The Truth About Saturated Fat
Saturated fat, in particular, coconut oil is thought to be dangerous to the heart. The main stream still say that coconut oil is indeed bad. For example, the American Heart Association and the American Health Association, etc. The mainstream cannot be unbiased because it’s not free of commercial arm-twisting influences. Scientific researches, unfortunately, rely on grants from the biased industries and governmental organizations. So truth gets less support than monetary benefit. The mainstream which includes the government, processed food giants, oil dealers, and the companies of drugs and medicines are all involved, so the matter does get murkier. It’s a herculean task to dig out the truth, as we are forced to believe the mainstream.
On the flipside, unbiased scientific research says that saturated fats have been known to raise the HDL cholesterol—good cholesterol. They also increase the LDL cholesterol–bad cholesterol. However, it is known that there are two types of LDL cholesterol—small and dense LDL cholesterol and large and fluffy LDL cholesterol. Research confirms that large fluffy LDL particles are heart healthy. You can heartily accept that saturated fat increases large fluffy particles; whereas, synthetic trans-fat increase the small and dense LDL particles. Click here to read about trans-fat.
Udo Erasmus, the author of the book titled Fats that Heal and Fats that Kill and an internationally recognized authority, says: “Tropical oils which include coconut, palm, palm kernel, cocoa, and shea nut have traditionally been used by the people living in the regions where they grow for a very longtime. They are used fresh as daily staples. The tropics are not known for high incidence of heart attacks and strokes.”
Similarly, Keralite are well-known to consume coconut oil for a very long time. However, heart diseases and strokes are not only known to effect people exclusively in Kerala but also people who live in other climates. So, to pigeonhole coconut as the sole factor in causing heart diseases is absurd.
I have reduced the intake of whole grains and increased the intake of saturated fat—coconut oil and organic ghee, as I am following a diet strategy called the Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy (MMT), which is similar to the popular known ketogenic diet. I add grated coconut as a toping to the vegetable salad I consume. Perhaps, it’s too early to say the benefits I derive by consuming them. However, I am seeing that I have lost a kilogram of bulk, which was on my midriff. I only oversee positive health benefits because of this dietary change. I also feel that my cravings to consume more food and sweets, chocolates in particular, has drastically reduced. This shows that my body was falling short-of healthy fats.