Just in case the publisher is on vacation this week, let me be the one to state here and again, unequivocally, that I am not a doctor. In fact I have no medical training whatsoever and only took four years of both high school science and high school math on my way to becoming an architect. So, nothing in my columns is intended nor should be construed as medical advice. I offer only my opinions and the opinions of those medical doctors and scientists cited with attribution.
This is the fifth and last in the mini-series on “knowing your fats.” In this series I have quoted extensively, from “The Skinny on Fats,” originally published in 2000 by the Weston A. Price Foundation and then incorporated into a cookbook, “Nourishing Traditions”, by Mary Enig, PhD. and Sally Fallon, president of the Foundation. The quotation that follows is from “The Skinny on Fats.” It is titled, “The Cause and Treatment of Heart Disease.”
“The cause of heart disease is not animal fats and cholesterol but rather a number of factors inherent in modern diets, including excess consumption of vegetables oils and hydrogenated [read “trans”] fats; excess consumption of refined carbohydrates in the form of sugar and white flour; mineral deficiencies, particularly low levels of protective magnesium and iodine; deficiencies of vitamins, particularly of vitamin C, needed for the integrity of the blood vessel walls, and of antioxidants like selenium and vitamin E, which protect us from free radicals; and, finally, the disappearance of antimicrobial fats from the food supply, namely, animal fats and tropical oils.52 These once protected us against the kinds of viruses and bacteria that have been associated with the onset of pathogenic plaque leading to heart disease.
While serum cholesterol levels provide an inaccurate indication of future heart disease, a high level of a substance called homocysteine in the blood has been positively correlated with pathological buildup of plaque in the arteries and the tendency to form clots—a deadly combination. Folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and choline are nutrients that lower serum homocysteine levels.53 These nutrients are found mostly in animal foods.
The best way to treat heart disease, then, is not to focus on lowering cholesterol—either by drugs or diet—but to consume a diet that provides animal foods rich in vitamins B6 and B12; to bolster thyroid function by daily use of natural sea salt, a good source of usable iodine; to avoid vitamin and mineral deficiencies that make the artery walls more prone to ruptures and the buildup of plaque; to include the antimicrobial fats in the diet; and to eliminate processed foods containing refined carbohydrates, oxidized cholesterol and free-radical-containing vegetable oils that cause the body to need constant repair.” End of quote. Please see the Foundation website referred to above for the footnote references.
While there is not perfect concordance among the various leaders in the medical and scientific community (and even popular authors like Michael Pollan) on what to eat to avoid the Diseases of Civilization, there are remarkable similarities. Gary Taubes, and Kurt Harris, M. D., and Mary Enig, PhD, are among my favorites, but they are just a few of hundreds of authoritative resources in this emerging field. If we keep an open mind, we should all benefit from the knowledge that is becoming available. But, sad to say, it is difficult to turn the ship of state from its present course.
This is especially true 1) when convenience dictates labor-saving prepared foods, and fast-food solutions, 2) when cost is the primary driver of decisions we make at the supermarket, 3) when deceptive, misleading advertising influences the food choices we make, and 4) when agri-business has so much at stake in promoting the sale of new versions of processed foods. The result: the very foods that are billed as “heart-healthy” are in fact the ones that will lead us down the path to the modern Diseases of Civilization: metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
To avoid these outcomes, we need to take control of our own health. We have to learn how to “eat healthy.” And then we have to do it. In upcoming columns, we will continue to explore real food: What to eat, what not to eat, and why.
To get started and to monitor your progress, you should have a baseline lipid profile. I urge you to ask your doctor for a copy of your most recent lipid panel, or order one for you. Then show him column #25 in this series: “Understanding Your Lipid Profile” and discuss your profile in that context. Ask your doctor is he agrees with the analysis I offered. And ask if it would matter to him what you ate so long as you achieved that kind of turnaround in the course of say a year. I did, and you could too, if you change what you eat and follow that way of eating carefully.
© Dan Brown 9/5/11
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Monday, September 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The Nutrition Debate #25: Understanding Your Lipid Panel
As has been pointed out with each column, I am not a doctor or a health care professional, and I do not offer dietary or health-related advice. You must draw your own conclusions from my ramblings, and of course you do so at your own risk. Here comes the “however”: I can do simple math and read a lab report, especially one that gives an “IN range,” “OUT range,” and “Reference Range,” plus other guidance, for each test ordered.
At each office visit, my doctor always orders a complete blood count and a comprehensive metabolic panel, including a lipid panel and an Hb A1c, plus, from time to time, other specialty tests (Cardio High Sensitivity CRP, etc.). This column is going to be about understanding the lipid panel. That includes Total Cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol (calculated), Triglycerides, and the (total) Cholesterol/HDL Ratio. Some panels also include VLDL.
Most people know the drill: “high” total cholesterol is not a good thing, that there is “good” cholesterol (HDL) and “bad” cholesterol (LDL), and that we should try to get our circulating triglyceride levels down. If we aren’t successful at doing this through dietary restriction of saturated fat and cholesterol containing foods (per our doctor’s advice), he is going to prescribe a pharmacological solution to lower our LDL, and thereby our Total Cholesterol as well. We are going to be asked to support the $20 billion dollar annual statin market by taking Crestor, Lipitor, or Zocor (or Simvastatin, its generic equivalent). These are listed with the most recent and most effective first. But, is it that simple?
