Effects of Saturated & Unsaturated Fats on the Body
The recommendation to limit saturated fat intake has been the official policy in many countries, such as the UK, for decades. If you are trying a popular low-carb diet such as a ketogenic (keto) or primal (paleo) diet, or if you are following the trend of adding a spoonful of butter or fat to your coffee every morning, then you are almost certainly consuming more saturated fats than the official recommendation.
Which Fats Are Good for Your Body?
Saturated Fats
Foods high in saturated fats include fatty meats, lard, full-fat dairy products (such as butter and cream), coconut oil, and palm oil, which play an important role in human health.
- Good for bone health
- Protects the liver from damage
- Improves blood lipids
Unsaturated Fats
▶ Monounsaturated Fats
Monounsaturated fats have beneficial oleic acid and are mainly found in olives or olive oil, avocado oil, some animal products (such as eggs or lard), and certain nuts, such as almonds, which are similar to saturated fats and are important for health because:
Benefit heart health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
- Lower triglycerides and increase HDL
- Reducing free radicals and improving inflammation
- Lowering blood pressure
- Reduces blood clot formation
▶ Omega-3 in Polyunsaturated Fats
Polyunsaturated fatty acids are usually divided into two main groups: omega-6 and omega-3. Nowadays, most people are too high in omega-6 and too low in omega-3.
High intake of vegetable oils can increase the level of omega-6 in the body, which may lead to oxidation, inflammation, problems, aggravate the cardiovascular disease, and increase mortality, while omega-3 is what we need to specifically supplement with, and its main effects are:
- Anti-inflammatory
- Acting on cells and brain structures
- Form cell membranes, regulate gene expression, and improve cell function
- Helps prevent depression and anxiety
- Improves cognitive function and helps prevent age-related cognitive decline
Omega 3 comes from wild-caught seafood, such as salmon, some meats, and high-quality eggs, as well as nuts, seeds, green leafy vegetables and marine vegetables (fungus, nori, kelp, sea cabbage, and wakame, etc.) are also rich in omega 3.
Which Fats Are Bad For You?
Not all fats are good. Processed fats (i.e. hydrogenated oils, luncheon meats, bacon) are not healthy for your body. Take butter for example, there is a lot of margarine in circulation today, which is a highly processed food that has been hydrogenated and has no nutritional value. It also produces trans fats, which are bad for your body, but because it is cheaper and has a longer shelf life, it is widely added to processed foods, quietly damaging our bodies.
Yet, supermarket shelves are filled with these highly processed foods that are unhealthy, but admittedly delicious, rich, and cheap. In short, these are not recommended to eat.
Will My Liver Be Overwhelmed?
Many people believe that eating so much fat can overwhelm the liver. We all know that alcohol hurts the liver, high fructose hurts the liver, and high carbohydrates hurt the liver. Low-carb is different; it will only make your liver function better and better.
If you adapt to a low-carb ketogenic diet and start burning fat, and if the amount of fat you consume is reasonable and not more than your body needs, then there is nothing wrong with your liver. Most of the fat you consume is metabolized into celiac particles in your gut, which are then supplied to your cells. After you adapt to a ketogenic diet and go into fat-burning mode, you will usually burn off a normal amount of fat very quickly (2-3 hours) because your body needs a lot of fat for energy.
However, if you feel that you can’t adapt and can’t eat that much fat, then take it gradually and give your body a chance to adapt.
What to Do About Elevated Cholesterol?
The prevailing view in nutrition is that too much-saturated fat increases blood cholesterol levels, leading to clogged arteries and an increased chance of heart attack or stroke. But some scientists also believe that the problem with heart disease is not saturated fat, but chronic inflammation.
Many people believe that when you eat too much fat, your cholesterol goes up, your blood lipids are high, and your cardiovascular system becomes clogged, but that’s not true. What causes elevated blood fats is a high-carbohydrate diet, which breaks down the fastest and makes it easy to eat too much. Blood sugar rises even faster, and energy can’t be used up, so it has to be converted to fat and triglycerides, which are the culprits. So it’s not fat we need to worry about the most, it’s these “raw” carbohydrates.
Some studies also show that a high-carb, low-fat diet lowers “good” cholesterol and increases triglyceride levels in the blood. Consuming saturated fat increases large, light LDL without increasing dense, small LDL. Conversely, consuming high carbohydrates increases bad cholesterol, produces triglycerides, leads to inflammation and plaque formation in the arteries, and increases the risk of heart disease.
How Much Fat is Recommended?
For the general population, health organizations in most countries recommend limiting fat intake, especially saturated fat. For example, the UK’s dietary guidelines recommend that up to 35% of dietary energy (calories) come from fat and around 50% from carbohydrates.
Especially saturated fat, this value is even lower. The UK recommends that we get no more than 11% of our dietary calories from saturated fat, while the US and the World Health Organization recommend no more than 10%. This roughly equates to about 20 grams per day for women, which is the equivalent of 2.5 tablespoons of butter or 4 supermarket sausages, and 30 grams per day for men, which is an ounce of beef burger plus 4 tablespoons of double cream. The American Heart Association puts the figure even lower, recommending 5 to 6 percent.
Based on scientific evidence, some international organizations recommend reducing saturated fat and replacing it with unsaturated fat. In one study, when 5% of calories from saturated fat were replaced by an equal amount of calories from unsaturated fats (such as salmon, sunflower oil, nuts, and seeds) or monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil and canola oil), the risk of all-cause mortality was reduced by 19% and 11%, respectively.
But overall, all the evidence suggests that the healthiest diets include plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and foods high in unsaturated fats, such as nuts and oily fish.