I’m aware that there are multiple studies that verify the negative outcomes between diets high in (saturated) fat intake but in some of those studies, BMI of individuals isn’t stated.
Do high quality studies exist that verify the connection between fats and health problems?
I’m especially interested in fat found in unprocessed food.
Dr. Himsworth who discovered insulin resistance came to the conclusion that it had to do with the fat intake:
‘It is now established that the sugar tolerance is impaired by starvation or the taking of diets with a high content of fat, whilst it is improved by taking diets containing an excess of carbohydrate’. (Himsworth, H. P. (1934) Dietetic factors influencing the glucose tolerance and the activity of insulin. The Journal of Physiology. 29–48.)
“Multiple randomized clinical trials, meta-analyses, prospective observational studies, and animal studies all support the concept of replacement of dietary saturated fats with unsaturated fats to reduce cardiovascular disease. Reducing dietary saturated fat and replacing it with polyunsaturated vegetable oil reduced cardiovascular disease by around 30%, similar to results from statin therapy. Prospective observational studies showed that reducing saturated fat and replacing it with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat caused 25% and 15% reductions in coronary heart disease (CHD), respectively. Mortality overall and from other causes was also reduced.Replacing dietary saturated fats with carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates, does not reduce cardiovascular disease. Substitution with refined carbohydrates caused a 1% increase in CHD; substitution with whole grain carbohydrates caused a 9% reduction.” (1)
On the other hand,
“Most recent meta-analyses of randomized trials and observational studies found no beneficial effects of reducing SFA intake on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and total mortality, and instead found protective effects against stroke. Although SFAs increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, in most individuals, this is not due to increasing levels of small, dense LDL particles, but rather larger LDL particles, which are much less strongly related to CVD risk.” (2)
How much risk do you want to take?
High amounts of saturated fats are not healthy for any person, regardless of their weight, size, or body composition. But your body must have some fat intake order to survive.
Unsaturated fats (usually from plant sources, like nuts, avocados, or olive oil) are going to be healthier for you than saturated fats (which you mostly get from animal products). But that does not mean you should eat excessive amounts of unsaturated fats or avoid saturated fats either. Like most concepts in nutrition, it’s about balance and moderation.
Fats are essential for health and longevity. They are needed for energy, hormone production, cellular membranes and for organ padding. They aid in cellular detoxification and also hydrate and lubricate cells. Definitely wouldn’t go on a low fat diet. That’s all sorts of bad
Most of these responses have no evidence to back them up at all. Basically equivalent to conspiracy theorists who say “Do your reasearch.” Here is a meta-analysis that looks at Randomized control trials where saturated fat was replaced with PUFA. It is much better than the Ramsden et al meta-analysis, which groups trans fats with PUFAs.
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000252
The meta-analysis finds a statistically significant risk reduction of 19% for the groups that consumed more PUFAs, despite including the Minnesota coronary trial, which had famously bad compliance issues.
You need to define they type of fat. You state saturated fat found in processed food but most of that is actually polyunsaturated fat derived from seed oils which are highly oxidative and harmful. The only fats I consume are saturated fats from animal products and I have a BMI of 22 and clean arterial walls.