We shall ignore the efficacy of the dietary advice for purposes of this example, but I want it to be clear that I totally and completely disagree with that advice, based on all the science I am reading and on my own personal (n = 1) experience. Nevertheless, let us suppose that two people (or the same person, in two “snapshots” of lipid panels taken a few years apart) have identical Total Cholesterol, to wit: 200mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter). One has an HDL of 40mg/dl, an LDL of 130mg/dl (calculated), a Triglyceride count of 150mg/dl, and a Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio of 5.0. ALL FIVE OF THESE VALUES ARE BORDERLINE OUT OF RANGE. They would appear in bold in the “OUT range” column on your lab report. Your doctor would tell you, according to my understanding of the “Standards of Practice,” to cut down on all those saturated fat and dietary cholesterol containing foods, and probably to exercise more as well. BAD ADVICE, IMHO.
Now let’s look at another lipid panel: Total Cholesterol also 200mg/dl, HDL = 80mg/dl, LDL = 110mg/dl (calculated), Triglycerides = 50mg/dl, and a Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio of 2.5. The only value that is borderline high in this panel is Total Cholesterol at 200mg/dl. Everything else is textbook WUNDERBAR! It’s true, the LDL is above optimal (<100mg/dl), but remember LDL is a derived (calculated), not a measured value. The formula for LDL in the simple lipid panel is LDL = Total Cholesterol – HDL – Triglycerides/5. And, if your doctor was worried about your less than optimal LDL’s (because of existing heart disease, other cardiac risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome or higher than “normal” fasting plasma glucose or Hb A1c scores) he could order the VLDL test, or an even more sophisticated VAP test of LDL particle size (“A”= “large and buoyant” or “B” =“small and dense.”) Regardless, this lipid panel would NOT lead your doctor to prescribe statins or require dietary change. He would tell you to “continue with whatever you are doing.”
Bottom line: a Total Cholesterol test score of 200mg/dl on your lipid panel, with the first subset of values, can put you in the “dog house,” on dietary restrictions, and soon thereafter when dietary changes don’t work, on a diet of statins.
Or, you could have a lipid panel similar to the second example* and become your doctor’s poster boy, as I did after I’d been on a very low carb, high fat and moderate protein way of eating for a year or so. My doctor (a cardiologist) just tells me to keep on doing what I’m doing. Even though he started me on this program, he doesn’t want to know what I eat. For him, it’s no more lectures, just smiles, and when the test results come in, a congratulatory phone call.
For my doctor, my office visit is one of the “high points” of his day, he says. I can believe it. No stress (for him). No more arguments (from me). No latent suspicions or overt charges of “non-compliance” (cheating) with the dietary restrictions he imposed. And, above all, no hypocrisy for having to preach the baloney -- excuse me -- the bad medical advice that the public health, big pharma, media and the medical establishment continue to dish out to the lemmings who put their trust, and their lives, in the hands of “big brother,” the dietary Dictocrats, our nanny state. Sorry – I just had to vent, (and crow, of course)
* My most recent (8/15/11) lipid panel: TC = 209, HDL = 92, LDL (calc.) = 111, TC/HDL = 2.3, Triglycerides = 32
© Dan Brown 8/28/11
At each office visit, my doctor always orders a complete blood count and a comprehensive metabolic panel, including a lipid panel and an Hb A1c, plus, from time to time, other specialty tests (Cardio High Sensitivity CRP, etc.). This column is going to be about understanding the lipid panel. That includes Total Cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol (calculated), Triglycerides, and the (total) Cholesterol/HDL Ratio. Some panels also include VLDL.
Most people know the drill: “high” total cholesterol is not a good thing, that there is “good” cholesterol (HDL) and “bad” cholesterol (LDL), and that we should try to get our circulating triglyceride levels down. If we aren’t successful at doing this through dietary restriction of saturated fat and cholesterol containing foods (per our doctor’s advice), he is going to prescribe a pharmacological solution to lower our LDL, and thereby our Total Cholesterol as well. We are going to be asked to support the $20 billion dollar annual statin market by taking Crestor, Lipitor, or Zocor (or Simvastatin, its generic equivalent). These are listed with the most recent and most effective first. But, is it that simple?
We shall ignore the efficacy of the dietary advice for purposes of this example, but I want it to be clear that I totally and completely disagree with that advice, based on all the science I am reading and on my own personal (n = 1) experience. Nevertheless, let us suppose that two people (or the same person, in two “snapshots” of lipid panels taken a few years apart) have identical Total Cholesterol, to wit: 200mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter). One has an HDL of 40mg/dl, an LDL of 130mg/dl (calculated), a Triglyceride count of 150mg/dl, and a Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio of 5.0. ALL FIVE OF THESE VALUES ARE BORDERLINE OUT OF RANGE. They would appear in bold in the “OUT range” column on your lab report. Your doctor would tell you, according to my understanding of the “Standards of Practice,” to cut down on all those saturated fat and dietary cholesterol containing foods, and probably to exercise more as well. BAD ADVICE, IMHO.
Now let’s look at another lipid panel: Total Cholesterol also 200mg/dl, HDL = 80mg/dl, LDL = 110mg/dl (calculated), Triglycerides = 50mg/dl, and a Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio of 2.5. The only value that is borderline high in this panel is Total Cholesterol at 200mg/dl. Everything else is textbook WUNDERBAR! It’s true, the LDL is above optimal (<100mg/dl), but remember LDL is a derived (calculated), not a measured value. The formula for LDL in the simple lipid panel is LDL = Total Cholesterol – HDL – Triglycerides/5. And, if your doctor was worried about your less than optimal LDL’s (because of existing heart disease, other cardiac risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome or higher than “normal” fasting plasma glucose or Hb A1c scores) he could order the VLDL test, or an even more sophisticated VAP test of LDL particle size (“A”= “large and buoyant” or “B” =“small and dense.”) Regardless, this lipid panel would NOT lead your doctor to prescribe statins or require dietary change. He would tell you to “continue with whatever you are doing.”
