Contrary To Belief, Saturated Fat Isn’t Bad For Your Heart

Contrary To Belief, Saturated Fat Isn’t Bad For Your Heart

We’ve heard it over and over again: If you want to prevent heart disease, limit your saturated fats. The truth is that saturated fats don’t cause heart disease. Here are the facts.

Picture: withwind/Flickr

Two comprehensive meta-analyses (a study of studies), one published in 2010 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and another published in 2014 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, examined data from hundreds of thousands of participants and concluded that there’s no significant link between saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular disease.

But are saturated fats beneficial? Perhaps slightly. Saturated fat increases satiety after a meal more so than carbohydrates and possibly protein. In fact, decreasing saturated fat too much may lead to a decrease in testosterone in men.

We’re not saying to go crazy on the milkshakes, of course. Foods high in saturated fats tend to be high in calories, and eating a calorie-rich diet and gaining unnecessary weight isn’t good for anyone’s health. All that said, it’s important to know that saturated fat isn’t the devil that everyone has made it out to be and can be enjoyed as part of a sensible diet.

10 Awful Myths Perpetuated by the Media [Examine.com]


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