See below from Dr. Weil. What does everyone think?
Rethinking Saturated Fat?
I understand that you're modifying your position on saturated fat and as a result, no longer recommend low-fat dairy foods. What prompted the change?
A Answer (Published 5/6/2011)
You're correct that my thinking on saturated fat has evolved. One catalyst was a scientific analysis of 21 earlier studies, which showed "no significant evidence" that saturated fat in the diet is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. The 21 studies analyzed included nearly 348,000 participants, most of whom were healthy when they were enrolled. They were followed for five to 23 years, during which 11,000 developed heart disease or had a stroke. Looking back at the dietary information collected from these thousands of participants, the investigators found no difference in the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, or coronary vascular disease between those individuals with the lowest and highest intakes of saturated fat. This goes completely against the conventional medical wisdom of the past 40 years. It now appears that many studies used to support the low-fat recommendation had serious flaws.
In the meantime, as nutritionists have been recommending low-fat foods, consumption of added sweeteners, especially high-fructose corn syrup, has been steadily rising. This may be at least partially due to the fact that low-fat prepared foods are often highly sweetened. A study from Emory University and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in April, 2010, showed that sweeteners appear to lower levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol and raise triglycerides. Both of these effects increase the risk of heart disease. What's more, through their direct effects on insulin and blood sugar, refined starches and sugars are more likely than saturated fat to be the main dietary cause of coronary heart disease and type-2 diabetes.
Another study, published in the Dec. 21, 2010 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that a natural substance in dairy fat, trans-palmitoleic acid, may substantially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes (and, as result, of heart disease). The research team from the Harvard School of Public Health looked at more than 3,700 men and women age 65 or older in a National Institutes of Health funded Cardiovascular Health Study who had been followed for 20 years to evaluate risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in older adults. The investigators found that participants who reported eating more whole-fat dairy products had higher levels of trans-palmitoleic acid in their blood. Over the following years those men and women who had the higher levels of trans-palmitoleic acid were about 60 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those whose blood levels of trans-palmitoleic were lowest.
In addition, the findings from two other studies conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health on the health effects of dairy products are intriguing. One found that consumption of low-fat dairy foods contributed to infertility caused by failure to ovulate, while consumption of full-fat dairy foods may help the problem. The second showed that drinking skim milk was associated with a higher incidence of acne in teenage boys.
Given the results of these studies, I no longer recommend choosing low-fat dairy products. I believe the healthier choice is high-quality, organic dairy foods in moderation. My personal choice would be high-quality, natural cheese a few times a week. I don't advise eating saturated fat with abandon, because the foods that are full of it (salty bacon, conventionally raised beef, processed cheese) are often not the best for our health. Try to limit it to about ten percent of daily calories. You may choose to use your "budget" of saturated fat calories on ice cream, butter or high-quality natural cheese, or even an occasional steak (from organic, grass-fed, grass-finished cattle, please). I still recommended skinless chicken and turkey because poultry fat (concentrated just beneath the skin) contains arachidonic acid, which promotes inflammation. I also still recommend strictly avoiding foods that contain chemically altered fats (such as hydrogenated vegetable oils found in many prepared foods), as these do appear to raise cardiovascular disease risk.
Continue to emphasize fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and limit sweeteners and other high-glycemic-load carbs.
I'm guilty of enjoying full-fat cheeses on a regular basis because the lowfat stuff just didn't taste good. However, I've been using skim milk for years and have gotten so used to it that full-fat milk tastes too rich to me.
This is an interesting article, and makes a lot of sense.
I also use full fat cheese, though very portion controlled. My doc recommended it to get my good cholesterol up a little. I really like fat free Greek yogurt with no additives (some use gelatin or other weird things) and will stick with that. I usually balance the ingredients against the fat and decide based on that. I never use fat free sour cream or cheeses because there are just too many weird ingredients for my taste. Thanks for sharing the article. It's always good to re-evaluate our food choices IMO.
I listened to Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes for most of my drive today. Definitely thought provoking.
I googled and read some other stuff about how your body cannot absorb the calcium in dairy unless there is some dairy fat present. I'm concerned about this, since my recent dexa scan had shown some bone loss in my hip area (although not serious, but I certainly don't want to lose any more). I think I've pretty much decided to include 1-2 full fat dairy servings a day. This afternoon I had a latte with a cup of whole milk (I made it, and bought organic grass fed non-homogenized milk) and frankly it satisfied me for a lot longer than a fat free latte normally would...so perhaps there's an added benefit.
I follow Gary Taubes and a couple other blogs by physicians that promote full fat and low carb. Gary's book really explains the poor research from the 1970's that started the whole theory of fats causing heart disease and supported the conventional wisdom that is taught in medical schools. The evidence presented in his book tends to show that high insulin levels due to our high carb Western diet is the reason for our increasing diabetes and cardiovascular disease despite people cutting back on saturated fats. (When people eat less fat they tend to eat more carbs.) Dr. Michael Eades & Dr. William Davis (a cardiologist) have blogs with lots or research citations to support their theories also espouse these views. I just finished Dr. Eades book and follow their blogs regularly, but I love Dr. Weil, so when I read his opinion posted above, I was really impressed. He doesn't give his support lightly without lots of substantial studies, but the medical field is really slow to change such a long entrenched viewpoint. They also support Vitamin D supplementation in fairly high doses & think it is a major component in chronic diseases so I've really bumped up my own amount.
Good information here, thanks for posting. I think I will be a little less strict with my dairy fat also. Some things I will stick with like my reduced fat feta, shredded cheeses, and string cheese because I know I eat them very often. Will also stick with nf plain greek yogurt, 1% milk, and lf cottage cheese because I like the way they taste. However... I will buy full fat bricks of cheese and enjoy the heck out of them! May also add a little more cream into my diet...
Last edited by asphyxia63; 07-27-2011 at 05:39 PM.
I also have been following Gary Taubes and the Eades, some really great info out there. I have always used light cream in my coffee, often have it poured over fruit for breakfast! I have been eating lf plain yogurt and cheeses but when this batch is done plan on going to regular fat. Eating dairy has been one of the big reasons I know this WOE will work for me in maintenance, that and fruit are the two food groups I most enjoy.
I also use full fat cheese (sparingly), but I do also use fat free/skim/1% milk, and eat lowfat or fat free yogurt. Makes sense to me, my cholesterol has been normal ever since I've been on SB.
Plus, honestly, years ago, I tried fat free cheese and/or sour cream, and they taste awful. I'd rather have a small portion of the full fat or even reduced fat version, instead of putting the taste equivalent of eraser shreds on my chili. Not that I know what eraser shreds taste like - but I would imagine they taste like fat free cheddar cheese
Just my $.02
Last edited by grneyedmustang; 07-26-2011 at 03:50 PM.
Full fat dairy?