Bottom line: a Total Cholesterol test score of 200mg/dl on your lipid panel, with the first subset of values, can put you in the “dog house,” on dietary restrictions, and soon thereafter when dietary changes don’t work, on a diet of statins.
Or, you could have a lipid panel similar to the second example* and become your doctor’s poster boy, as I did after I’d been on a very low carb, high fat and moderate protein way of eating for a year or so. My doctor (a cardiologist) just tells me to keep on doing what I’m doing. Even though he started me on this program, he doesn’t want to know what I eat. For him, it’s no more lectures, just smiles, and when the test results come in, a congratulatory phone call.
For my doctor, my office visit is one of the “high points” of his day, he says. I can believe it. No stress (for him). No more arguments (from me). No latent suspicions or overt charges of “non-compliance” (cheating) with the dietary restrictions he imposed. And, above all, no hypocrisy for having to preach the baloney -- excuse me -- the bad medical advice that the public health, big pharma, media and the medical establishment continue to dish out to the lemmings who put their trust, and their lives, in the hands of “big brother,” the dietary Dictocrats, our nanny state. Sorry – I just had to vent, (and crow, of course)
* My most recent (8/15/11) lipid panel: TC = 209, HDL = 92, LDL (calc.) = 111, TC/HDL = 2.3, Triglycerides = 32
© Dan Brown 8/28/11
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Nutrition Debate #24: What About Cholesterol?
And what about dietary cholesterol? Again, quoting from Mary Enig, PhD, and Sally Fallon, authors of “The Skinny on Fats, “Here, too, the public has been misinformed. Our blood vessels can become damaged in a number of ways—through irritations caused by free radicals or viruses, or because they are structurally weak—and when this happens, the body's natural healing substance steps in to repair the damage. That substance is cholesterol. Cholesterol is a high-molecular-weight alcohol that is manufactured in the liver and in most human cells. Like saturated fats, the cholesterol we make and consume plays many vital roles:
• Along with saturated fats, cholesterol in the cell membrane gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability. When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane, so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is "driven" into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet.46
• Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer; and to the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
• Cholesterol is a precursor to vitamin D, a very important fat-soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and nervous system, proper growth, mineral metabolism, muscle tone, insulin production, reproduction and immune system function.
• The bile salts are made from cholesterol. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet.
• Recent research shows that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant.47 This is the likely explanation for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer.
• Cholesterol is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain.48 Serotonin is the body's natural "feel-good" chemical. Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicidal tendencies.
• Mother's milk is especially rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme that helps the baby utilize this nutrient. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system.
• Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall.49 This is why low-cholesterol vegetarian diets can lead to leaky gut syndrome and other intestinal disorders.
Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease but rather a potent antioxidant weapon against free radicals in the blood, and a repair substance that helps heal arterial damage (although the arterial plaques themselves contain very little cholesterol.) However, like fats, cholesterol may be damaged by exposure to heat and oxygen. This damaged or oxidized cholesterol seems to promote both injury to the arterial cells as well as a pathological buildup of plaque in the arteries.50
Damaged cholesterol is found in powdered eggs, in powdered milk (added to reduced-fat milks to give them body) and in meats and fats that have been heated to high temperatures in frying and other high-temperature processes. High serum cholesterol levels often indicate that the body needs cholesterol to protect itself from high levels of altered, free-radical-containing fats. Just as a large police force is needed in a locality where crime occurs frequently, so cholesterol is needed in a poorly nourished body to protect the individual from a tendency to heart disease and cancer. Blaming coronary heart disease on cholesterol is like blaming the police for murder and theft in a high crime area.” End of long quote. Note all the footnotes are in the Weston A. Price website article, “The Skinny on Fats.”
To add insult to injury, remember that we make, i.e. our liver and cells make, cholesterol to “make up” for all those good foods (eggs, butter, cream, marbled beef, shrimp, liver, etc.) that we avoid eating to follow doctor’s orders. It has too. It needs cholesterol to do all the things described above, and it works holistically to get what it needs. It’s a good thing too. Just imagine if the human race were dependent for survival on the vagaries of current government public health policy. I’ll take autonomic homeostatic regulation over Obamacare and Congressional regulation any day. It doesn’t shut down.
© Dan Brown 8/14/11
• Along with saturated fats, cholesterol in the cell membrane gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability. When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane, so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is "driven" into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet.46
• Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer; and to the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
• Cholesterol is a precursor to vitamin D, a very important fat-soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and nervous system, proper growth, mineral metabolism, muscle tone, insulin production, reproduction and immune system function.
• The bile salts are made from cholesterol. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet.
• Recent research shows that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant.47 This is the likely explanation for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer.
• Cholesterol is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain.48 Serotonin is the body's natural "feel-good" chemical. Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicidal tendencies.
• Mother's milk is especially rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme that helps the baby utilize this nutrient. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system.
• Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall.49 This is why low-cholesterol vegetarian diets can lead to leaky gut syndrome and other intestinal disorders.
Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease but rather a potent antioxidant weapon against free radicals in the blood, and a repair substance that helps heal arterial damage (although the arterial plaques themselves contain very little cholesterol.) However, like fats, cholesterol may be damaged by exposure to heat and oxygen. This damaged or oxidized cholesterol seems to promote both injury to the arterial cells as well as a pathological buildup of plaque in the arteries.50
Damaged cholesterol is found in powdered eggs, in powdered milk (added to reduced-fat milks to give them body) and in meats and fats that have been heated to high temperatures in frying and other high-temperature processes. High serum cholesterol levels often indicate that the body needs cholesterol to protect itself from high levels of altered, free-radical-containing fats. Just as a large police force is needed in a locality where crime occurs frequently, so cholesterol is needed in a poorly nourished body to protect the individual from a tendency to heart disease and cancer. Blaming coronary heart disease on cholesterol is like blaming the police for murder and theft in a high crime area.” End of long quote. Note all the footnotes are in the Weston A. Price website article, “The Skinny on Fats.”
