Fueling Your Fat Fix: Forbidden foods with saturated fat may be okay
This is a guest post from Jonny Bowden.
Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS, (aka “The Rogue Nutritionist”) is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He is a board-certified nutritionist with a master’s degree in psychology and the best-selling author of 14 books on health, healing, food and longevity, including three best-sellers, “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth”, the award-winning “Living Low Carb” and his latest book, co-written with cardiologist Stephen Sinatra and featured on the Dr. Oz Show, “The Great Cholesterol Myth”.
Nutritionist debunks some old wives’ tales so that you can enjoy your meals again
Let’s talk fat. Specifically, saturated fat. If you’ve banished red meats and egg yolks from your diet for health reasons, there’s reason to rejoice. “I think the notion that saturated fat and cholesterol are the demons in the diet is 100 percent wrong,” says Dr. Jonny Bowden PhD, CNS, a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. “When you look at the data, it’s very clear: Most of what we’ve been told about saturated fat and cholesterol is simply not so.”
Bowden, a board-certified nutritionist and author of 14 books including The Great Cholesterol Myth co-authored with cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, explains that, “I’m out to rehabilitate the reputation of saturated fat, a perfectly healthy fat that we collectively demonized when we wrongly believed it lead to heart disease. Recent research has shown that there’s no connection between saturated fat in the diet and the incidence of heart disease. Instead of saturated fat and cholesterol, most leading edge experts are now looking at inflammation as a prime mover in the development of heart disease.
“The irony is that the foods we were taught are good for us – breads, cereals, pasta, rice, potatoes – are the very ones that are killing us. Our bodies convert these foods to sugar almost instantly. Sugar raises insulin, which causes inflammation, which is the fundamental cause of heart disease.”
Omega 3 & Common Fish Oil Myths
Have you had a chance to review some of the Omega 3 information I’ve shared? If not, here are links to some resources:
How much omega 3 do you need to lower cholesterol?
Top Omega 3 Sources to Lower Cholesterol
Now, let’s get a another point of view from Dr. Fred Sancillio.
Dr. Sancilio is a development scientist. He has published over 20 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented to scientists in conferences around the world. He started his career as a physical and analytical chemist in the Research Division of Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc. Dr. Sancilio earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physical and Analytical Chemistry from Rutgers University.
According to Dr. Sancilio, if you take a fish oil supplement to help lower your LDL cholesterol, you’re wasting your money. The same may hold true if you think there’s not much difference between the various types of fish oil and omega-3 supplements on store shelves except perhaps the capsule sizes (and the size of the smelly, fishy belches some cause after you take them).
So, let’s dive into a Q & A discussion different aspects of omega 3 and what Dr. Sancilio refers to as myths…
Trans Fats No Longer Recognized as Safe
Trans fats are produced during the process of hydrogenation. Partially hydrogenated oils are used in food production to enhance flavor, texture, and shelf life of many processed foods. Partially hydrogenated oils have been used in food production for quite some time. It was in 1911 when Protor & Gamble began using partially hydrogenated oils in the shortening Crisco. The hydrogenation process, which results in trans fats, made it possible to stabilize oil.
The Health Concerns
Unfortunately, trans fats come with many health concerns. They increase LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels while decreasing HDL cholesterol levels. Trans fats are linked to stroke, heart disease, and diabetes.
In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), required food manufacturers to report trans fat content on food labels. Research shows this did help Americans to reduce their trans fat intake from an average of 4.6 grams per day in 2006 to 1 gram per day on average in 2012.
Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)
Any substance added to food is considered a food additive and must be reviewed and approved by the FDA. This review and approval does not have to take place if the food additive is generally recognized as safe under the conditions of its intended use among qualified experts. Up until now, trans fats have been on the “Generally Recognized As Safe” list.
