After nearly 50 years of science concluding that foods rich in saturated fats–like meats, cheeses, poultry, butter, and lard–cause heart disease, the public has been confused over and over, by stories such as TIME magazine covers, and many online posts celebrating that “Butter is Back.”

Did scientists get it wrong? Even though there are dozens and dozens of studies from metabolic wards of randomized studies of patients’ meals, and massive epidemiology studies, all having pointed to the harm of dietary patterns high in saturated fats?

Here is the answer: Sat fat should be off the menu. It does cause heart disease.

Background on Saturated Fats

In a long-ago TIME magazine cover, published way back in 1961, the role of saturated fats in the diet as a risk for heart disease was emphasized with a picture of Ancel Keys, Ph.D. and a story inside. Dr. Keys was a world-famous researcher on nutrition at the University of Minnesota who proposed in 1953 that not all dietary fats, but specifically saturated fats, lead to elevated cholesterol and an increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, and early deaths.

He was quoted in that article as recommending that we “eat less fat meat, fewer eggs, and dairy products… reasonably low-fat diets can provide infinite variety and aesthetic satisfaction for the most fastidious—if not the most gluttonous—among us”. This is hardly a radical view but was quite ahead of its time. In 1970 Keys and his co-authors published the Seven Countries Study that confirmed that countries with higher intakes of saturated fat-rich foods, like Finland, had the highest heart disease rates. Meanwhile, the island of Crete Greece had the lowest rate of cardiovascular disease, suggesting for the first time that a Mediterranean diet high in vegetables and low in meat was the heart healthiest way to go.

Then In 2014 Time Promotes “Eat Butter,” Sparking Food Wars

After a famous meeting of the world dairy industry in 2008 planning an attack on saturated fat science, a research paper was published in 2010 that questioned whether saturated fat and heart disease were related. The paper got huge headlines, even though a senior author received funding from the dairy industry. The article was also severely criticized by a senior researcher in nutrition in the same journal.

It took one more similar study of poor quality to lead TIME magazine to place a stick of butter on the cover in June of 2014 with the statement “Eat Butter” making everyone think, “Butter is Back!”

The final blow was the publication of a best-selling book The Big Fat Surprise, promoting the health benefits of meat, dairy, and other sources of saturated fat, and the Food War was officially in full swing. For example, in 2018 I spent nearly 4 hours as a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience (Episode 1175) debating back and forth about the role of saturated fat and heart disease.

The War is Over: The New Report Finds Sat Fat Causes Heart Disease

Nutrition science can be of variable quality and difficult to parse, but a group that holds nutrition research to the high standards is The Cochrane Reviews. They publish a series of primary research in human health care and health policy online in The Cochrane Library.

This week, The Cochrane Library published an analysis of the relationship between dietary saturated fat and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), such as heart attacks, strokes, and sudden death. They examined 15 high-quality randomized controlled trials involved about 59,000 subjects with data on diet and CVD events.

The Cochrane Review demonstrated unequivocally that reducing dietary saturated fat lowered the risk of combined CVD events by 21%. That may not sound like a lot, but in scientific terms it’s huge.

Further analysis showed that the greater the reduction in dietary saturated fat, the greater the drop in the risk of CVD events. This was true both for people who had no prior history of heart events, and those who had. In fact the reduction in sat far was even more powerful for those who did have known heart disease. (Meanwhile, there was no evidence for any harmful effects of reducing saturated fat intake.)

What Does Cutting Out Sat Fat Mean for You? Sat fat is off the menu

That means giving up butter, meat, and poultry, as well as tropical oils like coconut and palm oil. The less sat fat you eat, the better for your heart. The authors of The Cochrane Review concluded: “reducing saturated fat intake for at least 2 years causes a potentially important reduction in combined CVD events.”

The more you cut out the better. The “greater reduction in saturated fat caused greater reductions in CVD events.” These conclusions are consistent with the vast majority of studies prior to when the dairy industry began to confuse the public in order to promote sales of their high-fat foods.

Dietary saturated fat is found in the greatest amounts in red meat, full-fat dairy like butter, and poultry. It is low or absent in most whole plant foods with the exception of coconut oil and palm oil. (Tropical oils do contain sat fat.) But the study authors also warned that you should avoid saturated fats in foods such as “cakes, biscuits, pies and pastries, butter, ghee, lard, palm oil, sausages and cured meats, hard cheese, cream, ice cream, milkshakes and chocolate (for further details see NHS 2020).”

