as a surprise to you.
“It is time to bust the myth of the role of saturated fat in heart disease.”
British Medical Journal (2013)
http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6340
“...the relative effect of dietary saturated fat on CVD risk requires reevaluation.”
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2010)
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/91/3/502.full
Saturated fats are almost always the safest for cooking at high temperatures due to their high smoke points and stable nature
http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/CollectedInfo/OilSmokePoints.htm
Testosterone is reduced if less than 40% of your calories come from fat
Testosterone is reduced if you cut out saturated fat in favor of unsaturated
Journal of Steroid Biochemistry (1984)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6538617
Don’t be afraid of saturated fat from the following sources
Pasture-raised beef, chicken, pork, eggs, etc
Butter from grass-fed cows
Unrefined coconut oil and other coconut products
Unrefined palm oil
Various nuts
Consider making simple switches to your grocery store protocol
The 2% or full-fat yogurt option vs the 0% option
Whole eggs instead of egg whites
Whole milk vs skim
Buying nuts for snacking
Cook with a saturated oil
Coconut
Butter
Palm
Etc.
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