Recently the FDA announced that partially hydrogenated oils (i.e. the primary source of trans fats) are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in food. This preliminary determination is based on current research findings and reviews of expert scientific panels. This means the FDA has begun a 60-day comment period to collect more data, as well as determine how much time is needed for food manufacturers to eliminate the use of partially hydrogenated oils in production.
What You Can Do
You don’t need to wait for food manufactures to change their methods. You can read food labels now to eliminate trans fats from your diet.
Here are some foods that may contain trans fats:
Anti-Inflammatory Diet to Promote Heart Health
Consuming a low cholesterol diet is not necessarily the best treatment plan for lowering cholesterol levels and reducing your risk for heart disease.
Why? Well, it depends on which of your total cholesterol particles is elevated. For example, if LDL cholesterol is high, it’s best to focus on reducing your intake of saturated fat. If triglycerides are elevated you want to reduce your sugar and alcohol intake for the most impact. Knowing which of your cholesterol particles is elevated will allow you to implement a more effective treatment plan.
Then you also have the other component – inflammation. Cholesterol by itself does not necessarily lead to heart disease. It’s a process that begins with inflammation resulting in the oxidation of cholesterol particles. So, you also want to incorporate a diet rich in “anti-inflammatory foods”.
How to Follow an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Continue reading
Are You Middle-Age with High Cholesterol?
First of all, your cholesterol levels are not the final determinant of your heart attack or heart disease risk. Other factors besides cholesterol play a role, such as inflammation which causes cholesterol to oxidize and then lead to heart concerns. That being said, you don’t just want to ignore cholesterol levels. They are a good measure to assess risk and determine if further investigation is needed to determine appropriate treatment.
Norwegian researchers reported middle-age men with high cholesterol levels to be at increased risk for a first heart attack when compared to women with high cholesterol levels.
This study, published in the September issue of Epidemiology, included more than 40,000 participants under the age of 60 years-old. They found men with high cholesterol to have three times the risk for a heart attack versus women.
The reason for this increased wasn’t identified by the researchers, but speculation that it may be connected to the protective effects of hormones, such as estrogen. That is why this study had an age limit of 60 years-old. After the age of 60, the protective benefits women may receive from hormones is eliminated as menopause begins.
Omega 3’s: Should You Stop Taking Fish Oil Supplements?
On July 11, 2013 research results from Brasky et al. were published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The concluded that high blood concentrations of omega 3 fatty acids were linked to increase prostate cancer risk. Researchers state these results support their 2011 findings that omega 3 fatty acids play a role in prostate cancer.
In the few weeks since this study was published, many doctors and researchers have weighed in with their viewpoints on the study results. Let’s sift through all the information and focus on what you need to know so you can decide if you should continue supplementing omega 3 fatty acids or not.
The Study
This study, released by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, analyzed participant data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). SELECT was a large randomized, placebo-controlled trial to test whether selenium and vitamin E reduced prostate cancer risk. SELECT was not a double-blind placebo controlled trial focused on omega 3’s and prostate cancer. Participants in SELECT had their omega 3 levels measured. It was the plasma phospholipid omega 3 levels of 834 men who developed prostate cancer and 1393 men who did not develop prostate cancer that was analyzed for this most recent research linking omega 3’s to prostate cancer.
Cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra points out valid concerns regarding vitamin E and its pro-oxidative effect on cholesterol. Oxidation causes the production of free radicals, which increases health concerns (ie cancer, heart disease, etc.). In SELECT, participants received 400 IU of dl-alpha tocopherol (one form of vitamin E). Many would argue that supplementing high levels of one form of vitamin E is associated with its own negative health consequences. Sharing this to show that the data analyzed from SELECT may have been ‘contaminated’ by the vitamin E supplementation which can impact results. Also, keep in mind that some participants were on prescription medications, were smokers, regularly drank alcohol, were overweight/obese, and/or had a first-degree relative with prostate cancer…all of which impact prostate cancer risk.
Omega 3 Levels
Here are the plasma omega 3 levels and the cancer risk found in this research:
