Tag Archive for: saturated fat

What Changed? 2015 vs. 2025 Dietary Guidelines

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If you read any of the commentary about the latest dietary guidelines, you would have thought there were radical changes. “Eat or drink full-fat dairy! Use beef tallow! Ultra-processed food should be eliminated!”

If you took the time to read the synopses, there are very few differences between the recommendations. They still use the same base of 2,000 calories per day. The recommended percentage of fat intake is the same. The same number of fruits and vegetables are recommended—still way too low at two and three respectively. Sodium intake—the same. Eat whole grains, not refined carbohydrates. So where did all the discussion come from? Let’s take a look.

“Higher Protein Intake”

The recommendation is warranted given that we don’t get enough protein, based on the most recent research. If you want more details, purchase my latest webinar Taking Back Your Muscle, Part 2: Protein, and I’ll explain it in detail. Maybe there’s slightly more emphasis on animal protein, but all plant-based sources of protein are given just like they always have been.

Because both sets of guidelines talk about adjusting nutrient intake based on stages of life, there’s an increase of protein recommended at different life stages.

“Full-Fat Dairy and Tallow for Cooking”

Although the focus on these two stirred a lot of online commotion, these are not meaningful changes in the recommendation for consuming dairy products or deep-fat frying in oils. While the commentary reached a high-pitched crescendo, you probably figured out why it was meaningless. If you read the recommendations, in 2015 and 2025 the guidelines say not to exceed 10% of daily calories from saturated fat. One cup of milk would contain five grams of saturated fat, about 25% of the recommended daily intake for the average person. Fry something in beef tallow and depending on the food, that could use up the rest of the day’s fat recommendation. This is not different from the 2015 recommendations in any substantive way.

“Fewer Ultra-Processed Foods”

One more time, there’s no difference in the recommendations for avoiding ultra-processed foods. The 2015 guideline didn’t call them ultra-processed foods, but the pictures definitely show foods high in processed carbohydrates, sugars, and fats.

The Bottom Line

The real problems with the 2015 guidelines are two-fold and will probably happen again for 2025 guidelines:

  • Most Americans will never read the synopsis.
  • Even if they did, they wouldn’t change their eating habits to a more nutritious diet that’s based on vegetables, fruits, quality protein from all sources, whole grains, and a reasonable intake of fat.

I’ll throw in my two cents and make it even simpler: Eat less. Eat better. Move more. That’s the way to better health.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Eggs: A Practical Solution

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Based on Tuesday’s Memo, do we have a “hard-boiled” answer to the question of whether the dietary cholesterol in egg yolks positively impacts LDL-cholesterol levels? Or total cholesterol levels? We can’t “eggsactly” get a complete answer from this study, and here’s why. (Okay, no more puns or “yolking” around.)

Study Issues

  • The LDL-cholesterol levels in the EGG phase (high cholesterol, low sat fat, two eggs per day) were 104 mg/dl. That was lower than the 108 mg/dl in the EGG-Free phase (low cholesterol, high sat fat, no eggs) and lower than the 109 mg/dl in the control group that ate the typical diet, but with only one egg per week. The standard deviation with the groups was over 20 mg/dl, which means that 66.7% of the subjects in any group could be 20 mg higher or 20 mg lower; that 104 result could actually be 84–124.
  • While an argument could be made that the standard deviations were similar, there’s also the potential measurement error. That is currently 12%, so as all measures were about 100 mg/dl, each individual measurement could be within a range of 88–112 mg/dl.

These two issues alone raise doubt whether the EGG diet clearly reduced LDL-cholesterol.

There are also a couple of dietary factors:

  • When placed on the reduced fat diet while eating two eggs per day, the fiber intake increased by eight grams per day, while the grams of protein decreased by 20–30 grams per day. Fiber can lower cholesterol.
  • Less protein would be available to be made into sugar and fat.

One comment pointed to the statement “funded by the Egg Council” to suggest that’s why the data skewed the way it did, but the last thing we want to do is discourage that kind of research. If private companies and associations do not fund research, it won’t get done; there’s no reason to believe that the NIH will fund basic science research going forward.

A Practical Approach

As I’ve maintained recently, whether talking about seed oils, maltodextrin, or eggs in this case, it’s all about the amount consumed. What the study did show is that excess saturated fat may be, and probably always has been, the cause of abnormal cholesterol levels in people without the genetic tendency toward high cholesterol. The lesson for us is to try to get saturated fat intake to less than 10% of your total caloric intake. One more thing—increase the intake of vegetables to decrease the percentage of saturated fat as well.

If you follow these two suggestions, there should be no problem with eating eggs every day if you want. Just be careful of fat bombs such as sausage and bacon that can add fat you don’t need.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: AJCN. 2025. 122 :83–91. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.05.001

To Egg or Not to Egg?

