Don't Believe The Skeptics -- Saturated Fat is Beneficial For Your Health

Despite what you may have heard and despite some of the messages given out by official government health "watchdogs," saturated fat should be contained in your diet and far from being detrimental, should be viewed as highly beneficial. We are told that saturated fat will just clog our arteries and lead to heart disease, which as one of the leading causes of death is enough to scare us all away from buying this product. As it has become trendier to deplore the use of saturated fats, supposedly healthy alternatives have been trumpeted by those advisers. This despite the fact that as a race, humans have been eating diets high in saturated fat for millions of years. Could it be that our evolution in more recent times has led to a significant change in the way that we handle these fats, causing all the negativity that we hear about, or is it that we're just being fed a diet of basic misinformation? The latter seems more appropriate.

Consider the benefits of eating saturated fat in your diet:

Fat is a very important source of fuel, essential for our daily energy needs. Almost half of the fat in our body is composed of saturated fat and is what ancestors used to survive in difficult times, as it is fairly easily stored within our bodies. Due to the difference in composition between saturated fats and unsaturated fats, cooking can be hazardous to your health unless you are adequately educated about the risks. Understand that polyunsaturated fats can become unstable when heated, creating the formation of free radicals that are known to be damaging to our cellular structure. A reliance on polyunsaturated fat can lead to heart disease itself, despite the option being touted as good for our hearts. Monounsaturated fats, in more than small doses, have been linked to the early onset of cancer and premature aging, while the unsaturated fat alternatives such as coco or corn oil can lead to a diet low in essential Omega-3 fatty acids.

When it comes to our structure and bone development, saturated fat has been shown to be very important, especially due to its calcium content. Vitamin D and K2, essential for healthy development, are readily obtainable from this type of fat. Just consider what saturated fat can do for your skin. We are at increasing risk of developing skin cancer and premature aging damage caused by the effects of the sun, while this type of fat has been shown to make skin cells much more resistant to this damage.

Saturated fat has been linked to essential stabilization and signaling activities within our bodies, the production of hormones, "padding" around the essential organs such as the heart and even the quality and function of our lung capacity. Some research has shown that trans fats can compromise lung function and lead to asthma.

We have heard much about essential fatty acids and how important they are to our health. They must be consumed through diet and cannot be produced by the body. The proliferation of saturated fats helps to protect essential fatty acids from oxidation and ensures that they are used for optimal effect.