Could you provide a few links to the major studies showing excessive saturated fat is unhealthy?
This website, and the American heart association, continue to recommend a diet low in saturated fat. But the current buzz on the internet is that there is really little evidence for that position.
In fact, France eats a diet high in saturated fat, yet has a low rate of deaths from heart disease (http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/coronary-heart-disease..., http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22981595).
Can I see links to the original studies showing SF is harmful?
Answer
[Answer goes here.]
There has been a backlash against low fat diets, leading people to go in the opposite direction, embracing diets high in saturated fat diets.
The truth is diets low in saturated fat won't reduce heart disease risk if the saturated fat is being replaced with refined carbs. This decreases HDL (good cholesterol) and can increase triglycerides and the blood sugar response.
But as both of the review studies below demonstrate, when saturated fat in the diet is replaced with plant and fish sources of fat (omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) it decreases heart disease risk -- HDL increases and LDL (bad cholesterol) decreases.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24345985
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23895475
This is basically the Mediterranean diet -- low in saturated fat, high in fruits and vegetables and healthy fat sources like olive oil and nuts. While the French may have diets higher in saturated fats, they also tend to be leaner, walk more and eat other heart healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.
While the evidence continues to evolve, there isn't enough to recommend a diet high in saturated fat to reduce heart disease.