To add insult to injury, remember that we make, i.e. our liver and cells make, cholesterol to “make up” for all those good foods (eggs, butter, cream, marbled beef, shrimp, liver, etc.) that we avoid eating to follow doctor’s orders. It has too. It needs cholesterol to do all the things described above, and it works holistically to get what it needs. It’s a good thing too. Just imagine if the human race were dependent for survival on the vagaries of current government public health policy. I’ll take autonomic homeostatic regulation over Obamacare and Congressional regulation any day. It doesn’t shut down.
© Dan Brown 8/14/11
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The Nutrition Debate #23: The Benefits of Saturated Fats
The benefits of saturated fat? To admit to such a belief is surely heretical, so I do not expect my reader(s) to commit such apostasy “on faith.” But, purely as an observer of another’s fall from grace, you may want to read further to see how this idea develops and is supported by science. If this sounds like a classic battle of orthodoxy vs. the enlightened, you’re right. You certainly won’t hear it spoken of by any of the usual sources of information in our modern society: Government, Agri-Business, and the Mass Media. Who but the small grass-fed beef or pastured chicken egg purveyor would benefit, besides you?
As you already know, one of the apostles of human nutrition that I follow is Mary Enig, PhD, a Director Emeritus of the Weston A. Price Foundation, who with Sally Fallon, President of the Foundation, wrote “The Skinny on Fats.” This really is a “must read” for anyone interested in eating in a healthy way and living a long life. Do yourself a favor and google it.
Because it is more technical than I am qualified to write about, and cites many sources as references, I quote from it directly again here: Note that each of the 8 references are provided at the Foundation “hit” on “The Skinny on Fats.”
“The much-maligned saturated fats—which Americans are trying to avoid—are not the cause of our modern diseases. In fact, they play many important roles in the body chemistry:
• Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what give our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.
• They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.38
• They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.39 They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol.40
• They enhance the immune system.41
• They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats. 42
• Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated.43 The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.
• Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.
The scientific evidence, honestly evaluated, does not support the assertion that "artery-clogging" saturated fats cause heart disease.44 Actually, evaluation of the fat in artery clogs reveals that only about 26% is saturated. The rest is unsaturated, of which more than half is polyunsaturated.45 “(end of quote)
Among the most vilified of animal foods high in saturated fats has been butter. As noted previously it is now enjoying a comeback, while margarine, made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (trans fat), has suffered a sharp decline.
In 2000, before her more than 20 year campaign to bring trans fats to the public’s attention had reached full fruition (she had testified on it at the 1977 McGovern Commission), Dr. Enig wrote (again, in “The Skinny on Fats”), “The Diet Dictocrats have succeeded in convincing Americans that butter is dangerous, when in fact it is a valued component of many traditional diets and a source of…fat-soluble vitamins. These include true vitamin A or retinol, vitamin D, vitamin K and vitamin E as well as all their naturally occurring cofactors needed to obtain maximum effect. Butter is America's best source of these important nutrients. In fact, vitamin A is more easily absorbed and utilized from butter than from other sources.61 Fortunately, these fat-soluble vitamins are relatively stable and survive the pasteurization process.”
But what about cholesterol and heart disease? Well, if you’re still asking these questions, I recommend you go back and read this series from the beginning. All of the articles are archived at http://danbrown-thenutritiondebate.blogspot.com. Or, if you’re just a little skeptical, stay tuned; the next article will be “What About Dietary Cholesterol?” and then the next, “Understanding Your Lipid Panel.” The apostasy goes on unabated, for your reading pleasure.
© Dan Brown 8/7/11
As you already know, one of the apostles of human nutrition that I follow is Mary Enig, PhD, a Director Emeritus of the Weston A. Price Foundation, who with Sally Fallon, President of the Foundation, wrote “The Skinny on Fats.” This really is a “must read” for anyone interested in eating in a healthy way and living a long life. Do yourself a favor and google it.
Because it is more technical than I am qualified to write about, and cites many sources as references, I quote from it directly again here: Note that each of the 8 references are provided at the Foundation “hit” on “The Skinny on Fats.”
“The much-maligned saturated fats—which Americans are trying to avoid—are not the cause of our modern diseases. In fact, they play many important roles in the body chemistry:
• Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what give our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.
• They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.38
• They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.39 They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol.40
• They enhance the immune system.41
• They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats. 42
• Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated.43 The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.
• Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.
The scientific evidence, honestly evaluated, does not support the assertion that "artery-clogging" saturated fats cause heart disease.44 Actually, evaluation of the fat in artery clogs reveals that only about 26% is saturated. The rest is unsaturated, of which more than half is polyunsaturated.45 “(end of quote)
Among the most vilified of animal foods high in saturated fats has been butter. As noted previously it is now enjoying a comeback, while margarine, made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (trans fat), has suffered a sharp decline.
In 2000, before her more than 20 year campaign to bring trans fats to the public’s attention had reached full fruition (she had testified on it at the 1977 McGovern Commission), Dr. Enig wrote (again, in “The Skinny on Fats”), “The Diet Dictocrats have succeeded in convincing Americans that butter is dangerous, when in fact it is a valued component of many traditional diets and a source of…fat-soluble vitamins. These include true vitamin A or retinol, vitamin D, vitamin K and vitamin E as well as all their naturally occurring cofactors needed to obtain maximum effect. Butter is America's best source of these important nutrients. In fact, vitamin A is more easily absorbed and utilized from butter than from other sources.61 Fortunately, these fat-soluble vitamins are relatively stable and survive the pasteurization process.”
