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Yes, it is. If you state a hypothesis as suggested by observation or evidence, the goal of science is to either prove or disprove the statement. You cannot state "saturated fat promotes heart disease" as a scientific fact because it has not been proven.
No, it really isn't. Science does not "prove" claims instead it supplies evidence that a given hypothesis is true of false. That is why asking for a single study that "proves" that saturated fat promotes heart disease is off-base....no such thing could, in principle, exist. You have to look at the evidence as a whole and there are a variety of studies that have confirmed a relationship between heart disease and saturated fat intake. You also have to take into consideration that in nutritional science the type of studies one can conducted is limited by ethical limitations.
In any case, contrary to what you suggested, there are numerous controlled studies that have demonstrated a link between heart disease and saturated fat. There are also a number of animal studies that provide further evidence.
There is a reason why all the major medical organizations on the planet recommend that one limit saturated fat for heart health. The relationship has been well studied and has been demonstrated in a number of different studies. The only people that deny it are a handful of diet gurus.....none of which are out there doing any experimental research.
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Originally Posted by NorthYorkEd
The "Great Cholesterol Scare" was designed to sell statin drugs and certain manufactured food products, not to promote or encourage better health.
Right....its all a big conspiracy. The patents on most statins have already expired and doctors still prescribe them just as readily as they did before despite the fact that little profit is made on them today. Reducing the cholesterol and saturated fat in manufactured foods cost the food industry a lot.....certainly not something they were promoting.
Of course what is often not mentioned is that the beef, dairy, etc industry spend many millions a year to market their products, lobby governments, etc.
Let me help you understand...because I know someone who is one of these. NEVER eats egg yolks, NEVER eats anything full fat, looks at you like you're crazy if you eat something like bacon or full fat cheese.
Well....I don't eat egg yolks, bacon, cheese, etc.....so I guess I'm an "anti-fat freak". Though I eat plenty of foods with healthy fats: nuts, seeds, avocados, etc.
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Originally Posted by claud605
BTW, in my opinion, and I'm no professional by any means, the correlation that was once found between saturated fat and heart disease is not from natural sources, but the fact that it is often found in processed foods with empty carbs, chemicals, and trans fats.
The primary source of saturated fat in the American diet is from natural sources, namely, cheese, milk, beef, bacon, etc and Americans had high rates of heart disease before prepackaged foods were as widespread as they are today.
That is why asking for a single study that "proves" that saturated fat promotes heart disease is off-base....no such thing could, in principle, exist. You have to look at the evidence as a whole and there are a variety of studies that have confirmed a relationship between heart disease and saturated fat intake.
You posted links to studies that only demonstrated dietary impacts on cholesterol, which you are still assuming to be an ironclad indicator or precursor to heart disease. In fact, in one study you posted, the group eating the least amount of saturated fat saw the biggest drop in HDL, which is now considered beneficial in higher numbers and may even be protective against CVD.
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Originally Posted by user_id
In any case, contrary to what you suggested, there are numerous controlled studies that have demonstrated a link between heart disease and saturated fat.
Not to the exclusion of all other factors. How many of the respondents wore hats or red shirts?
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Originally Posted by user_id
Right....its all a big conspiracy. The patents on most statins have already expired and doctors still prescribe them just as readily as they did before despite the fact that little profit is made on them today. Reducing the cholesterol and saturated fat in manufactured foods cost the food industry a lot.....certainly not something they were promoting.
Satins continue to provide revenues in the billions, and many medical experts have decried the justifications used to prescribe them. Some proponents of statins even want them added to drinking water and/or dosages given to children as "prevention". In other words, lets sell drugs to healthy people.
Food manufacturers use the low-fat and low-cholesterol claims as marketing slogans, to imply a healthier choice. Margarines, vegetable oils, and cereals like Cheerios are prime examples. They profit from fear-mongering.
If you prefer to eat low-fat, so be it. But a moderate amount of saturated fat in the diet is not harmful, and in fact, is more likely to be beneficial for hormone regulation and other biological functions.
You posted links to studies that only demonstrated dietary impacts on cholesterol, which you are still assuming to be an ironclad indicator or precursor to heart disease.
Right because, as I mentioned, there are ethical limitations in what sort of controlled studies you can do on people. Because a diet rich in saturated fat is known to promote disease long-term....you cannot conduct long-term controlled feeding studies that force people to eat this way. For long term studies you have to look at observational studies, that is, studies were people are choosing to eating this way. This is why its so important to look at a combination of studies, no single is going to prove anything, and in this case the controlled feeding studies confirm what is seen in the observational studies. Today we have a variety of evidence that confirms the link between high saturated fat intake and heart disease and that is precisely why all major medical organizations recommend that one limit saturated fat. Of course, some choose to think its all one big conspiracy.....
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Originally Posted by NorthYorkEd
Satins continue to provide revenues in the billions, and many medical experts have decried the justifications used to prescribe them.
No they don't, they are available as generics and very little profit is made of them.
I'm not sure why you think linking to a website talking about a conspiracy theory....demonstrates that it isn't a conspiracy theory. Anybody that fails to mention that the patents on many statins have expired is, obviously, not being forth coming about the reality of matters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthYorkEd
Food manufacturers use the low-fat and low-cholesterol claims as marketing slogans, to imply a healthier choice. Margarines, vegetable oils, and cereals like Cheerios are prime examples.
They do, but only because health professionals have recommended that people limit their intake of saturated fat and cholesterol. Food manufactures could just as easily load up their foods with saturated fats and cholesterol. The food industry has no bias either way, and as I noted, they had to spend a considerable amount to reformulate their products so they are hardly a group that would have promoted the current health guidelines.
