Perhaps the most controversial topic in the field of diet and nutrition is the role of fats. For years we were told how bad most fats and cholesterol were. Bad for our body (especially our heart, and vascular system), bad for our brain (can contribute to diabetes and dementia). We were told fats can make us fat, clog our arteries, and even up the risk for Alzheimer’s. Now we are hearing just the opposite. The picture has changed dramatically. It’s still not black and white. It’s still a bit tricky to separate the helpful from the harmful, but if you feel as confused on this issue, as I was, the following research and video links will clarify a few things for you and yours, and could turn a key to greater brain health & happiness.
So where is the truth? Are the following 5 statements true or false?
Consuming cholesterol rich foods like egg yolks can clog our arteries. T/F
Eating more fat make us fatter. T/F
Vegetable oil is better to cook with than lard or animal fats. T/F
All saturated fats are bad for you, at least those from animals. T/F
Low fat margarine is better than butter. T/F
And what is the answer to these questions?
If you are diabetic or have blood sugar issues should you eat more fat or less?
What is a ketogenic diet?
Is it healthy or harmful ?
If you are diabetic isn’t fasting or skipping meals bad for you?
Which is better for the brain low cholesterol or high cholesterol?
Which fats are “good” fats, which are “bad”?
As noted the latest research on fats has changed our views dramatically. While past advice issued by the government and American Heart Association suggested the answer to the first 5 questions was “True” the latest best research shows them all to be “False.” None of these are actually True. The answers to the next five questions are now quite clear but not so simple.
At least 5 new books are out on this topic of fats, which review hundreds of new studies. Two of the best and my primary sources for this article are David Perlmutter, MD’s 2013 block buster Grain Brain, and Mark Hyman, MD’s latest (2018) book, Food: What The Heck Should I Eat? Mark is a great researcher and writer, who’s been through some dramatic changes in his life, health and belief system. But what all these new books show is that dietary cholesterol alone has no correlation with the health of our heart and arteries. (Our body produces more cholesterol when we are stressed or angry.) Eating more fat does not make us fatter but thinner. Vegetable oil is much worse to cook with than animal fat. Saturated fats, especially coconut oil, but even from grass fed animals are good for us, and most margarine made from hydrogenated oils is much worse than butter. In fact studies with diabetics show butter is much better for them.
The next 5 questions are a bit trickier. Mark addresses the issue “do fats make us fat” and the first three questions in the second set, with a few hard to dispute research findings. He notes a major Cochrane Collaboration review of the research back in 2007 which found that “low-glycemic [sugar] diets-which tend to be higher in fat were superior for weight loss and overall health to high-glycemic diets, which tend to be lower in fat. And then a 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis was published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal that examined 53 clinical trials that lasted a year or longer. “They found that high-fat, low-carb diets led to the most weight loss. And the more extreme the difference in fats and carbs , the more significant the weight loss. In other words, the more fats subjects ate, the more weight they lost. ”(p. 152 see link to study here)
The largest controlled study cited, the PREDIMED study, showed that a high-fat diet reduces heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. As one Harvard study noted, a very high-fat diet actually speeds metabolism by 300 calories a day. Which likely accounts for the weight loss noted above.
Perlmutter and Hyman note, we need fats in our diet for healthy cell membranes, to absorb and transport various vitamins including A, D, E, and K, to make hormones (like estrogen and testosterone), immune cells, to regulate inflammation and metabolism. We need fats, including cholesterol because 60 percent of our brain cells are made of fats, and cholesterol plays a vital role in the brain.
Perlmutter cites a Boston University study of nearly 2000 older men and women which found “a significant positive linear association between total cholesterol and measures of verbal fluency, attention/concentration, abstract reasoning, and a composite score measuring multiple cognitive domains.” (p. 34 see link to study here) Moreover, participants with ‘desirable ‘ total cholesterol (less than 200) performed less well than participants with high total cholesterol (200-and above). The study concluded that “lower naturally occurring total cholesterol levels are associated with poor performance on cognitive measures,…” He goes on to note how statin drugs, which lower cholesterol, may adversely affect brain health. But, you may still be wondering, what about the risk of a stroke. If you eat too much saturated fat won’t you run a higher risk of dying younger?
To answer that Perlmutter cites a 2010 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that reviewed 21 previous medical reports involving 340,00 subjects followed from 5 to 23 years. It concluded that “intake of saturated fat was NOT associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, or cardiovascular disease.” In comparing the lowest to the highest consumption of saturated fat, the actual risk for coronary heart disease was 19 percent lower in the group consuming the highest amount of saturated fat.
And as for statins, a trial published in the January 2010 American Journal of Cardiology found that statins actually increase the risk of death. The study followed 300 adults diagnosed with heart failure and found those taking statins who had the lowest levels of LDL had the highest rates of mortality, i.e. of dying. “Conversely people with higher levels of cholesterol had a lower risk of death.” (p. 98, See link to later study here)
CAUTION needs to be taken here, however!
In my classes I used to play a video and cite the research of Dr. Suzanne Craft , PhD from the U of Washington (now at Wakeforest, NC) wherein she noted that a high fat diet was one of the worst things for diabetics – which greatly increases risk for cognitive decline. However, hers and other research have shown that it’s actually the combination of fats and sugars that cause the problem. As Dr. Hyman notes, “The other absolutely key thing to remember is this: Fats combined with starch or sugar are like rocket fuel for weight gain. I call this ‘sweet fat.’ This combo also produces bad cholesterol.” (p. 169) Which can damage our vascular system. So when it comes to milk chocolate, French Fries, ice-cream, buttered bread, and pasta with cream sauce, etc ―moderation and discipline if not avoidance, is critical. As Hyman notes, we eat these at our own “peril.”
