My belief is that we need to look at the quality of the fat as well as the fatty acid profile

Organic v.s industrial, animals raised on grass vs grains, oil extraction methods – a mechanical press v.s. oil extracting via a solvent like hexane, etc…

When it comes to the fatty acid profile, the assumption is that animal fats are all saturated while vegetable fats are a mix of poly and mono fats.

Not true

Palm oil is 49% sat, 37% mono and 9% poly
Palm kernel oil is 82% sat, 11% mono and 2 % poly

Big difference – same plant

Coconut oil is 87%sat, 6%mono, 2% poly
Beef tallow is 50%sat, 42%mono, 4%poly
Lard is 39%sat, 45%mono and 11% poly
Olive oil is 14%sat, 73% mono and 11% poly
Canola oil is 7.5%sat, 63%mono and 28%poly

My opinion:

Buy organic
Buy first pressed veg oils
Buy animal fats from animals raised on grass
Use a variety of diff oils – lard is better for baking than hydrogenated veg oils – use the best oil for the job
avoid hydrogenated oils like the plague

Hopefully, we see more objective research in the near future and we will be able to make a more educated decision.

I think, at this point, all of the “experts” are at the hypothesis stage.

Thanks for the pressure

#@^#&*$@@(@^#%%!%^&@*

I agree with your point that we shouldn’t swing too far the other way and start recommending a big bowl of lard-Os for breakfast.

However, I think in some circles this is already happening. Some of the Paleo-Diet crowd are quite fanatical in their beliefs.

On one hand, a T-Bone eaten by our ancestors carried much less saturated fat than the one we buy at the supermarket. Therefore, a lower fat diet (also the fats would have been healthier due to the non-grain diet enjoyed by the animal)

On the other hand, our ancestors also ate the organs, brain and marrow of the animal – much higher in saturated fat.

As I see it, our meat is of lower quality (fatty acid profile, steroids, antibiotics, etc…) than our ancestors. And since those poor qualities manifest themselves mainly in the fatty tissues, Dr. Cordain may be 100% correct.

I would love to see more objective research done to confirm this hypothesis.

However, main stream medicine has been anti-fat for the past 50-60 years. As a result, nutritional research has not kept an open mind when it comes to research the effect that fat / carbs has upon our bodies.

Hopefully, attitudes are changing and we may soon get some objective questions and answers.

I am increasingly suspicious of the hypothesis that saturated fats cause atherosclerotic complications such as heart attack, stroke, and death. But I don’t seem able to find the time to go back over ALL the research that might support or refute the hypothesis, and form my own opinion.

I’d love to see some world-renowned nutrition/medical figurehead(s) do it for me. That would save me about 40 hours.

It’s up to you now, DR.

[I may be reading too much in the blogosphere and not enough medical journals and textbooks of nutrition and cardiology.]

-Steve

What I mean is that when people start to learn that animal fats have been falsely demonized, they often jump right onto the “eat as much saturated fat as you want” bandwagon.

I believe based on Cordain’s research looked at the total fat percentage, and % saturated fat in game then the estimate of the percentage of total calories this represented for early man. Based on these figures he came up with a recommendation of 10-15% of calories from saturated fat.

This isn’t really much. So while I’ll agree that perhaps saturday fat isn’t bad, it’s easy to get WAY too much, and I do think most people in modern society would benefit from reducing their intake.

He generally shunned food fads and vigorously promoted the benefits of “reasonably low-fat diets,” instead of following “the North American habit for making the stomach the garbage disposal unit for a long list of harmful foods.”

Wow, he lived to be 101!

In defense of health, does it really matter which the lesser of two evils here is? I guess if one has to make a pie crust or other baked good, then I’m sure one is better than the other.

Perhaps one raises blood cholesterol levels more than the other?

I suppose it’s more realistic to discuss the lesser of two evils than to suggest that neither need be consumed.