Plain Cheerios is a perfectly healthy cereal and its been around for 60 years....far before the current health guidelines existed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthYorkEd
If you prefer to eat low-fat, so be it. But a moderate amount of saturated fat in the diet is not harmful, and in fact, is more likely to be beneficial for hormone regulation and other biological functions.
There is no known benefit to consuming saturated fat and, like cholesterol, there is no dietary requirement for saturated fat because our bodies produce what is needed.
The health guidelines are to consume a a moderate amount which is defined to be (assuming a 2000 calorie diet) less than 22 grams a day for the average person and less than 15 grams for those with diabetes and risk factors for heart disease. Saying within these guidelines doesn't require a "low-fat diet", just a diet that largely avoids foods that are high in saturated fat (butter, cheese, whole milk, beef, pork, etc).
Right because, as I mentioned, there are ethical limitations in what sort of controlled studies you can do on people. Because a diet rich in saturated fat is known to promote disease long-term....you cannot conduct long-term controlled feeding studies that force people to eat this way. For long term studies you have to look at observational studies, that is, studies were people are choosing to eating this way. This is why its so important to look at a combination of studies, no single is going to prove anything, and in this case the controlled feeding studies confirm what is seen in the observational studies. Today we have a variety of evidence that confirms the link between high saturated fat intake and heart disease and that is precisely why all major medical organizations recommend that one limit saturated fat. Of course, some choose to think its all one big conspiracy.....
No they don't, they are available as generics and very little profit is made of them.
I'm not sure why you think linking to a website talking about a conspiracy theory....demonstrates that it isn't a conspiracy theory. Anybody that fails to mention that the patents on many statins have expired is, obviously, not being forth coming about the reality of matters.
They do, but only because health professionals have recommended that people limit their intake of saturated fat and cholesterol. Food manufactures could just as easily load up their foods with saturated fats and cholesterol. The food industry has no bias either way, and as I noted, they had to spend a considerable amount to reformulate their products so they are hardly a group that would have promoted the current health guidelines.
Plain Cheerios is a perfectly healthy cereal and its been around for 60 years....far before the current health guidelines existed.
There is no known benefit to consuming saturated fat and, like cholesterol, there is no dietary requirement for saturated fat because our bodies produce what is needed.
The health guidelines are to consume a a moderate amount which is defined to be (assuming a 2000 calorie diet) less than 22 grams a day for the average person and less than 15 grams for those with diabetes and risk factors for heart disease. Saying within these guidelines doesn't require a "low-fat diet", just a diet that largely avoids foods that are high in saturated fat (butter, cheese, whole milk, beef, pork, etc).
It's very good, but I like this part in particular:
"So, in trying to address one problem — heart disease — by cutting way back on fat, many experts we talked to agreed that the original dietary goals may have helped fuel other problems, like diabetes and obesity.
“ In an informal survey, we asked readers of The Salt if they bought packaged food labeled as fat-free during the fat-free marketing craze. 76 percent said yes, and 70 percent told us they ate more refined carbohydrates and sugars as a result.
"There were definitely unintended consequences of the original guidelines," Mary Flynn, a professor of medicine at Brown University, told us.
She says if you look at the results of studies where participants followed low-fat diets, there's no convincing evidence that this pattern of eating cuts the risk of disease.
"There have been a number of studies done," Flynn said, "and there's been no benefit for low-fat diets to lead to better weight loss, and there's no benefit for low-fat diets to lead to less disease."
One of those studies, published in 2006, was part of the Women's Health Initiative that included thousands of women.
It's complicated to look back over 40 years and tease out an independent effect of diet on heart disease. That's because Americans have changed many other habits. For instance, many people stopped smoking, started exercising and began taking statin medicines to control cholesterol.
But what's become clear, Flynn says, is that avoiding fat is not the key to a healthy diet."
Saying within these guidelines doesn't require a "low-fat diet", just a diet that largely avoids foods that are high in saturated fat (butter, cheese, whole milk, beef, pork, etc).
In other words, avoid everything good in life and chew your tofu and textured soy protein...
"So, in trying to address one problem — heart disease — by cutting way back on fat, many experts we talked to agreed that the original dietary goals may have helped fuel other problems, like diabetes and obesity.
Except that Americans, at no point, consumed a low-fat diet.....in fact they didn't even decrease the amount of fat they consumed they just started to consume more sugars. Where did most of this increase come from? Soda and other sugary drinks which are foods that were never high fat....and were certainly not being recommended by health professionals.
So, no, the recommendation to eat less fat didn't lead to higher rates of diabetes and obesity. What's worse....is you don't even have a correlation. The low-fat diet craze was in the 90's and rates of obesity and diabetes were much less than they are today.
But I don't know why you're talking about low-fat diets in the first place, we've been discussing saturated fat and a diet low in saturated fat isn't necessarily low in fat.
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Originally Posted by NorthYorkEd
In other words, avoid everything good in life and chew your tofu and textured soy protein...
If you think soy products are the only alternative to beef, pork, etc.....I'd suggest you need to expand your horizons. I never eat textured soy protein and the only time I eat tofu is when eating Chinese or Thai food. These meals would be low in saturated fat if olive oil (or no oil) was used:
- Traditional pesto pasta with vegetables
- Lightly sauteed boneless skinless chicken breast, rice and vegetables.
- Falafel sandwich with oven roasted potatoes
- Salmon, oven roasted potatoes and vegetables.
- Pea soup, whole wheat bread, vegetables.
Absolutely, saturated animal fats have been demonized for years. Saturated animal fats are indeed very healthy. Good post.
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