Thursday, May 31, 2012

Unsaturated, saturated, and trans fat: the good and the bad

By Dr. Kang, Health Pro Friday, October 20, 2006
After thoroughly bashing trans fatty acids in my last blog on dietary fat and cholesterol, I thought it only fair to round out the field with a brief comment on fat in general and how it affects cholesterol. What is fat? Fat is a naturally occurring substance that is made of carbon, hydrogen, and ox...
Low Carbohydrate and High Protein/High Fat Diets: Good or Bad for
Anonymous
RN
12/ 7/06 3:20pm
The writer noted that people such as the Crete had diets high in fats such as olive oil, yet they did not have high rates of heart disease. Many native cultures whose diets were rich in saturated fats such as palm oil, coconut oil, butter, lard and duck fat also had extremely low levels of cholesterol. I am a native of Sri Lanka and I can personally vouch that our grandparents and great grandparents staple food consisted of coconuts, coconut oil and coconut milk (all of which are rich in saturated fat). Heart disease was unknown among their generation and ones before them. However, our younger generation in Sri Lanka has now switched over to canola and vegetable oil and I can tell you that people are now dying of heart attacks on a daily basis. Saturated fats have been used for generations by native cultures and pioneers of this country, but heart disease was rare among them. Hydrogenated coconut oil or any type of hydrogenated oil is a killer. Not natural virgin coconut oil. There is a conspiracy against coconut oil in the west. People in the west need to take another look at the flawed studies regarding saturated fat. Coconut oil is a miracle food. It has the potential to heal many diseases. I urge everyone to do more research on the subject of coconut oil and saturated fats.
Anonymous
David Brown
2/21/07 6:20pm
It is incorrect to say that partial hydrogenation "creates a saturated fat called trans fatty acid." All trans fats are isomers of cis fats which are always either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids. See "Know your Fats" by Mary G. Enig, PhD. You also wrote, "...saturated fats have the opposite effect by mainly increasing LDL." This is only partially correct. Saturated fats such as myristic acid can also raise HDL. Some saturated fats, such as stearic acid, are cholesterol neutral. Google: "Saturated fats: what dietary intake?" and "tfX: Alternatives to trans fats."
Anonymous
Anonymous
8/ 1/09 1:11pm

Good afternoon,

 

I am studying Bio and Organic Chemistry right now and one thing that I can not grasp is the Cis and Trans carbon placements and how they affect our diets. I know the break down of it and why double bonds can not twist because of the orbitals, however, I am confused as to how and why this affects our diet? Why does the twisting in trans fatty acids have such a negative affect on the break down or complications of food? Oh and is it safe to say that flower oils are mostly all good for you?

 

I found your article very helpful and very interesting but I can not grasp cis and trans.

 

Can you help?

 

Thank you,

 

Erika,

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By Dr. Kang, Health Pro— Last Modified: 10/11/11, First Published: 10/20/06