Is The Low Saturated Fat/Low Cholesterol Diet A Con?

Here's my case. My Lord, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I put it to you like this! As evidence against the idea that a low sat-fat and low cholesterol diet reduces heart disease, ask yourself:

If a saturated fat and cholesterol diet really has been responsible for heart disease, then how come is it that the illness was a rarity before the 1930's? Remember, these were times before all those unsaturated fat products started to find their way on to the supermarket shelves, care of the their manufacturers' slick, deceptive advertising and marketing.

People from many isolated indigenous tribes; those who have lived an existence geographically separated from the western world have eaten much saturated fat and are on record for having excellent health... For examples, the Maasai tribes in Africa have diets on high animal fat. The Eskimos eat high amounts of blubber. The long-lived Georgian's have been known to consume much fatty meat...

Compared to the early 20th century, something like 20% less saturated fat is consumed by Americans these days, a typical reflection of the modern western diet. But how is it that heart disease has increased dramatically over the years to become responsible for 40% of deaths in the USA?

Doesn't the rise in heart disease suggest that a low-sat fat diet may cause more harm than good? Or, doesn't it question the health implications of the high unsaturated fat / low cholesterol option? Should the population rethink its diet and reintroduce higher levels of saturated fat intake, like the years of old?

How the increasing manufacture of polyunsaturated fats and cheap junk oils have wreaked havoc on the health of misled and unsuspecting westerners

If people really got to educate themselves they would undoubtedly realise that when it comes to the subject of what healthy fats and oils to buy, they're being had, big time. 'Don't be a sucker to the deception that all food products on the supermarket shelves are there because they are safe. The food corporations don't really care about your health. Ultimately, they only care about profits. Remember the food approval bodies that decide whether or not certain foods should go on the market? Certain foods, regardless of their long-term threat to health could be accepted, because many of the approval bodies' members have financial ties with the food corporations concerned. In order to move from the passenger's to the driver's seat in life and take control of your health, it is absolutely essential to understand what distinguishes good fats from bad fats.

What are polyunsaturated fats?

Polyunsaturated fats are quite high in omega-6 content and normally, they exist in liquid form at room temperature. Examples include rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, soy oil, canola (cONola?), safflower oil, sunflower oil and corn vegetable oil...

Beware of high polyunsaturated fats.

Whether it comes from diet gurus, advertising slogans or any other source chanting the politically correct mantra 'high polyunsaturates are good for you,' the real health implications cannot be ignored.

There is a dangerous imbalance. Far too much polyunsaturated fat is being consumed and not enough saturated fat.

How are high polyunsaturated fats not good for you?

Too much polyunsaturated fat has been known to cause many illnesses such as; cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, cataracts, poor immune system function, digestion problems, poor reproductive function, liver damage, weight gain, stunted growth, difficulty maintaining attention, learning difficulties, premature ageing, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, moodiness and depression...

The damage is caused by the polyunsaturated fats and oils undergoing heat treatment, oxidation or subjection to water, which occurs during the manufacturing process or from cooking: In effect, the polyunsaturates become rancid.

Rancidity means that the fats and oils become highly chemically reactive characterised by free radicals. These free radicals attack the body's cells, capable of causing damage to the outer membrane and DNA / RNA strands inside. This, for examples, can lead to illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and the formation of skin wrinkles.

Avoid Trans-fatty acids, which are technically polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids that have undergone an industrial process called hydrogenation for commercial purposes. They do not exist in nature. It is strongly advised to keep levels of Trans-fatty acids down to trace amounts. They have been linked to the above ailments.

Junk foods have more than their fair share of Trans-fatty acids

The omega-6 and omega-3 imbalance

Before the rise and rise of factory processed foods, with their cheap and nasty polyunsaturated fats and junk oils such as margarine, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil and soy oil, canola (cONola?), sunflower oil and corn vegetable oil...there existed a diet of natural and wholesome foods: The type of diet that the human race had been used to since time immemorial. This consisted of an abundance of healthy saturated fats and oils like, coconut oil, flaxseed oil and fish oil... Nowadays, however, because the modern western diet has so many high polyunsaturates with those cheap and nasty fats and oils, there is a health-threatening imbalance in the amount of omega-6 to omega-3 fats consumed.

A normal healthy diet would be a 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats. Nowadays, the ratio ranges from 25:1 or even 50:1 in favour of the omega-6 fats!

The trick is to see right through the circumstances. What's happened over the last eighty-odd years or so is this:

Put together the phoney science that saturated fat is bad for you (and ignore the many contradictory findings), with the steady rise in high levels of polyunsaturated omega-6 fats over the years. The result: a lucrative profit machine has been created, at the expense of countless numbers of consumers made unhealthy.

-With that, I rest my case.