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That’s today’s question. This Memo was driven by another provocative headline from a university press release: “Groundbreaking study finds eggs don’t harm heart health” published in SciTech Daily. I think most informed healthcare professionals have known for a while that there’s little to no relationship between cardiovascular disease and dietary cholesterol from eggs and other animal sources—at least for most people.

Researchers in Australia decided to investigate how much dietary cholesterol from eggs, saturated fat, and a low-fat diet would impact a variety of blood lipid levels. While they measured at least 50 variables related to cardiovascular disease, they focused on LDL cholesterol. They recruited 61 healthy people, 48 of whom completed the 15-week study. In a random order, each subject spent five weeks on one of the following diets (note the amount of cholesterol and saturated fat in each diet):

  • The control diet had high cholesterol and high saturated fat; it mimicked the typical Australian diet, which is similar to the typical American diet. They were limited to one egg per week.
  • The EGG diet had high cholesterol but low saturated fat, plus two eggs per day.
  • The EGG-Free diet had low cholesterol and high saturated fat with no eggs.

What did they find when they compared how people did on each diet? Those on the EGG diet averaged 6 mg/dl lower LDL-cholesterol than either the EGG-free diet or the control diet. The EGG-free diet that was high in saturated fat resulted in the highest LDL cholesterol. Even with no additional eggs, the control diet still had higher LDL than the EGG diet. 

Does this give the egg a free pass when it comes to blood lipids? Can the lead author really state, “We’ve delivered hard-boiled evidence in defense of the humble egg”? I’ll let you know on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: AJCN. 2025. 122 :83–91. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.05.001

Is Beef Tallow Good for You?

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Where’s the beef? Evidently, it’s making a comeback in the form of tallow. Beef tallow is processed fat from cows, but in reality it could be made from any type of animal fat. A number of health gurus have touted its benefit for skin care as well as a more natural form of fat for cooking than seed oils. Today we’ll take a look at consuming beef tallow and deal with skin care on Saturday.

There are no more health benefits than there have ever been from using beef tallow to cook. Beef tallow contains high amounts of saturated fat, the worst kind for your heart. That can impart better flavor in whatever is cooked or baked with it, but it’s still a saturated fat. That means it’s ideal for making cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol in our bodies.

I’ve heard all the arguments about how carbohydrates were the real problem back when they decided to lower the fat intake in dietary guidelines back in the 1970s. That wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now. If we don’t have saturated fat in our diet, and we substitute sugars and other simple carbohydrates, we’ll make our own saturated fat. Why? Because we are animals, and we will make our own fat.

Should you ever use beef tallow for cooking? It’s like any other type of fat—and that includes the seed oils everyone is saying are bad for you. Beef tallow makes a darn good french fry, and nothing works as well as lard (pig fat) in pie crusts, so use it if you want when it will really make a difference. The rest of the time, just focus on the mono- and polyunsaturated fats.

As I’ve said over and over again, it’s not the food that’s bad; it’s the mass quantities we eat. Saturday we’ll look at the pros and cons of smearing tallow on your skin.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: British Journal of Nutrition (2024), 132, 1039–1050.

The Bottom Line on Omega-3s

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When you consider the research studies I reviewed last week and this week on omega-3 fatty acids, they may seem confusing. The reason is that in both of those studies, they were looking at very specific outcomes. In last Thursday’s memo, it was changes in the quantity of specific cytokines, chemicals that are inflammatory in nature. In the study from Tuesday, it was for reduction of cardiac events. There are other ways that omega-3s can contribute to health, and I thought a little review would be in order.

Cellular Membranes

Cells seem to work better when they contain omega-3 fatty acids. Remember, a cell has an exterior wall of a lipid bilayer. If the diet contains a high amount of saturated fat, a high amount of saturated fat becomes part of that lipid bilayer. If the diet contains more omega-3 fatty acids, whether by eating fish or by taking a dietary supplement, the cell membranes contain a higher proportion of omega-3 fatty acids. While the mechanisms are not known, the cells seem to function better when they contain more omega-3s.

Let me give you a couple of examples. Nerve tissue seems to function better when there’s a high amount of DHA in the bloodstream; DHA supplementation seems to be beneficial for nerve problems such as migraine headaches, depression, and Parkinson’s disease. It’s not a cure, but somehow the omega-3s become integrated into those nerve cells and they work better. The same holds true for the eyes; vision is dependent on the nervous system to operate properly, and high DHA appears to benefit eye health as well.

