Benefits of High-Saturated Fat Diets (Part I)

Results above -- click to enlarge.

What's a 46% fat diet?

Perhaps what our stone-age ancestors consumed during happy, reproductive, fertile times?


The diet compared 6% Sat Fat (low fat) to 18% Sat Fat (high fat) in a little discussed publication by Krauss et al, one of the founders of NMR lipoprotein density technology here in the Bay Area.

Change in dietary saturated fat intake is correlated with change in mass of large low-density-lipoprotein particles in men.
Krauss RM et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998 May;67(5):828-36. Click HERE for PDF.

• The low-fat diet contained 24% of energy as fat (6% saturated, 12% monounsaturated, and 4% polyunsaturated) and 59% as carbohydrate, with equal amounts of simple and complex
  carbohydrates and 17% as protein.
• The high-fat diet contained 46% of energy as fat (18% saturated, 13% monounsaturated, and 12% polyunsaturated) and 39% as carbohydrate and 15% as protein.

STUDY DESIGN: They tested whether nutrient intakes estimated from 4-d diet records were associated with plasma lipoprotein subclasses in 103 men who were randomly assigned to a low-fat (24% fat) and a high-fat (46% fat) diet for 6 wk each in a crossover design. Carbohydrates (~20% of energy) were basically substituted out for dietary fat intake.

Outcomes can be summarized as the high SFA (saturated fatty acid) diet inducing multiple positive regressive lipoprotein changes:

• raised Large LDL-I 42.6%
• raised Large LDL-II 14.9%
• reduced sd-LDL, LDL-III 26.4%
• reduced sd-LDL, LDL-IV 39.1%
• raised the regressive particle most associated with longevity, niacin and omega-3 benefits, HDL-2 49.9%
• lowered VLDL 38.6%
• lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity increased with high fat
• hepatic lipase (HL) activity decreased with high fat

The above high fat diet comprised of mostly myristic acid (14:0), palmitic acid (16:0) and stearic acid (18:0). See Table 1.


CONCLUSIONS:

• The results indicate significant associations of dietary saturated fat intake with plasma LDL-particle distributions.
• An increase in saturated fat, and in particular, myristic acid, was associated with increases in larger LDL particles (and decreases in smaller LDL particles).
• Studies of the relation between LDL subclasses and CAD have, in contrast, established that a predominance of small, dense LDL particles (LDL subclass pattern B) is associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction (47, 48) and angiographically documented CAD (48–50). Some studies have also shown that small LDL particles are potentially more atherogenic than larger LDL because of increased susceptibility to oxidation (51, 52) and increased promotion of intracellular cholesterol ester accumulation (53). In addition, reductions in small LDL particles, not in larger LDL particles, have been associated with decreased CAD progression (54, 55).

So the authors do discuss the value of reducing sd-LDL, the holy grail of heart disease sufferers. The discussion on the benefits of a saturated fat intake of 18% however seemed to be quite curt and short though.

In fact, I couldn't even find it.

What we know about lipoproteins at TYP is that the bigger, the better. And the statements made by Krauss definitely confirms our current understanding.

The profound enlargement of Large-LDL (I and II) and HDL-2 in healthy men is quite extraordinary ad remarkable in only 6 weeks. No drugs involved, diet alone. In one the next few posts, we'll examine a heart disease population, including post-CABG men and women, and the benefits, again, of a high saturated fat diet.



Dietary Sources of SFAs Myristic and Palmitic Acid

• Cephalopods -- squid, octopus, cuttlefish -- which are extremely high in omega-3 fatty acids as well. Click here for more info (Ozugul Y. Food Chemistry 2008. 108(3):847-852).
• Wild Fish (Periago MJ. Aquaculture 2005. 249 (1-4):175-188.)
• Grassfed Beef (Leheska JM, J. Anim Sci. 2008)
• Grassfed Beef + FO Supplementation: Even higher SFA/ palmitic/ myristic quantity when fed fish oil omega-3 supplementation! (See Table 5. Moloney AP. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2001), 60, 221–229.)
• Grassfed Bison (Marchello MJ. Great Plains Research 11 (Spring 2001): 65-82.)
• Free-Range Chicken (Jahan K. 2005 Poultry Science 84:158–166)
• Free-Range Chicken Egg yolks (not 'organic'-wheat-feed, see above citation)
• Pasture-raised Lamb
• Pasture-raised Pork
• Pasture-raised Diary, Cheese, Ghee, Butter Oil (casein-free, greenpastures.org) (Nestel J Am Coll Nutr.2008; 27: 735S-740S)
• Lard
• Beef Tallow

Vegetarian Sources

For vegetarian sources, virgin coconut oil is a good sub, containing shorter SFAs (medium-chain) lauric and caprylic acid. Sat Fat 18% of a 2000 Kcal/d diet would be equivalent to 40 grams of coconut oil (fat is 9 kcal/g).

Or 2.8 Tablespoons VCO daily.



My HDLs Increased 18.0% With Coconut Oil
Like many Paleo fans, I have observed an increase in my HDLs from 89 mg/dl back in 12/2008 to now 105 mg/dl. It's now almost ~12 mos gluten free, baby. Wow. What a year.

About 6-8 wks prior to the blood test, we started cooking with VCO, virgin coconut oil (+smearing it all over my body after showers...no studies to back justification *haa* but it's nice cheap and works, eg less wrinkles, better healing, maybe better HDLs).

TGs came down from 80s to now 60s mg/dl.

Both the LDL is now higher 120s mg/dl (directly measured, not Friedewald) and TC in the 240s like some long-living healthy female elderly and centenarians.