Dairy industry study saying saturated fat is not that bad is partly right & partly wrong....

Today's Post: Tuesday, 10-5-2010

Last Friday, 10-1-2010, had this headline:

“Give saturated fat a second chance: study.”

In a series of research articles published in the October issue of Lipids, researchers backed by the US dairy industry said that adding more omega 3 oils and cutting back on carbohydrates is more heart protective than cutting back heavily on any foods containing saturated fats.

So, far so good.

This is particularly sound advice if the carbohydrates are things that are high glycemic, read very fattening!, such as high fructose corn syrup which soon may be re-labeled as corn sugar, sugar, refined grains, white potatoes, white rice, etc. New research shows these foods do help cause heart disease in addition to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

And, adding more omega 3 from high omega 3, low mercury fish such as wild caught salmon, herring, and sardines and from purified fish oil supplements is even more protective against inflammation, heart disease, and cancer, if you also eliminate oils such as corn and soy and safflower and canola that are high in omega 6 oils and eliminate refined grain foods as they are also high in omega 6 oils. (Using extra virgin olive oil -- and eating nuts and avocados if you aren’t allergic -- makes this much easier and more health supporting to do.)

In fact, doing that set of things makes it unnecessary for most people to take statin drugs to lower high HSCRP inflammation readings. And, if people also get regular exercise that works even better.

The AFP story had this quote.:

"Although diets inordinately high in fat and saturated fat are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk in some individuals, assuming that saturated fat at any intake level is harmful is an over-simplification and not supported by scientific evidence," said Bruce German, a food science professor at the University of California.

That’s a very careful and accurate view, I think.

The dairy industry has argued for many years that heart health oriented dietary advice overly blames saturated fat as the major cause of heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure.

Meanwhile, the American Heart Association still advises that no more than seven percent of daily calories come from saturated fat, which are found in foods such as fatty beef, pork, cream, butter and other dairy products.

Here we have the main issue in these two contrasting views.

The truth is a combination of both views PLUS the difference between animals raised in a somewhat old-fashioned way eating their natural diet and animals penned up and fed only grain in industrial farms and where the grain has been grown using pesticides and herbicides.

If you eat beef or lamb or dairy products from animals fed only grass not sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, they have less fat, less saturated fat, and dramatically less omega 6 oils and bioconcentrated herbicides and pesticides than those penned up and fed grain.

Unfortunately for the dairy industry, the fats in their foods should be limited by eating their foods less often and choosing nonfat and very lowfat kinds whenever possible because they mostly raise grain fed animals.

The extra fat, saturated fat, and the omega 6 oils plus the bioconcentrated herbicides and pesticide in the dairy fat, make doing so still a very good idea. Such foods are not only unnaturally high in fat and saturated fat; but the omega 6 oils and pollutants help cause heart disease AND cancer.

BUT, the good news for the dairy industry is that if they raise cattle that eat only grass that has not been sprayed by herbicides and pesticides, they are actually correct, getting some saturated fat from that kind of dairy products when eating health OK foods otherwise is probably safe for most people to do without harming their hearts.

In moderation, and without all those pollutants, the saturated fat from such animals is dramatically less harmful for your heart. And, in fact eating just some of it helps increase your protective HDL.

As a result, I myself now drink nonfat & 1% lowfat milk and only buy 2% lowfat yogurt. Most of the butter and cheese I eat are from a source I believe to be grass fed. And, I eat more beans and wild caught salmon than cheese and far more extra virgin olive oil than butter.

To the maximum extent I can, I only eat beef and lamb from grass fed animals and most of the chicken I eat is skinless to cut back on the fat and saturated fat etc.

But, because the dairy industry IS correct when the dairy products are from grass fed cows, I am no longer as paranoid about eating butter and cheese as being harmful to my heart as I once was.

So, they are partly correct and partly wrong.

The real answer is it depends. And you now know what it depends upon.