Overall, The Cochrane Review ends a decade of confusion. The Big Fat Wars are over. You should stick to eating foods that are low in dietary saturated fats to reduce your risk for heart disease. Replacing animal products with whole food plant choices will reduce your risk of developing the number 1 cause of death in the Western world, for both men and women: Cardiovascular disease. 

Dr. Joel Kahn is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and author of the bestsellers: The Whole Heart Solution, Dead Execs Don’t Get Bonuses, Vegan Sex: Vegans Do It Better, The Plant-Based Solution and owner of GreenSpace & Go.

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We know we need to exercise, but what is the best diet for health and longevity?

More than ever, trying to determine what diet is most related to health is of importance to living a long life without disease. Nutrition science can be difficult, complex, and conflicting at times. What can you do when headlines appear that are in direct conflict with one another? Is the media biased, or even bought?

In the last few months, this situation has exploded, and it pertains to the role of whole food plant diets and heart disease. Research on the contribution of foods rich in saturated fats like cheese, butter, meats, eggs, and pastries to heart disease has been ongoing since the 1950s. In order to evaluate the most current and quality data, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between saturated fat and heart disease were published by the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) in May. The CDSR is widely regarded as the leading and most respected of sources for evaluating topics in health care.

New Study: Eliminating saturated fat in meat, eggs, and butter reduces heart disease

The authors analyzed 15 controlled trials involving over 59,000 subjects and concluded that “The findings of this updated review suggest that reducing saturated fat intake for at least two years causes a potentially important reduction in combined cardiovascular events (21%). Replacing the energy from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat or carbohydrate appears to be useful strategies.”  It would seem clear that reducing or eliminating meats, cheeses, egg yolks, lard, butter, ghee and baked goods would favor better odds of avoiding heart disease. Of note, major media channels did not report on this research and it was buried in the National Library of Medicine.

The clarity on nutrition advice provided by the esteemed CDSR lasted all of 3-4 weeks as a “State of the Art Review” by 12 authors on the topic of saturated fat and health was published in a major cardiology journal on June 16, 2020. They did not conduct original research but analyzed previously published studies. The 12 authors concluded that “Whole-fat dairy, unprocessed meat, eggs and dark chocolate are SFA-rich foods with a complex matrix that are not associated with increased risk of CVD. The totality of available evidence does not support further limiting the intake of such foods.”  Unlike the esteemed CDSR paper, this review created 100’s of headlines worldwide.

Consumer Confusion Over What to Eat Starts With Headlines Funded by Meat & Dairy

How can we reconcile such conflicting conclusions? It is challenging and leaves many confused, feeling that they can eat whatever they want while nutrition scientists “duke it out”.  One major concern not mentioned in the media regarding the 2nd paper promoting saturated fat was that 9 of the 12 authors disclosed research funding by dairy or beef foundations. Let’s repeat that: 75% of the authors promoting saturated fat were funded by industry organizations that promote foods rich in saturated fat!

In a second challenge to the findings of the CDSR, 10 authors published a “hypothesis” that those suffering from a relatively rare genetic disorder causing high cholesterol, familial hyperlipidemia, would benefit more from a low-carbohydrate diet than a low-fat diet. The authors did not conduct original research. Guess what? Five of the 10 authors revealed financial ties that they benefit from relating to low-carb diets. The other 5 are well known low-carb advocates routinely advocating for dietary approaches in conflict with major medical societies and research findings. Would you be surprised that this paper also got worldwide headlines indicating that a “new paradigm” had been identified?

To End Diet Confusion: Conduct Randomized Trials and Study Healthy Centenarians

Are there any ways to approach nutrition research with a system you can “digest” when new data and conflicting reports appear?  I rely on two leading research scientists who have proposed such an approach: One is Valter Longo, Ph.D., author of The Longevity Diet, creator of the plant-based Fasting Mimicking Diet, and internationally known leading academic researcher.

Dr. Longo describes the “Five Pillars of Longevity” as a format to evaluated nutrition research. These 5 pillars are: 1) biochemical research, 2) randomized trials, 3) epidemiology, 4) study of centenarians, and finally, 5) analysis of complex systems (like the environmental impact of diet). For example, Dr. Longo considers the popular keto diet to be a “half a pillar at most” as it lacks many of the components of this analytical system. In contrast, Dr. Longo teaches a plant-based diet in his book as it encompasses all 5 pillars.