But what about cholesterol and heart disease? Well, if you’re still asking these questions, I recommend you go back and read this series from the beginning. All of the articles are archived at http://danbrown-thenutritiondebate.blogspot.com. Or, if you’re just a little skeptical, stay tuned; the next article will be “What About Dietary Cholesterol?” and then the next, “Understanding Your Lipid Panel.” The apostasy goes on unabated, for your reading pleasure.
© Dan Brown 8/7/11
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The Nutrition Debate #22: Too Much Omega 6; Too Little Omega 3
If you haven’t heard about fish oil supplements, like the caveman in the Geico commercial, you’ve been living under a rock. Fish oil, especially cold water fish oil, contains a high concentration of Omega 3 fatty acids. Together with Omega 6 fatty acids, these two acids, which are derived from linoleic acid (n=6) and linolenic acid (n=3), are known at the Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s). That means that the body can’t make them (efficiently) and we therefore have to get them through our diet. And since most people don’t eat a lot of cold water fish, supplementation is an easy way to get our Omega 3’s. And Omega 3 supplementation is probably a good thing to do. I do it: 2 grams a day, every day. Each gram contains compounds called EPA and DHA in a 3 to 2 ratio that together give me a combined EPA/DHA total of 1 gram.
There is also solid evidence that when combined with a low-carbohydrate diet, fish oil supplementation will significantly lower serum triglycerides, an important blood lipid marker. The effect is dose dependent and additive if you are taking a statin. I was once on a statin, and for about a year took 4 grams of fish oil daily and very dramatically lowered my triglycerides to about 50, where they remain today. If I were to do it again, today I wouldn’t take more than 3 grams a day, and I wouldn’t do it for more than a year.
But getting enough Omega 3’s, and even lowering serum triglycerides, is easy. Fish oil capsules are big, but cheap. The real problem is that we are getting too many Omega 6’s. Way, way too many. Ten and twenty, even twenty-five times too many. And they are hidden and omnipresent in our modern diet. They are the main component in polyunsaturated fat in the vegetable oils (soy bean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower seed oil, and cotton seed oil) that are ubiquitous in the fried foods and baked goods that most people eat every day. Don’t believe me? Check out the label on the packaging, if there is a label. It’s there. Soy bean oil and corn oil are the primary cooking oils. More than 70% today.
Again, citing Enig and Fallon’s “The Skinny of Fats,” “Problems associated with an excess of polyunsaturates are exacerbated by the fact that most polyunsaturates in commercial vegetable oils are in the form of double unsaturated omega-6 linoleic acid, with very little of vital triple unsaturated omega-3 linolenic acid. Recent research has revealed that too much omega-6 in the diet creates an imbalance that can interfere with production of important prostaglandins. (34) This disruption can result in increased tendency to form blood clots, inflammation, high blood pressure, irritation of the digestive tract, depressed immune function, sterility, cell proliferation, cancer and weight gain. (35)” The footnotes are cited in the article, which can be viewed at http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/526-skinny-on-fats.html.
Improving your Omega 6/Omega 3 ratio will not be easy. You really don’t want to swallow more than two grams of fish oil a day. And by raising the denominator in the fraction, it will only slightly improve the ratio (while hopefully lowering your serum triglycerides). So, to make a real difference you will need to find and eliminate the Omega 6’s you are eating. That means changing your diet. Eating less fried food, and eating fewer processed foods made with any vegetable oil.
Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” and “Food Rules” would be good guides here. The first part of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” makes a frightening case for the omnipresence of corn in our industrialized food industry. The second part makes a good case for ways to avoid industrialized food, as do his later two books cited above.
Dr. Kurt Harris’s Archevore blog (www.archevore.com) is another guide to eating in a way to avoid the Neolithic Agents of Disease (NAD), as he calls them: wheat, excess fructose, and excess linoleic acid (Omega 6 fatty acids).
This past winter I went to a Mets Spring Training game and the folks next to me were eating fried dough sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. I looked at it and said (to myself): all three Neolithic agents of Disease (wheat, sugar which is 50% fructose, and vegetable oil for frying). I said this while I drank a beer (wheat) and ate peanuts. Oh well, nobody’s perfect.
© Dan Brown 7/31/11
There is also solid evidence that when combined with a low-carbohydrate diet, fish oil supplementation will significantly lower serum triglycerides, an important blood lipid marker. The effect is dose dependent and additive if you are taking a statin. I was once on a statin, and for about a year took 4 grams of fish oil daily and very dramatically lowered my triglycerides to about 50, where they remain today. If I were to do it again, today I wouldn’t take more than 3 grams a day, and I wouldn’t do it for more than a year.
But getting enough Omega 3’s, and even lowering serum triglycerides, is easy. Fish oil capsules are big, but cheap. The real problem is that we are getting too many Omega 6’s. Way, way too many. Ten and twenty, even twenty-five times too many. And they are hidden and omnipresent in our modern diet. They are the main component in polyunsaturated fat in the vegetable oils (soy bean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower seed oil, and cotton seed oil) that are ubiquitous in the fried foods and baked goods that most people eat every day. Don’t believe me? Check out the label on the packaging, if there is a label. It’s there. Soy bean oil and corn oil are the primary cooking oils. More than 70% today.
Again, citing Enig and Fallon’s “The Skinny of Fats,” “Problems associated with an excess of polyunsaturates are exacerbated by the fact that most polyunsaturates in commercial vegetable oils are in the form of double unsaturated omega-6 linoleic acid, with very little of vital triple unsaturated omega-3 linolenic acid. Recent research has revealed that too much omega-6 in the diet creates an imbalance that can interfere with production of important prostaglandins. (34) This disruption can result in increased tendency to form blood clots, inflammation, high blood pressure, irritation of the digestive tract, depressed immune function, sterility, cell proliferation, cancer and weight gain. (35)” The footnotes are cited in the article, which can be viewed at http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/526-skinny-on-fats.html.
