Benefits of saturated fats

There are many benefits of saturated fats - much more than the supposed dangers of saturated fats.

And the many benefits are enjoyed by practically all of the body's organs and functions, including, surprise, suprise... the heart!

Yes, no typing mistake here, the heart.

Saturated fats have widely been blamed for causing heart disease. But as we have seen in Part I of this article about the benefits of saturated fats, there is actually no conclusive scientific proof that saturated fats are to blame.

In fact, there is actually strong evidence to suggest that the real culprits are the very fats that doctors and nutritionists recommend, the polyunsaturated fats. Click here to learn more.

But for now, let's learn more about the benefits of saturated fats...

Fuel - and protection - for the heart

“The conclusion of an analysis of the history and politics behind the diet-heart hypothesis was that after 50 years of research, there was no evidence that a diet low in saturated fat prolongs life." - American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, September 2004 “In Frammingham, Massachusetts, the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.” - Dr William Castelli, Leader of the Framingham Heart Study, writing in Archives of Internal Medicine, 1992

While saturated fats are widely bamed for causing heart disease, they are actually the preferred fuel for the heart – meaning the heart works best when it is fueled by saturated fats.

This is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated. During times of stress, the heart draws on this reserve of saturated fat.

Saturated fats also prevent heart lesions or tissue damage. In the 1970s, Canadian researchers studied rapeseed oil and canola oil, which they thought was the “ideal” fat. But they found that animals given exclusively canola oil developed heart lesions. When these animals were given saturated fats, they no longer developed heart lesions.

Cholesterol

Saturated fats are commonly blamed for raising cholesterol levels. But they raise both the levels of good HDL cholesterol as well as the so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol.

I write “bad” between inverted commas because there is also controversy about whether cholesterol is really bad. This is discussed more fully in another article, the cholesterol myths.

Benefits of saturated fats - Cell integrity

Our cell membranes consist of 50 percent saturated fats! Adequate intake of saturated fats help ensure the stiffness and integrity of our cell membranes. This, in turn, protects our cells against virus attacks. Saturated fats enhance our immunity against diseases.

In modern societies, the cell walls of some people contain as much as 20 percent trans fats. These cells are distorted and weak, making a person prone to infection.

While they protect our cell walls, saturated fats destroy the cell walls of many harmful microorganisms, including virus, bacteria, fungi and parasites.

In particular, two groups of saturated fats – the short-chain fatty acids and medium chain fatty acids work powerfully to destroy these organisms without causing any adverse side effects. These short and medium chain fatty acids include lauric, capric and caprylic acids, and they are found abundantly in products like coconut oil, palm oil and butter – as well as in human breast milk.

In the Philippines, researchers found that lauric acid, and its extract, monolaurin, is effective in destroying the HIV virus that causes Aids. Caprylic acid is effective against candida, a fungi infection that is well-known for being extremely hard to treat, with pharmaceutical drugs for the condition causing very serious side effects.

Benefits of saturated fats in preventing osteoporosis

Osteoporosis, the loss of calcium from the bones, has become a serious problem in modern societies. There are two aspects to solving this problem – ensuring adequate calcium intake and calcium absorption, and preventing calcium loss.

For the body to absorb calcium effectively, at least 50 percent of the dietary fats should be saturated. In nature, this is automatically taken care of - because many foods that are rich in calcium, like milk, are also rich in saturated fats.

But what do modern food producers do? They come up with strange, unnatural products such as ‘High-Low’ milk with high levels of calcium but low levels of saturated fats. Such formulations do not work! They merely cater to modern misconceptions about the supposed dangers of saturated fats.

Vitamin D

Also needed for calcium absorption and bone health is Vitamin D. This vitamin is found abundantly in animal organs such as the liver - which again contains high levels of saturated fats.

Vitamin A

Another important fat-soluble vitamin found in products like liver is Vitamin A. In nature, it is commonly observed that when animals kill their prey, they eat the liver first.

Talking about the liver... saturated fats protect the liver against toxicity from alcohol and certain pharmaceutical drugs such as Tylenol.

Benefits of saturated fats - Omega 3

In recent years, much attention has been focused on Omega 3, which is an essential fatty acid.Both Omega 3 and Omega 6 are said to be essential because they contribute to health and we have to take them from food. The body cannot produce these substances.

Among other things, adequate intake of Omega 3 and Omega 6 – especially a correct balance between the two – protects against heart disease and a host of other degenerative diseases. But Omega 3 is emphasised because it tends to be lacking in modern diets.

The thing is this... although Omega 3 is a polyunsatured fat, the body needs saturated fats for the utilization of Omega 3. Elongated omega-3 fatty acids – the type most widely studied and found to protect the heart and impart other health benefits – are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats.

Benefits of saturated fats - anti-allergy

A team of researches from Finland reported in 2001 that children who developed allergies tended to eat less butter and more margarine. It was not the first to suggest that certain types of fatty acids may play a role in the onset of allergic diseases.

Polyunsaturated fats like those in margarine are thought to promote the formation of prostaglandin E2, a substance that promotes inflammation and causes the immune system to release a protein that triggers allergic reactions.

There are many, many more benefits of saturated fats. I don't know them all and I don't think it is necessary to know.

What is important to know, however, is that saturated fats are highly beneficial to health in many, many ways. And that they are not harmful.

The harm arises when people try become obsessed with the unproven dangers of saturated fats and end up taking unnatural products like polyunsaturated fats that have already been damaged by heat, as well as margarine that contain deadly trans fats.

Sadly, this is what many health authorities are recommending. To learn more about this, please visit my Stop Trans Fats website.