The other leading scientist is Nobel Prize Laureate Michael Brown, MD who was awarded this high honor in 1985 for his research on the LDL cholesterol. Dr. Brown delivered a lecture titled “A Century of Cholesterol and Coronaries” and described a method of evaluating the scientific literature on the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease. He called the method the “Four Lines of Evidence”. These 4 lines were remarkably similar to the Pillars described by Dr. Longo. Together they provide a framework to consider new information in a meaningful and big picture way.

For the Best Studies, Look for Science and Sources You Can Trust

What can be concluded regarding saturated fat and heart disease? Should you add butter to your coffee tomorrow? One study was published by an esteemed organization (CDSR). The other two were written by authors with major financial biases, including investments in companies dedicated to promoting diets high in saturated fats.

Using the 5 Pillars or the 4 Lines of Evidence, there exists biochemistry, randomized trials, epidemiology, and Centenarian data that indicate that diets lower in saturated fats (reduced or absent meats, cheeses, butter, pastries, lard, ghee) promote health and reduce the risk of heart disease. No single new study can up-end 70 years of research, even if a new study can get inordinate and inappropriate praise in the media. While nutrition science can be challenging, using the methods here as a guidepost to the research you believe will help you make healthy decisions about your diet. One simple rule: Always favor plant-based selections. Do not believe all media headlines. They can be bought or, at a minimum, influenced, by a flow of dollars that generates clickbait headlines.

The post To Live Longer and Healthier, Give Up Sat Fat and Don’t Believe Other Studies appeared first on The Beet.

It is an interesting question to be addressed as more data becomes available. There is quite a bit of data on the overall topic of diet and immune health, but what about plant diets?

What Do We Know About Plant Diets and Immune Function?

There are few studies to answer the question of immune function and plant diets. It would seem intuitive that any diet that reduces or eliminates added processed foods, excess salt and sugar, industrial seed oils, antibiotic and hormone residues, and excess saturated fats would offer an advantage in terms of immune health. Here are a few scientific tidbits.

1) Follow the Anti-Inflammatory Cells. Researchers in Italy studied fecal samples of 155 healthy volunteers divided by diet into omnivore, vegetarian and vegan. The stool samples were analyzed for their anti-inflammatory capacity in a model of mouse cells and no significant differences were reported.

2) Plant-Based Diet Wins. An international team of scientists studied the impact of 3 months of a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet on immune health in volunteers that were omnivores. The diet change did result in changes in the diversity of the bacteria in stool samples including the appearance of bacteria producing IgA, an immunoglobulin felt to protect the GI system. The balance  of pro vs anti-inflammatory factors measured favored the plant-strong diet.

3) White Blood Cells Count. Australian researchers performed a review of the literature regarding vegetarian diets and inflammatory and immune health. The reported that inflammation markers like CRP were lower in vegetarian-based dietary patterns along with white blood counts and fibrinogen levels (an inflammatory and clotting marker). They called for more studies to further evaluate these findings.

Micronutrients and Immune Function

Beyond food patterns, science also exists as to the role of specific micronutrients and well-functioning immune systems. A new review article on the topic detailed the role of some of these nutrients and the specific pathways of immune defense they participate in, particularly in regards to defending against viral illnesses.

The nutrients that were highlighted were adequate levels of vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D E, and folate, along with the trace elements of zinc, iron, selenium magnesium, and copper. Finally, omega-3 fatty acids (like EPA and DHA) were analyzed. Inadequate intake of these nutrients are widespread and can lead to a decrease in resistance to infections. The authors concluded that supplementation with these nutrients, along with omega-3 fatty acids, was safe, effective and a low-cost strategy to help support optimal immune function. Recommendations for specific doses and types of supplements were included in the article.

What Do I Do?

I have eaten a whole food plant diet for over 40 years. Although my plate is covered with fresh (often organic) rainbow covered plants, some cooked and some raw, I have upped my game even further.

I have begun sprouting at home and eat fresh sprouts every day. I have added more colors with purple cabbage, red bell peppers, and daily servings of garlic and onions. Mushrooms of every type are part of the menu.

I have increased the heaping tablespoons of ground flax and hemp hearts. In addition, I take a daily multivitamin developed for vegans that contains: Algae omega-3, zinc, iodine, B12, vitamin D3, selenium, and magnesium.

I add to this supplemental vitamin C. I also re-mineralize my home water (filtered by reverse osmosis) to return to the water a broad range of trace minerals.

What do you do? That’s up to you.

Dr. Joel Kahn is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and author of the bestsellers: The Whole Heart Solution, Dead Execs Don’t Get Bonuses, Vegan Sex: Vegans Do It Better, The Plant-Based Solution and owner of GreenSpace & Go.

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