Improving your Omega 6/Omega 3 ratio will not be easy. You really don’t want to swallow more than two grams of fish oil a day. And by raising the denominator in the fraction, it will only slightly improve the ratio (while hopefully lowering your serum triglycerides). So, to make a real difference you will need to find and eliminate the Omega 6’s you are eating. That means changing your diet. Eating less fried food, and eating fewer processed foods made with any vegetable oil.
Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” and “Food Rules” would be good guides here. The first part of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” makes a frightening case for the omnipresence of corn in our industrialized food industry. The second part makes a good case for ways to avoid industrialized food, as do his later two books cited above.
Dr. Kurt Harris’s Archevore blog (www.archevore.com) is another guide to eating in a way to avoid the Neolithic Agents of Disease (NAD), as he calls them: wheat, excess fructose, and excess linoleic acid (Omega 6 fatty acids).
This past winter I went to a Mets Spring Training game and the folks next to me were eating fried dough sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. I looked at it and said (to myself): all three Neolithic agents of Disease (wheat, sugar which is 50% fructose, and vegetable oil for frying). I said this while I drank a beer (wheat) and ate peanuts. Oh well, nobody’s perfect.
© Dan Brown 7/31/11
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Nutrition Debate #21: The Dangers of Polyunsaturated Fats
For the last fifty years we have been told to eat less saturated fat and cholesterol and to exercise more, and we (collectively, as a population) have complied; yet, we (again, as a population) have been getting fatter and sicker. “The Nutrition Debate” is about why this has happened. If you’ve been following the column, you already know that I suggest an alternative approach is worth considering. If you haven’t read them, the previous columns are archived at http://danbrown-thenutritiondebate.blogspot.com.
One of my favorite “alternative” organizations for nutritional information is The Weston A. Price Foundation. President Sally Fallon and Board Member Emeritus Mary Enig, PhD, collaborated in 2000 to produce a paper “The Skinny on Fats” as a chapter in their book “Nourishing Traditions.” If you have any interest in the subject of this mini-series, “Know Your Fats,” you will want to go to their site, www.westonaprice.org/, or just google “The Skinny on Fats” and read this article. Here, however, I will just reproduce an excerpt on “The Dangers of Polyunsaturates,” from a chapter in the book. The footnotes are all provided in the reference cited:
“The public has been fed a great deal of misinformation about the relative virtues of saturated fats versus polyun-saturated oils. Politically correct dietary gurus tell us that the polyunsaturated oils are good for us and that the saturated fats cause cancer and heart disease. The result is that fundamental changes have occurred in the Western diet.
At the turn of the century, most of the fatty acids in the diet were either saturated or monounsaturated, primarily from butter, lard, tallows, coconut oil and small amounts of olive oil. Today most of the fats in the diet are polyunsaturated from vegetable oils derived mostly from soy, as well as from corn, safflower and canola.
Modern diets can contain as much as 30% of calories as polyunsaturated oils, but scientific research indicates that this amount is far too high. The best evidence indicates that our intake of polyunsaturates should not be much greater than 4% of the caloric total, in approximate proportions of 2 % omega-3 linolenic acid and 2 % omega-6 linoleic acid. (30)
EFA [essential fatty acid, i.e. omega 3 and omega 6] consumption in this range is found in native populations in temperate and tropical regions whose intake of polyunsaturated oils comes from the small amounts found in legumes, grains, nuts, green vegetables, fish, olive oil and animal fats but not from commercial vegetable oils.
Excess consumption of polyunsaturated oils has been shown to contribute to a large number of disease conditions including increased cancer and heart disease; immune system dysfunction; damage to the liver, reproductive organs and lungs; digestive disorders; depressed learning ability; impaired growth; and weight gain. (31)
One reason the polyunsaturates cause so many health problems is that they tend to become oxidized or rancid when subjected to heat, oxygen and moisture as in cooking and processing. Rancid oils are characterized by free radicals-- that is, single atoms or clusters with an unpaired electron. These compounds are extremely reactive chemically.
They have been characterized as "marauders" in the body for they attack cell membranes and red blood cells and cause damage in DNA/RNA strands, thus triggering mutations in tissue, blood vessels and skin. Free radical damage to the skin causes wrinkles and premature aging; free radical damage to the tissues and organs sets the stage for tumors; free radical damage in the blood vessels initiates the buildup of plaque.
Is it any wonder that tests and studies have repeatedly shown a high correlation between cancer and heart disease with the consumption of polyunsaturates? (32) New evidence links exposure to free radicals with premature aging, with auto-immune diseases such as arthritis and with Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, Alzheimer's and cataracts. (33)”
When I first read this article, I went to the kitchen cabinets and (with permission) threw out virtually all the mostly polyunsaturated vegetable oils. I then went to The Weston A. Price Foundation website, bought the cookbook and started cooking only with saturated and monounsaturated fats.
The next column will get delve into detail on Omega 6’s and Omega 3’s, and how to correct this really important ratio.
