Trans fat roles in the body include:
• Lowers high density lipoproteins (HDL), otherwise known as the “good
cholesterol”.2
• Raises low density lipoproteins (LDL), otherwise known as the “bad cholesterol”.2
• Raises C-reactive protein, a substance in the blood that indicates arterial inflammation and is said to indicate proneness to heart disease.3
• Raises Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), a substance in the blood that indicates arterial inflammation and is said to indicate proneness to heart disease.4
• Raises C-reactive protein, a substance in the blood that indicates arterial inflammation and is said to indicate proneness to heart disease.5
• Promotes improper management of blood sugar thus having detrimental effects in diabetics.6
• Interferes with the function of the immune system.7
• Decreases the bodies ability to utilize and decreases the amount of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids in our tissues.7

What are trans fats? They are poison in our food supply. “The latest government study confirms that trans fat is directly related with heart disease and increases LDL cholesterol. Because of that, the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, declared there is no safe amount of trans fat in the diet.”8 “There should be a warning on food made with this stuff like there is on nicotine products. It’s that bad for you, says Dr. Jeffery Aron, a University of California at San Francisco professor of medicine and one of the nation’s leading experts on fatty acids and their effect on the body.9

(Fats, cholesterol, and the lipid hypothesis)

Sources of saturated fat: Beef, beef tallow (fat), dairy, palm oil, coconut oil.

Saturated fats’ roles in the body include: [1]

• They constitute at least 50% of our cell membranes and give our cells integrity.
• They play a vital role in the health of our bones.
• They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that is said to indicate proneness to heart disease.
• They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins like Tylenol (Acetaminophen).
• They enhance the immune system.
• They are needed for proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
• Stearic acid and palmitic acid, both saturated fats, are the preferred energy source of the heart. This is why the fat around the heart muscle is mainly saturated. The best sources for palmitic acid are beef, butter and palm oil.
• Short and medium chain saturated fatty acids have strong antimicrobial properties. They help protect us from harmful microorganisms. The best sources are tropical oils such as coconut oil and palm oil.
(Enig, Mary., and Sally Fallon. “The Skinny on Fats,” westonaprice.org

http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html#benefits)

A recently published meta-analysis looked at 347,747 subjects in twenty-one studies to summarize the evidence related to the association of dietary saturated fat with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and cardiovascular disease. During the 5 – 23 year follow-up 11,006 of the almost 350,000 subjects developed CHD or stroke.

Conclusion: Saturated fat consumption was not associated with an increased risk of heart disease or stroke
(American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jan 13, 2010)

Dr. James Stein, MD from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, praised the JUPITER study for exposing the fact that current therapeutic LDL-cholesterol levels are not only arbitrary, but are in fact a poor indicator of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. “Most patients with heart attacks have normal cholesterol values,” he stated. With the cholesterol theory crumbling the industry is under intense pressure to come up with a new risk factor, and one that can be treated with the same statin drugs they have invested so much money in. Enter Dr. Ridker and C-reactive protein (CRP). Ridker has been pushing treating CRP with statins for years. But is CRP a risk factor? A National Panel on CRP found no evidence treating CRP levels will improve survival rates (www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/News/story.cfm?id=182). Elevated CRP levels are associated with many things including; anger, stress, arthritis, cancer, lupus, pneumonia, TB, oral contraceptive use, pregnancy, heart attacks, surgery, trauma, intense exercise, etc. It’s a marker for disease, not the cause. But since statins lower CRP levels slightly, you can count on CRP becoming the new cholesterol. The public will be made to fear CRP, be tested for it, and be put on dangerous statins to lower it. What a racket.

A recent meta-analysis with almost 347,747 subjects assessed the correlation between saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Conclusion: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat. Gee, wonder what those nutrients could be…vegetable oil anyone. (Wise Traditions Spring 2010;11(1):15) (Amer J Clin Nutr)

Take note of the lack of fan fare for studies going against established dogma like the lipid hypothesis. Did you see this study’s results in magazines or TV? The mainstream media deems studies like this to be politically incorrect. None-the-less,the lipid hypothesis is simply archaic and untenable.

