Hello, this is Monica Reinagle, and you are listening to the Nutrition Diva Podcast.

Welcome.

This week's episode was suggested by Andrea, who wrote,

It seems that people should moderate their intake of saturated fats.

However, I'm seeing so many influencers, some of whom are physicians,

claiming that plant-based saturated fats like coconut oil are okay.

Most research just seems to focus on saturated fat in general.

Does it matter if it's plant-based or not, or is all saturated fat created equal?

Well, before we dig into the differences between plant and animal-based saturated fats,

it's worth pointing out that not everyone agrees that saturated fat is a problem.

Recent reviews have failed to find a strong link between saturated fat intake and disease risk or mortality.

And the medical establishment is slowly, so slowly, starting to rethink its position on this.

Of course, the primary charge against saturated fat is that it increases your cholesterol levels,

which presumably raises your heart disease risk.

But a meta-analysis of 21 studies involving more than a quarter of a million people

showed that the total amount of saturated fat that you consume has no significant influence on your risk of heart disease.

And what's more, three quarters of the people who end up in the hospital due to heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels.

In fact, new research even suggests that saturated fat may play a role in reducing your risk of heart disease.

And I talked more about that in episode number 375, if you want to check that out.

For me, the frustrating thing is that researchers and policymakers insist on looking at nutrients in isolation

without enough consideration of the context in which they are eaten.

After all, if I tell you to eat less of something, you are probably going to eat more of something else instead.

...