What The Heck Is… Saturated Fat?

Jun
25

Unlike trans fats, saturated fats are naturally occurring fats. They are only found in animal products (meat, dairy, and eggs)*. Even though saturated fats are natural, the problem with them is that when they enter your body, they tend to do the same thing they did when they were in a pig’s or cow’s body: Rather than be burned for energy, they’re more likely to be stored as fat in your flanks, ribs, and loins. In fact, they have more of a “storage effect” than other fats.

Saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol. Cholesterol is only found in animal products (meat, dairy, and eggs). Cholesterol is essential for metabolism but is not needed in the diet because our bodies can produce all that is needed. Raised blood cholesterol causes an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.

A study from Johns Hopkins University suggest that the amount of saturated fat in your diet may be directly proportional to the amount of fat surrounding your abdominal muscles. Researchers analyzed the diets of 84 people and performed an MRI on each of them to measure fats. Those whose diets included the highest rates of saturated fat also had the most abdominal fat.

Here’s the fancy chemistry part

Fats can be classified as either saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated. This depends on the type of chemical bonds present in the fatty acid. If a fatty acid has all the hydrogen atoms it can hold, it is saturated. However, if some of the hydrogen atoms are absent and the usual single bond between carbon atoms has been replaced by a double bond, then it is unsaturated. If there is just one double bond then it is monounsaturated, and if there is more than one then it is polyunsaturated. Most fats actually contain a proportion of each of these three basic types of fatty acid, but are generally described according to which type predominates.

Recommended amounts

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of saturated fats you eat to less than 7% of total daily calories. That means, for example, that if you eat about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 140 of them should come from saturated fats. That’s about 15 grams of saturated fats a day.

A single hamburger could easily put you over this limit: 8 g in the meat patty, 3 g in the cheese slice, 2 g in the mayonnaise, and 0.5 g in the bun = 13.5 g saturated fat. And if there’s any extras, like bacon, or a side of fries, you’re well over the limit! Now add in the ham sandwich you had a lunch (with cheese and mayo?) and you’ve blown the lid off the recommended 15 grams. We can just pretend that you didn’t have eggs or milk with your breakfast.

Avoid:
- Meat, especially red meat and fatty cuts
- Dairy, especially whole-milk dairy products
- Eggs, especially the yolk

*There are actually 3 vegan sources of saturated fat: coconut oil, palm oil, and cocoa butter. But none of these contain cholesterol.

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Breakfast: Bagel with vegan cream cheese
Lunch: Chickenless nuggets and tortilla chips
Dinner: Soy chorizo tacos