Saturated fat and cardiovascular disease



Practically all medical, scientific, governmental, and professional health authorities agree that saturated fat is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Medical research has revealed that eating a diet high in saturated fat raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol in the blood which is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Decades of science have reinforced this link.

The notes that "the consensus among world-leading researchers is that too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in your blood, which can increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease." A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association in 2017 concluded: "Taking into consideration the totality of the scientific evidence, satisfying rigorous criteria for causality, we conclude strongly that lowering intake of saturated fat and replacing it with unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated fats, will lower the incidence of CVD."

Low-density lipoprotein receptors play a critical role in regulating the amount of cholesterol in the blood. Reducing saturated fat consumption is associated with an increase in LDL-receptor abundance. A 2018 study found that saturated fat is more metabolically harmful for the liver than unsaturated fat.

Modern denialists
Cholesterol denialists, low-carb, paleo diet and carnivore diet fanatics claim that there is no link between saturated fat consumption and increased blood cholesterol levels. They also claim that eating a massive amount of saturated fat is healthy and not a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. James DiNicolantonio, Aseem Malhotra, Joseph Mercola and Gary Taubes are recent examples of this kind of denialism. Bruce Griffin, Professor of Nutritional Metabolism at the University of Surrey, stated that "to suggest that the theory relating saturated fat to increased total cholesterol is flawed, is nonsense, and contradicts 50 years of evidence-based medicine."

But what about medium-chain saturated fats?
It's true that most studies on the dietary effects of saturated fat don't tend to distinguish between different types of saturated fats. Some are composed of long-chain saturated fatty acids, while others are made of medium-chain saturated fatty acids. It's also true that, in the case of coconut oil (half of whose saturated fats are medium-chain), there are a few studies suggesting that its medium-chain saturated fats may have health effects more akin to unsaturated fats than to long-chain saturated fats.

But these effects are not well-studied yet. And most dietary saturated fats are long-chain, whose deleterious health effects are well studied. (Even coconut oil contains a whopping percentage of long-chain saturated fats.)