Saturated fat found mainly in animal products has been vilified by physicians, the media, and the edible oil industry for over 60 years, despite mounds of evidence to the contrary. A meta-analysis of 21 prospective epidemiologic studies that had a total of 347,747 participants, showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke.

Saturated fats have been nourishing societies around the world for thousands of years. If animal fats (saturated fats) are so dangerous, and vegetable oils (polyunsaturated fat) are so healthy, why are we so unhealthy as a nation? The scientific data of the past and present does not support the assertion that saturated fats cause heart disease. As a matter of fact, people who have had a heart attack haven’t eaten any more saturated fat than other people, and the degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy is unrelated to diet.Ravnskov, Uffe. “The cholesterol Myths: Myth number 4”

Coronary heart disease is associated with diet. Nutritional recommendations are frequently provided, but few long term studies on the effect of food choices on heart disease are available. We followed coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality in a cohort of 1752 rural men participating in a prospective observational study. Dietary choices were assessed at baseline with a food questionnaire. 138 men were hospitalized or deceased owing to coronary heart disease during the 12 year follow-up. Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease when combined with a high dairy fat consumption, but not when combined with a low dairy fat consumption. Consuming wholemeal bread or eating fish at least twice a week showed no association with the outcome.

Food Choices and Coronary Heart Disease: A Population Based Cohort Study of Rural Swedish Men with 12 Years of Follow-up

Today in the United States one person will die from CVD every 37 seconds. This year in the U.S. over 1.2 million people will have a heart attack and just short of half will die. Approximately 80,000,000 people or roughly 25% of The U.S. has cardiovascular disease(CVD). It became our number one killer in the 1950′s and has not slowed down.(1)

Do you believe consuming saturated fat and cholesterol cause CVD? Do you believe eating polyunsaturated oils like canola and corn oil are not only good for you but lower your risk of CVD. If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are among the 10′s of millions who need to be enlightened by reading my article “Fats, Cholesterol and the Lipd Hypothesis”.

The truth is, saturated fat and cholesterol have nothing to do with your risk of cardiovascular disease. As a matter of fact there are many studies that show that people who have heart attacks do not eat anymore saturated fat than people who don’t have heart attacks. More-over the degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy, in heart attack victims, is unrelated to diet. It is also interesting to note that half of all heart attack victims do not have “clogged” arteries.

I have personally witnessed and cared for many patients who were experiencing (the big one) massive heart attacks in the emergency room. The degree of blockage had a wide range with the most common seemingly being between 80, 90 percent. But the interesting thing was, some people literally had no plaque what-so-ever according to cath lab reports. It was during my time working in emergency department, because of so many discrepancies, that I became very curious about what actually caused CVD.

low testosterone levels put men at risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and early death?  One study shows that testosterone treatment reduces LDL cholesterol and increases HDL cholesterol.  Another study that looked at the cause of death in almost 2000 men aged 20 to 79 years.  The men with low testosterone at the start of the study had a 2.5 times greater risk of dying during the next ten years compared with men with higher testosterone levels.  These studies, and more, will be presented at The Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, in San Francisco, suggest that testosterone therapy has several positive effects.
(Vitacost.com Daily Health Tip; June, 2008)

Australian researchers found people mourning a loss of a loved one can die of a broken heart. In fact, the researchers found mourning the loss of a loved one increases your risk of having a heart attack 600%.

Grieving people are at significantly higher risk of heart problems, according to a Heart Foundation study of the physical changes suffered immediately after a profound loss, lead researcher Thomas Buckley said on Tuesday.

“We found higher blood pressure, increased heart rate and changes to immune system and clotting that would increase the risk of heart attack,” Buckley said.

Half of the 160 people studied were mourning the loss of a partner or child, and their risk of heart attack increased six-fold, he said. The risk, which was evident in people as young as 30, reduced after six months and leveled out after two years.

A sudden flood of stress hormones is believed to be behind the grief-induced heartache, a condition that earlier studies have found is more likely to affect women.

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