Saturated Fats

I recently came across an excellent article discussing fat consumption. It contains an in depth explanation as to why saturated fat (and a host of other fats) and cholesterol are actually good for you, as well as why we have ended up with such misguided dietary guidelines.

I particularly enjoyed the following image:

On the top right graph, we see the 6 countries selected for Ancel Keys study on fat intake and coronary heart disease, a study that is foundational for the widely accepted view that fat is bad for you and part of the basis for most of the Western world's dietary recommendations. There seems to be a fairly strong positive relationship. That is, as fat intake increases, so too does CHD risk. However, the other two graphs show data from other countries in the study. The left one showing about the opposite relationship to the one Keys selected, and the bottom right showing an even stronger negative relationship than the countries used in his study! For those selected countries, more fat in the diet was correlated to dramatically fewer instances of CHD deaths. Interesting.

The article goes on to discuss the nutritional superiority of pastured eggs and grass-fed animal meat. While most fat, even saturated fat, isn't the enemy, we still want to get our fats from good quality sources. There are much better omega-3 to omega-6 ratios in grass-fed animal products, and this provides a host of health benefits itself.

In conclusion: don't demonize saturated fats or foods that are higher in cholesterol. Fat and cholesterol intake are not linked to increased CHD in most of the normal population. At the same time, try to get fats from quality sources such as pastured eggs and grass-fed beef or wild game. Coconut oil is another excellent source of saturated fats that can improve your HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. For other fats, olive oil, fish, and avocados are fantastic sources.

Oh, and if you were wondering the credentials of the author: "Donald Miller is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle."

- Jonathan

Paleo and health

My last post demonstrated how a Paleolithic type diet is beneficial for fat loss, but Paleo is good for so much more than making you look good. Internal measures of health are just as, if not more, important than external measures.

Generally we will find that in overweight individuals, reduction in weight will improve cardiovascular risk factors or diabetes risk factors. A diet consisting of any kind of foods can, theoretically, result in weight loss, but the question of whether or not one might be superior to another by improving these factors independently of weight change, still stands. If a particular way of eating improves health above and beyond the improvements seen with weight loss, this diet might be preferable for individuals who have these kinds of problems.

One study compared the effects of a Paleo diet to a "Consensus (Mediterranean-like) diet" on factors such as plasma glucose/insulin, weight, and waist circumference. They found that a Paleo diet improved glucose tolerance dramatically more than the Consensus diet and that this independent of changes in waist circumference. Impaired glucose tolerance is often a pre-cursor to type 2 diabetes and is a risk factor for mortality in its own right. Beyond that, the Paleo diet did decrease weight and waist circumference further than the Consensus diet. Double the bang for your buck!

Another even more impressive study demonstrated that "[e]ven short-term consumption of a paleolithic type diet improves BP and glucose tolerance, decreases insulin secretion, increases insulin sensitivity and improves lipid profiles without weight loss in healthy sedentary humans." This was from only 10 days of Paleo eating. Imagine lengthening this period and combining it with exercise. And remember, decreased insulin secretion = more growth hormone and more utilization of fat stores.

More diabetes bashing abound in a further study that also demonstrated the efficacy of Paleo nutrition.

And finally, though not precisely a Paleo diet, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of decreased carbohydrate consumption for controlling type 2 diabetes. Participants initially started at 20g/day of carbohydrates (much lower than I'd recommend someone do for an extended period of time!) but did gradually increase carbohydrate intake later on in the study. While Paleo is not THAT low carb, it certainly is much lower than the typical North American diet and gets its carbohydrates from superior sources that are going to have less of an impact on blood sugar. This study concludes that a "LCKD improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes such that diabetes medications were discontinued or reduced in most participants. Because the LCKD can be very effective at lowering blood glucose, patients on diabetes medication who use this diet should be under close medical supervision or capable of adjusting their medication."

This last study brings up an important point. Whenever you're embarking on a new kind of diet or treatment, you should consult your doctor (who is hopefully a bit open-minded on the subject. Providing research might help) if you have a fairly serious medical condition that will be influenced by it. As well, it never hurts to actually measure the markers of health. If you're not convinced of certain claims, test them out! Get blood work done now and then after going Paleo for 30 days and see the difference for yourself.

This about wraps up the research posts I will be making in regards to Paleo. Hopefully some of the studies have helped convince the skeptics reading them that there may be some merit to this kind of eating. From here on in, posts related to Paleo will be more prescriptive or applicable to actually following it. As well, expect a post looking at how even someone who isn't convinced or interested in switching to a completely Paleo diet can take principles from it and improve their health and performance anyway.

Fast forward: Paleo improves cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors very effectively in studies done on the topic, regardless of whether or not weight loss occurs during the course of the intervention. Even 10 days of Paleo demonstrated significant improvements in these factors. If you do have a condition such as diabetes, consult your doctor before making any radical changes to your diet, especially if you're on medication. Less research posts, more putting into practice posts in the future.

- Jonathan