For many years now we were constantly encouraged to cut back on the saturated fats in our diet. Limit the red meat!  Limit the cheese! Limit all foods that have a high level of saturated fat!  As a matter of fact, to this day, I limit the amount of saturated fat I take in each, and every day to under 20 grams total. Why? Because I don’t want to increase my LDL cholesterol level which might fill my arteries full of plaque leading to potential heart damage or even stroke.

What if this isn’t completely truth? What if limiting saturated fats didn’t have a positive influence on your risk of a heart attack, or stroke? According to an extensive review of 21 studies consisting of 350,000 people there was “no significant evidence” that showed eating more saturated fat increases a persons risk of heart disease, and stroke. Surprise! Right?

Should you immediately rush off to the pizza parlor to gobble up an entire pizza? The answer is no! Saturated fats still will raise you LDL “bad” cholesterol. The problem occurs when you cut out the saturated fats, and replace them with a ton of refined carbohydrates. It is the aggressive consumption of  the refined carbs that causes an increase in cholesterol, and heart disease.

If carbs are not a great idea to replace the saturated fats in your diet, then what is? The quick overwhelming definite answer is polyunsaturated fatty acids. Please be advised this is not just me speaking, but the body of research to back this statement.

Recently, eight conclusive studies of 13,000 people revealed that for every 5% increase in calories from polyunsaturated fat, risk of heart disease related deaths dropped by 10%. This is something to pay very close attention to!

Here are my take home recommendations.  Continue to keep your saturated fat intake low, while steadily increasing your polyunsaturated fats, and lowering your refined carbohydrate consumption. Polyunsaturated foods are found in nuts, seeds, fish, algae, and leafy greens. It is best to eat your polyunsaturated fats from an unheated whole food source.

In conclusion, don’t thing you are going to have heart issues if you ingest saturated fats. This will generally occur if you focus on cutting, and replacing the LDL boosting fats with a bunch of refined carbohydrates over a long period of time. Instead, hold the carbs, and boost of the polyunsaturated fats. Good research has spoken !

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