© Dan Brown 5/22/11
One of my favorite “alternative” organizations for nutritional information is The Weston A. Price Foundation. President Sally Fallon and Board Member Emeritus Mary Enig, PhD, collaborated in 2000 to produce a paper “The Skinny on Fats” as a chapter in their book “Nourishing Traditions.” If you have any interest in the subject of this mini-series, “Know Your Fats,” you will want to go to their site, www.westonaprice.org/, or just google “The Skinny on Fats” and read this article. Here, however, I will just reproduce an excerpt on “The Dangers of Polyunsaturates,” from a chapter in the book. The footnotes are all provided in the reference cited:
“The public has been fed a great deal of misinformation about the relative virtues of saturated fats versus polyun-saturated oils. Politically correct dietary gurus tell us that the polyunsaturated oils are good for us and that the saturated fats cause cancer and heart disease. The result is that fundamental changes have occurred in the Western diet.
At the turn of the century, most of the fatty acids in the diet were either saturated or monounsaturated, primarily from butter, lard, tallows, coconut oil and small amounts of olive oil. Today most of the fats in the diet are polyunsaturated from vegetable oils derived mostly from soy, as well as from corn, safflower and canola.
Modern diets can contain as much as 30% of calories as polyunsaturated oils, but scientific research indicates that this amount is far too high. The best evidence indicates that our intake of polyunsaturates should not be much greater than 4% of the caloric total, in approximate proportions of 2 % omega-3 linolenic acid and 2 % omega-6 linoleic acid. (30)
EFA [essential fatty acid, i.e. omega 3 and omega 6] consumption in this range is found in native populations in temperate and tropical regions whose intake of polyunsaturated oils comes from the small amounts found in legumes, grains, nuts, green vegetables, fish, olive oil and animal fats but not from commercial vegetable oils.
Excess consumption of polyunsaturated oils has been shown to contribute to a large number of disease conditions including increased cancer and heart disease; immune system dysfunction; damage to the liver, reproductive organs and lungs; digestive disorders; depressed learning ability; impaired growth; and weight gain. (31)
One reason the polyunsaturates cause so many health problems is that they tend to become oxidized or rancid when subjected to heat, oxygen and moisture as in cooking and processing. Rancid oils are characterized by free radicals-- that is, single atoms or clusters with an unpaired electron. These compounds are extremely reactive chemically.
They have been characterized as "marauders" in the body for they attack cell membranes and red blood cells and cause damage in DNA/RNA strands, thus triggering mutations in tissue, blood vessels and skin. Free radical damage to the skin causes wrinkles and premature aging; free radical damage to the tissues and organs sets the stage for tumors; free radical damage in the blood vessels initiates the buildup of plaque.
Is it any wonder that tests and studies have repeatedly shown a high correlation between cancer and heart disease with the consumption of polyunsaturates? (32) New evidence links exposure to free radicals with premature aging, with auto-immune diseases such as arthritis and with Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, Alzheimer's and cataracts. (33)”
When I first read this article, I went to the kitchen cabinets and (with permission) threw out virtually all the mostly polyunsaturated vegetable oils. I then went to The Weston A. Price Foundation website, bought the cookbook and started cooking only with saturated and monounsaturated fats.
The next column will get delve into detail on Omega 6’s and Omega 3’s, and how to correct this really important ratio.
© Dan Brown 5/22/11
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Nutrition Debate #20: Know Your Dietary Fats: Saturated and Unsaturated
I am about to embark on a mini-series on fats, and this may be a little dense for many of my readers (assuming I have many readers). I can actually recall a time when “good cholesterol = HDL” and “bad cholesterol = LDL” were not yet fixed associations in my mind, so I am sympathetic if you still find yourself there now. Nevertheless, if you are going to take an interest in your health, as I sincerely hope you will, you are going to have to acquire an understanding of some of the basic science of human nutrition. So, let’s begin with the classification of fats into Saturated and Unsaturated.
Simply put, saturated fats are in solid form at room temperature and unsaturated fats are in liquid form. In the new “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010,” the HHS/USDA has begun to use “saturated fat” and “solid fat” interchangeably. In the same document and in their “food pyramid”, the HHS/USDA describes unsaturated fats as “oils.”
Saturated fats are for the most part animal fats, i.e. fats found in intramuscular tissue as well as under the skin and around the organs. Both in the animals we eat, and in our own physiology, fat serves as both energy source and energy reserve. It also cushions the organs and skeleton from damaging blows and insulates the body from cold. More recently – and this is a development of monumental importance in our understanding of fat metabolism -- fat stores have come to be recognized as an endocrine organ as well. Leptin, a hormone discovered in adipose (fat) tissue in 1994, is an appetite suppressant, sending a strong signal to the hypothalamus at the center of the brain. Our fat is in a constant state of flux as its primary form, triglyceride molecules, are being synthesized (created), or catabolized (broken down).
Two other saturated fats (both solid at room temperature) that are commonly found in foods are vegetable in origin: Both are tropical oils – coconut oil and palm oil. Coconut oil, a medium-chain saturated fat, is appearing with increasing frequency in the Western Diet, but both have been used for millennia in the cuisines of the tropical regions.
Saturated fats are solid because they are structured in a dense way, with every carbon atom along the carbon chain having two hydrogen atoms. In addition, as it has no “double bond” between carbon atoms, they are straight, packed closely together and thus solid. Since there are no “free” atoms, they are also very stable and are not liable to become rancid when exposed to oxygen. It also means that, in their normal state or in cooking they will not create harmful “free radicals” (unpaired electrons) or produce pro-inflammatory AGE’s (Advanced Glycation End-Products) when heated.
Unsaturated fats break down into two sub-classes: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The monounsaturated fats are primarily found in olive oil, and to a lesser extent in Canola oil and peanut oil. Additional sources are avocado and many popular nuts (macadamias, pecans, hazelnuts). Because they have only one “double bond” in the carbon chain, they are called monounsaturated. They are fairly tightly packed and fairly stable when heated or exposed to oxygen (as in air). Have you noticed how olive oil becomes solid when refrigerated? It is, therefore, safe to use. Note, however, that medium chain, monounsaturated fats like olive oil, and longer-chain fatty acids, such as those found in polyunsaturated vegetable oils that need bile salts from the gall bladder to be digested, are more likely to be stored as adipose tissue, i.e. body fat. Saturated fats (e.g. butter), in contrast, are more likely to be directly used (oxidized, i.e. burned) for energy.
