The Truth About Saturated Fat and Cholesterol

Saturated fatty acids make up at least 50 percent of our cell walls. Without much saturated fat, our cells become weak and noodly, making it harder for them to resist infection and ultimately making it more difficult to maintain cell integrity. Besides this natural benefit to cellular integrity, saturated fatty acids also have some inherent antibiotic and antimicrobial properties.

They also play a large role in calcium absorption. Without at least 45 percent (by some estimates) of the human diet being saturated, calcium cannot be effectively or efficiently incorporated into the skeleton. Natural breastmilk contains large quantities of saturated fat--nature would not make this kind of mistake. Saturated fatty acids are vital for the development of healthy skeletal structure. This is, in part, why it is so disturbing to see the saturated-fat-less baby formulas being sported by many American mothers today.

Saturated fat forms a protective layer with the liver to prevent the body from being harmed by such toxins as Tylenol or alcohol.

Omega-3 fatty acids are able to be retained in the body more effectively when the diet is rich in saturated fats. Further, it is a complete myth that saturated fats are artery-clogging. It is a fact that the plaque in clogged arteries is only 26 percent saturated fat--and a large percentage of that saturated fat was rancid when it was eaten, due to the way it was cooked or due to spoilage.

Saturated fat is found in its highest concentrations around the heart; the heart draws on this reserve of fat when the heart is in stress. This reserve of fat has been clinically shown to be beneficial. Without it, heart attacks are much more common.

As for cholesterol, it, too, is widely misunderstood and the victim of fierce marketing campaigns by the vegetable oil industry.

Fact: cholesterol that you eat does not affect serum (blood) cholesterol, unless your body has some sort of severe metabolic problem. If you had such a problem, the last thing you would be worrying about is your cholesterol. You would be worrying about death.

Cholesterol is a vital precursor to Vitamin D, which is a vital nutrient for the production of insulin, for muscle tone, proper growth, and other things. Cholesterol itself is also a precursor to corticosteroids, which help us deal with stress. Cholesterol is also a precursor to sex hormones such as androgen, estrogen, and testosterone.

Some well-concealed research shows that cholesterol acts as an extremely potent antioxidant. An assumption can be made that this is why cholesterol levels increase with age--the body is trying not to let itself oxidize. When we try to reduce our cholesterol levels, we are forcing ourselves to oxidize, resulting in earlier death, higher cancer and heart disease rates, and more nasties.

In addition, cholesterol is found in large amounts in a mother's breastmilk. Again, nature would not make a mistake like this; cholesterol is vital for the development of the sexual, neurological, and metabolic systems in an infant.

I encourage you to continue to disbelieve what you are often told and what many people believe without ever checking the information for themselves. Just because the government told many founding doctors of modern medicine that cholesterol is bad for you and that saturated fat clogs arteries does not make it correct.