Hormone Control

The study I reviewed last Thursday focused on one type of inflammatory chemicals called the cytokines, but there are other pro-inflammatory hormones that may be better controlled with both high EPA and DHA supplementation. Cortisol is a known stress hormone. In times like we’re experiencing now and for those who are overweight or obese, cortisol levels are higher; that may be due to the increased presence of saturated fat. If omega-3s become part of triglycerides, the potential for inflammatory hormones such as cortisol can be decreased.

There’s also the possibility that persistent use of both EPA and DHA reduces atherosclerotic plaque, the hard layer of fat that builds up in arteries, or it may prevent cholesterol from being manufactured in the first place. While it’s too long of a process to explain in a Memo, our bodies make cholesterol two carbon molecules at a time. When there’s a higher amount of saturated fat, the process can speed along unabated; but when there’s a high percentage of omega-3 fatty acids present, the process gets interrupted. We don’t know the mechanisms; we just know omega-3s help.

The Bottom Line

Those are some of the possible ways omega-3 fatty acids are used for our health. Undoubtedly there are many more that haven’t been discovered or haven’t been examined in enough clinical trials at this point. The most important thing for you and me is to make sure that either we eat several servings of fatty fish per week or we take up to four grams of high EPA-DHA omega-3 supplements every day—let the science work it out later. Our job is to provide our body with nutrients that are beneficial.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Cost vs. Benefit for Saturated Fat

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In Tuesday’s Memo, I suggested that I don’t like speaking in absolutes when it comes to health recommendations; I’ve seen too many exceptions. What about our Michigan cardiologist? Was he correct? Yes and no, but mostly no.

He implied in the interview that the source of saturated fat is animal products. That isn’t true. In fact, someone could be a vegan and still over-consume saturated fats from using vegetable oils. Palm oil, vegetable oil, even almonds and other nuts that contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils also contain saturated fats. My point is that even without any animal products such as cheese or milk, you can still get a lot of saturated fat in a vegan diet.

He was also overstating the positive effects of lowering saturated fat intake. I read the abstract; it said that it would take 56 people lowering their saturated fat intake for two years to prevent a single cardiac event. Further, the review did not show any reduction in mortality. To me, it raised a lot of questions that may have been answered but not reported.

Should we lower our saturated fat intake? Probably, but it’s going to take a lot more answers to swing the cost to benefit ratio in favor of giving up animal products for the potential benefits we may get.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Cochrane Library. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub2

“Give Up Meat or Else!”

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“Animal Foods Conclusively Cause Heart Disease!” was the title in my news feed that attracted my attention. I had to check it out, because I’m not a fan of absolute statements in the health field; too often, some facts have to be ignored to make definitive statements such as that true. Was this any different?

A cardiologist from Michigan was interviewed in response to a recently published paper in the Cochrane Review. The review updated the information related to saturated fat intake and the rate of cardiovascular disease and mortality. After reading the paper, that’s the response the doctor gave to an interviewer from the Plant Based News. He suggested that the review conclusively shows that reducing saturated fat intake will result in a 21% decrease in CVD events. The implication is that most saturated fat comes from animal products: if we really buckle down and reduce our saturated fat consumption more, we can reduce events even further.

He makes the connection between animal products and saturated fat. But is that correct? It would mean that vegans, who consume no animal products, are protected from cardiovascular disease. Is that true? I’ll let you know on Thursday

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Why I’ll Keep Using Coconut Oil

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The research that the authors of the American Heart Association Presidential Advisory on Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease, specifically on coconut oil, seems to be in conflict. The authors suggested coconut oil is bad for us, but the research studies they used didn’t really seem to confirm that conclusion. What gives?

The criteria that the Advisory’s panel used were limited in scope. There’s no evidence that the regular use of coconut oil contributes to CVD, even in cultures that regularly use coconut oil. They used a part-equals-whole logic. As they reported, there were significant increases in LDL-cholesterol when subjects increased coconut oil in their diet in the studies they cited. Because a high LDL-cholesterol level contributes to CVD, therefore coconut oil must contribute to CVD. That’s why the Panel does not recommend its use.

I understand what they said. The data they used supported their conclusion. However, they used a very narrow use of the data on coconut oil to support their recommendation.

They are correct when they state that coconut oil is high in saturated fat; in fact, it has the highest percentage of saturated fat of all fats and oils including lard and butter. But it also has a very high percentage of short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids as opposed to longer chain fatty acids. The advantage is that short- and medium-chain fatty acids can by-pass the liver and be used directly to produce energy in most organs of the body, which makes coconut oil an option for getting energy quickly.

