Nelson Vergel
Founder, ExcelMale.com
"[Carbs] were the base of the pyramid," says Mozaffarian. The message was "eat all carbohydrates you want."
Americans took this as a green light to eat more refined grains such as breads, processed snack foods and white pasta.
"But carbohydrates worsen glucose and insulin — they have negative effects on blood cholesterol levels," he says. The thinking that it's OK to swap saturated fats for these refined carbs "has not been useful advice."
He says it's clear that saturated fats can raise LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol. But that's only one risk factor for heart disease.
There's now evidence that — compared with carbs — saturated fat can raise HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) and lower triglycerides in the blood, which are both countering effects to heart disease, he says.
"When you put all of this together," says Mozaffarian, what you see is that saturated fat has a relatively neutral effect compared with carbs. He says it's "not a beneficial effect but not a harmful effect. And I think that's what the recent studies show." He points to a review of studies published in 2010.
He also points to a highly publicized recent meta-analysis that concludes there's no convincing evidence to support the dietary recommendations to limit saturated fat.
The findings in that paper have created quite a bit of controversy. For instance, the American Heart Association says it stands by its recommendations to limit saturated fat.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...&utm_campaign=20140406&utm_source=mostemailed
For ExcelMale.com's recommendations on diet, read: https://www.excelmale.com/forum/threads/8-The-Science-of-Healthy-Eating
Americans took this as a green light to eat more refined grains such as breads, processed snack foods and white pasta.
"But carbohydrates worsen glucose and insulin — they have negative effects on blood cholesterol levels," he says. The thinking that it's OK to swap saturated fats for these refined carbs "has not been useful advice."
He says it's clear that saturated fats can raise LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol. But that's only one risk factor for heart disease.
There's now evidence that — compared with carbs — saturated fat can raise HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) and lower triglycerides in the blood, which are both countering effects to heart disease, he says.
"When you put all of this together," says Mozaffarian, what you see is that saturated fat has a relatively neutral effect compared with carbs. He says it's "not a beneficial effect but not a harmful effect. And I think that's what the recent studies show." He points to a review of studies published in 2010.
He also points to a highly publicized recent meta-analysis that concludes there's no convincing evidence to support the dietary recommendations to limit saturated fat.
The findings in that paper have created quite a bit of controversy. For instance, the American Heart Association says it stands by its recommendations to limit saturated fat.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...&utm_campaign=20140406&utm_source=mostemailed
For ExcelMale.com's recommendations on diet, read: https://www.excelmale.com/forum/threads/8-The-Science-of-Healthy-Eating