Polyunsaturated fats are fats that have more than one double bond in the carbon chain (hence poly), and are therefore loosely constructed and always found in the liquid state as “oils.” Because of their loose construction, they are relatively unstable, “reactive,” become rancid rather easily, and are also easily damaged by heating and especially reheating. These are the vegetable oils that have become ubiquitous in our food supply due to the ability to manufacture them cheaply. But the refining and processing has deleterious effects that are becoming increasingly known and understood. Trans fat is only one example. Trans fats (the artificial kind created in the processing phase to make liquid oils solid and more stable for use in margarine and in manufactured baked goods and cooking) are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. There’s a broad consensus that everyone should strictly avoid artificial trans fats.
It is important to recognize that all fats are combinations of the three types: saturated, mono and polyunsaturated. Butter, for example is 66% saturated, 30% mono and 4% poly; Tub margarine is 23% saturated, 55% mono and 22% polyunsaturated; olive oil is 15% saturated, 70% mono and 10% poly. Soybean oil, used in 70% of processed foods, including restaurant meals in the US, is 15% saturated, 22% mono and 62% poly. Canola oil, a genetically engineered variant of rapeseed oil, is 7% saturated, 65% mono and 28% polyunsaturated. What are we getting ourselves into now!
The next column will be “The Dangers of Polyunsaturated Fats.” I will not be espousing the government’s position here.
© Dan Brown 5/1/11
Simply put, saturated fats are in solid form at room temperature and unsaturated fats are in liquid form. In the new “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010,” the HHS/USDA has begun to use “saturated fat” and “solid fat” interchangeably. In the same document and in their “food pyramid”, the HHS/USDA describes unsaturated fats as “oils.”
Saturated fats are for the most part animal fats, i.e. fats found in intramuscular tissue as well as under the skin and around the organs. Both in the animals we eat, and in our own physiology, fat serves as both energy source and energy reserve. It also cushions the organs and skeleton from damaging blows and insulates the body from cold. More recently – and this is a development of monumental importance in our understanding of fat metabolism -- fat stores have come to be recognized as an endocrine organ as well. Leptin, a hormone discovered in adipose (fat) tissue in 1994, is an appetite suppressant, sending a strong signal to the hypothalamus at the center of the brain. Our fat is in a constant state of flux as its primary form, triglyceride molecules, are being synthesized (created), or catabolized (broken down).
Two other saturated fats (both solid at room temperature) that are commonly found in foods are vegetable in origin: Both are tropical oils – coconut oil and palm oil. Coconut oil, a medium-chain saturated fat, is appearing with increasing frequency in the Western Diet, but both have been used for millennia in the cuisines of the tropical regions.
Saturated fats are solid because they are structured in a dense way, with every carbon atom along the carbon chain having two hydrogen atoms. In addition, as it has no “double bond” between carbon atoms, they are straight, packed closely together and thus solid. Since there are no “free” atoms, they are also very stable and are not liable to become rancid when exposed to oxygen. It also means that, in their normal state or in cooking they will not create harmful “free radicals” (unpaired electrons) or produce pro-inflammatory AGE’s (Advanced Glycation End-Products) when heated.
Unsaturated fats break down into two sub-classes: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The monounsaturated fats are primarily found in olive oil, and to a lesser extent in Canola oil and peanut oil. Additional sources are avocado and many popular nuts (macadamias, pecans, hazelnuts). Because they have only one “double bond” in the carbon chain, they are called monounsaturated. They are fairly tightly packed and fairly stable when heated or exposed to oxygen (as in air). Have you noticed how olive oil becomes solid when refrigerated? It is, therefore, safe to use. Note, however, that medium chain, monounsaturated fats like olive oil, and longer-chain fatty acids, such as those found in polyunsaturated vegetable oils that need bile salts from the gall bladder to be digested, are more likely to be stored as adipose tissue, i.e. body fat. Saturated fats (e.g. butter), in contrast, are more likely to be directly used (oxidized, i.e. burned) for energy.
Polyunsaturated fats are fats that have more than one double bond in the carbon chain (hence poly), and are therefore loosely constructed and always found in the liquid state as “oils.” Because of their loose construction, they are relatively unstable, “reactive,” become rancid rather easily, and are also easily damaged by heating and especially reheating. These are the vegetable oils that have become ubiquitous in our food supply due to the ability to manufacture them cheaply. But the refining and processing has deleterious effects that are becoming increasingly known and understood. Trans fat is only one example. Trans fats (the artificial kind created in the processing phase to make liquid oils solid and more stable for use in margarine and in manufactured baked goods and cooking) are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. There’s a broad consensus that everyone should strictly avoid artificial trans fats.
It is important to recognize that all fats are combinations of the three types: saturated, mono and polyunsaturated. Butter, for example is 66% saturated, 30% mono and 4% poly; Tub margarine is 23% saturated, 55% mono and 22% polyunsaturated; olive oil is 15% saturated, 70% mono and 10% poly. Soybean oil, used in 70% of processed foods, including restaurant meals in the US, is 15% saturated, 22% mono and 62% poly. Canola oil, a genetically engineered variant of rapeseed oil, is 7% saturated, 65% mono and 28% polyunsaturated. What are we getting ourselves into now!
The next column will be “The Dangers of Polyunsaturated Fats.” I will not be espousing the government’s position here.
© Dan Brown 5/1/11
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