Fat with vegetables, however, is strongly encouraged, as the fat will actually help us to better absorb the vitamins and some other important nutrients in vegetables and some spice like Turmeric. If you or a friend, client or patient has diabetes, or high blood sugar I would encourage you to click on this link. https://www.drberg.com/blog/what-to-eat-to-correct-diabetes
Watch and read what Dr. Berg has to say about diabetes the ketogenic diet, and the importance of eating vegetables with more fats. There are people who have turned around their diabetes in less than a month on this plan. It’s the best info I’ve seen for diabetics. By the way, I don’t know that you need his course. He has lots of videos which pretty much tell it all. See below for a list of healthy fats.
A Word about FASTING
Fasting is getting a lot of notoriety these days, as being good for the brain. It’s an important part of Dr. Bredesen’s program in turning around Alzheimer’s. Perlmutter pushes it, as do many others. But what about diabetics. Should they be fasting? Aren’t they at risk for insulin shock? Perhaps you have known a diabetic who went into insulin shock or even a coma because they didn’t eat often enough.
Yes that is a real risk for a diabetic who is on insulin. But it’s not an issue for those who are not on insulin. However, even for those on insulin, because fat takes longer to break down, it’s more likely to maintain energy levels over time, and reduce damaging sugar spikes.
We tend to think of carbs as a primary source of energy for the body and brain, but when carbs are scarce, as in prehistoric times, famines, or fasting fat gets mobilized as ketones, which are readily used as an alternative fuel. That’s why our body holds on to it, right? And as Dr. Hyman notes, fats are actually “a much cleaner-burning source of fuel and stimulate all sorts of good things in your body.
A ketogenic diet with 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% carbs, with intermittent (overnight 14-16 hr) fasting decreases the size of your organs, increases stem cell production, reduces visceral or dangerous belly fat, improves your gene expression, reduces cancer, increases the size of your brain’s memory center (the hippocampus), improves immune function, improves mitochondrial function (energy production), enhances cognitive function, and reduces inflammation and oxidative stress.” (p. 164 see source study here. )
Hyman notes, this is the type of diet our pre-light bulb ancestors likely had – “Eat dinner before dark [finishing before 6 or 7 pm], and then don’t eat again until the next morning [8 or 9 am](hence the name ‘break-fast’).”(p. 165) That he notes “gives your body a chance to repair, heal, clean up metabolic waste in your body and brain and more. And it stimulates weight loss.” What a plan! It’ll take a bit of discipline, but when you consider the benefits… if you are diabetic, overweight or your brain is waning , it certainly seems worth it. Might even save you a few bucks on groceries or meds.
He also mentions another option using Coconut and MCT oil taken throughout the day. If you are interested send me an email and I will send that to you. Along with some information about the latest greatest drink mix called Memoryze® with goes along well with that, to fuel and fortify the brain (provides two essential fats, and helps the brain better absorb fats) to enhance mood and memory. In fact I just had a call while writing this from a woman who’s tried various supplements for her memory who noted the Memoryze is “easy to take and tastes great, and I don’t seem to be forgetting as much as I had.” If you are interested in trying that you may want to check out their website at https://memoryze.com/ , but if you email me at David@abcbrain.org I can send you a discount code I received for a 30% savings including free shipping.
Worst & Best Fat Foods
It’s important to keep in mind that there are still “bad” fats out there, and in your food. These are primarily fats that have been messed with, i.e. fried or hydrogenated. Heating fats to over 300 degrees, to where they begin popping or bubbling, or injecting them even partially with hydrogen to keep them from going rancid, changes their molecular structure and makes them harmful to the body and brain. (Rancid fats, of course, are not healthy either.) Look at your peanut butter, Skippy & Jiffy, some salad dressing, candy bars, breads, etc, use hydrogenated oils. But there are always alternatives that do not. Additionally, you are ill advised to cook with vegetable, corn, soy bean, safflower or canola oils. Virgin Coconut oil or real butter or (ghee) are much better to cook with. These are less likely to become oxidized and break down when heated. Genuine or organic Extra virgin Olive oil (California Olive Ranch, McEvoy and Kirkland Organic are among the best), and vinegars are great for salads.
And here are some of the best sources of good fats: Fatty fish, like wild caught salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, tuna in water have those good Omega-3’s, with little risk of Mercury. Grass fed animals and Organic (hormone free) chickens, do as well as eggs from range free or flax fed chickens. Additionally, avocados, nuts – walnuts, almonds, Macadamia, Pistachio, unsweetened Cocoa, chia, flax and hemp seeds are good sources of fat. Unsweetened full fat yogurt from grass fed goat or cow milk with live cultures can also be a good source of fat if you are not sensitive or allergic to dairy.
Finally
If you have additional questions about diet. This coming Saturday the annual 2018 Food Revolution Summit with begin with the latest cutting-edge insights from 25 of the World’s most respected food and nutrition experts sharing their research insights and wisdom about food, nutrition, disease prevention, and environmental stewardship. Tens of millions of people are getting sick and dying from preventable diseases related to diet. We don’t want you or the people you love to be victims of this madness! Join 300,000 healthy food lovers online for this event at no cost to you!
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Let me know if you have any questions related to this article, the ketogenic fast, Memoryze or other items mentioned here. You can contact me at David@ABCBrain.org
Dave Larsen
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