Saturated fat benefits

Most people have heard that saturated fat is not good for the heart but are there any saturated fat benefits? Is saturated fat truly harmful?

As a physician I personally think that declaring saturated fat The bad guy is the biggest misconception of the past 30 years.

In reality, it is the low-fat or fat-free food that may result in disastrous health effects. Here is why.

The body is capable of synthesizing its own saturated fat (the same fatty acids as those of animal origin) from carbohydrates. If you consume carbohydrates you are going to have saturated fat no matter if you drink skimmed milk or you eat fat-free yougurt.

Now before you panic and start pulling your hair in despair, you have to know that there are benefits to this (I mean the saturated fat benefits, not the panic benefits).

Here are some of the saturated fat benefits:

Saturated fat benefits # 1

Saturated fat helps build the cell membrane and this is a very important function when it comes to bringing nutrients to the cell.

Saturated fat benefits # 2

Saturated fat facilitates the absorbtion of vitamins such as vitamin A, which is important for the eyes, vitamin D, which helps incorporate calcium in your bones, and vitamin E for your fertility and sex drive.

Saturated fat benefits # 3

Some saturated fats (like carbon-18 stearic acid and carbon-16 palmitic acid) are found in the fat around the heart muscle. This particular type of saturated fat is used by the heart as an energy reserve in times of stress.

Saturated fat benefits # 4

Some saturated fatty acids protect against infections and immune diseases.

Now that you understand that there are saturated fat benefits you also need to know that there is a down side of fat-free nutrition

Fat-free nutrition for any length of time can cause weight gain, lack of energy, and depression. In fact, Pritikin, the man who created the lipid hypothesis and fat-free nutrition diet, developed a severe depression and commited suicide.

I’m not saying that every one that eats low-fat food will develop a depression, but I do believe that one should be aware of any risks. In addition fat-free and low-fat food goes through processing that sometimes may be more harmful than the saturated fat.

What good is it to eat fat-free cheese that has been processed for so long that it could potentially be harmful to your health?

Ok, so what should you do?