I know that the Heart and Stroke Foundation (which I assume has good intentions) has long been telling people to avoid saturated fat and sodium, when it's not completely clear these are bad for all people (some can be sensitive to sodium for example). At some level it's probably not bad advice to limit intake of these things, but what ends up happening is that recommendations are for absurdly low levels (2400mg sodium/day eg) that make many people not bother even trying.<p>It's like telling people they need to get 150 minutes of exercise a week. How about starting by taking the stairs.<p>Anyway, I think it makes it even less credible when you see things like this that say it may not even be a problem. I believe focusing on things that are unambiguously good, and positive trumps trying to prohibit or restrict things that are cornerstones of many diets.
Just from my own anecdotal evidence, going clean vegan dropped my cholesterol levels from 6.1 to 5.1 in ~3 months. I’m pretty convinced there is a lot of truth to high saturated fat/animal products negatively impacting cholesterol levels. But that is my own personal experience.<p>I’d encourage anyone seeking insights to just try a vegan diet for a while and compare their bloodwork, and how they feel. Seems like little point looking for answers in the science because of the amount of noise.
Bogeyman: "Based on the scientific evidence, there is no scientific ground to demonize SFA as a cause of CVD. SFA naturally occurring in nutrient-dense foods can be safely included in the diet."<p>After we vanquish the bogeyman, SFA can be revealed as a health food.<p><a href="https://med.umn.edu/news-events/new-research-finds-saturated-fats-can-lower-change-cognitive-function-over-time" rel="nofollow">https://med.umn.edu/news-events/new-research-finds-saturated...</a>
There's a podcast interview you should listen to where Peter Attia interviews Gerald Shulman (MD, PhD) about the mechanisms underlying diabetes. Shulman clearly implicates excessive intramyocellular lipids (which diets high in saturated fat increase) as the culprit, and Attia, former keto zealot, does basically nothing to dispute this, presumably because he can't. It's pretty damning for the low-carb dogma, which I confess to having been at least somewhat taken in by:<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291812/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291812/</a><p>(I never did keto or paleo, but I did harbor an irrational fear of carbs years. Today I still eat animal products in moderation, but I absolutely try to keep it as low in SFA as I can.)
That crook Ancel Keys - he's behind so much chronic diseases and obesity - all to please political agendas - he himself didn't stop eating beef after his "research" or better yet - deliberate scientific fraud! I can't believe people still buy nonfat and low-fat milk!
Collectively, neither observational studies, prospective epidemiologic cohort studies, RCTs, systematic reviews and meta analyses have conclusively established a significant association between SFA in the diet and subsequent cardiovascular risk and CAD, MI or mortality nor a benefit of reducing dietary SFAs on CVD rick, events and mortality. Beneficial effects of replacement of SFA by polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat or carbohydrates remain elusive.<p>Normie speak; they don't know.<p>Next....