Let’s examine the statement that LDL cholesterol increased when subjects were taking coconut oil (1). In one study, LDL rose from 166 to 171 mg/dl in men and 155 to 156 in women (2). In another study, LDL rose from 118 to 128 mg/dl in a study of men and women (3). These were studies that lasted six weeks and five weeks respectively. There’s no evidence it would continue to rise had the subjects continued to use coconut oil. An increase of 3–6% in LDL-cholesterol wasn’t translated into a risk for CVD. Statistically significant? Yes. Meaningful in the real world? No.

The panel did not recommend coconut oil because it has saturated fat and has no other health benefits, but that point is debatable. Research on other benefits of coconut oil is really just beginning. Too many health gurus are overstating the benefits, especially when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, and that creates the hype and most likely, the reason the Panel singled out coconut oil to examine more closely.

 

The Bottom Line

The Panel suggested we keep fat intake to no more than 30% of dietary intake; of that, only 10% should be saturated fat. They recommend that we substitute poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats and oils for saturated fat. That’s not really controversial and it’s a good idea.

What they did not say was that we couldn’t use coconut oil as one of our sources of saturated fat. If we eat 2,000 calories per day, that would mean up to 200 calories per day can come from saturated fat; that’s about two tablespoons per day, and that seems to be a reasonable source of saturated fat consistent with their recommendation.

Here’s the real bottom line: if you’re going to use a sat fat as a source of immediate energy, coconut oil is a healthier choice than lard or butter. And that’s why I use coconut oil; I don’t use a lot, but it works for me and makes sense to me as a scientist.

My recommendations never change. Eat less. Eat better. Move more. And in my opinion, using coconut oil is eating better.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference:
1. Circulation. 2017;135:00–00. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510
2. J Lipid Res. 1995;36:1787–1795.
3. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;94:1451–1457

 

Coconut Oil Research vs. the AHA

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For this memo, I’ll print conclusions from the papers cited in the American Heart Association Presidential Advisory on Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease and then print what the authors wrote about the research studies they used to assess coconut oil (1). I’ll confess, it’s hard to understand how they reached some of these conclusions.

The study:
The findings suggest that, in certain circumstances, coconut oil might be a useful alternative to butter and hydrogenated vegetable fats (2).

AHA:
“A carefully controlled experiment compared the effects of coconut oil, butter, and safflower oil supplying polyunsaturated linoleic acid. Both butter and coconut oil raised LDL cholesterol compared with safflower oil, butter more than coconut oil.”


The study:
In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that it may be premature to judge SFA-rich diets as contributing to CVD risk solely on the basis of their SFA (saturated fatty acid) content.

AHA:
“Another carefully controlled experiment found that coconut oil significantly increased LDL cholesterol compared with olive oil (3).”


The study:
There was no evidence that coconut oil acted consistently different from other saturated fats in terms of its effects on blood lipids and lipoproteins.

AHA:
“A recent systematic review found seven controlled trials, including the two just mentioned, that compared coconut oil with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated oils. Coconut oil raised LDL cholesterol in all seven of these trials, significantly in six of them.”

The Advisory’s conclusion: “Because coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, a cause of CVD, and has no known offsetting favorable effects, we advise against the use of coconut oil.”

Significantly. That’s a meaningful word in statistics but how about in the real world? I’ll finish this up in Saturday’s memo.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

References:
1. Circulation. 2017;135:00–00. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510
2. J Lipid Res. 1995;36:1787–1795.
3. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;94:1451–1457
4. Nutr Rev. 2016;74:267–280.

 

Coconut Oil: Healthy or Not?

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The headlines screamed “Coconut Oil is Alarmingly High in Saturated Fats!” News post after news post talked about how Americans have been sold a bill of goods on the health benefits of coconut oil. Now the American Heart Association says it’s harmful. They published a Presidential Advisory on Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease, a review paper to examine one issue: does saturated fat contribute to cardiovascular disease? They state that both the public and healthcare professionals are confused over this issue. The reasons are complex but primarily due to recent research publications that questioned the role saturated fat plays in the development of CVD.

The paper is 19 pages long with six pages of references. I’m not going to cover the entire paper because for the most part, there’s nothing new in what they’ve said. I’m only going to address a single issue: coconut oil. They begin the section by citing a New York Times survey that looked at which foods nutritionists consider healthy and what a group of registered voters consider healthy; nutritionists say coconut oil is not healthy while the public believes it is. The authors speculate that this is the result of the marketing of coconut oil in the popular press. Evidently they don’t spend much time on the Internet, because that’s where the bulk of claims for coconut oil are made.

I’m a fan of coconut oil for one primary reason (other than the fact that I love coconut): it contains short- and medium-chain fatty acids that can by-pass the liver and be used as energy for most organs. Is it still a saturated fat? Absolutely. Does it cause an increase in your risk of CVD? I’ll review their research on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Circulation. 2017;135:00–00. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510