EVIL FAT. EVIL SCHNITZEL.
CHOLESTEROL AND THE FAT SAGA.
When you have a routine check-up with your family doctor, your cholesterol (total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol) and blood lipids (triglycerides) are usually measured. If these are elevated, strict adherence to the WHO's recommended food pyramid is typically emphasized: no fat, no animal fat, little meat, and no sugar, but plenty of complex carbohydrates, unsaturated fatty acids, and fish—and everything should be fine. If not, then medication from the statin group is also prescribed.
At the beginning of my "patient career", I followed and even intensified this advice:
For two years, I ate only plant-based foods and consumed unsaturated plant-based fats exactly as recommended in the textbooks. The result was modest. Today I would say: My body weathered that period well.
But how did this happen?
It could be a big misunderstanding:
In the middle of the last century, the rising incidence rates of “common diseases” such as myocardial infarctions and cancer became a US presidential issue: The president at the time had himself suffered several heart attacks and wanted a solution to this problem and for his people.
THE SOLUTION.
SEEMS TO BE WITHIN REACH:
It has been proven that the "plaques" that eventually lead to the blockage of (heart) vessels consist of cholesterol. Furthermore, it has been shown that cholesterol levels in the blood can be increased by the consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol in the diet.
The hypothesis was therefore obvious:
Increased dietary cholesterol intake raises the risk of heart attacks. That's it. While it has been proven that plaques consist (among other things) of cholesterol and that the intake of saturated fats contributes to elevated cholesterol levels, the causal link between cholesterol and the occurrence of cardiovascular events has only been partially established.
Even the German medical journal, Ärzteblatt , admitted in 2021 that this could be a mistake: https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/217927/Ernaehrung-Gesaettigte-Fette-nicht-verteufeln
Number 1 cause of death
And let's be honest: With all the effort that goes into medicine, from intensive care and emergency medicine to all the more or less invasive examination and intervention options that are possible today: bypass surgery, stents, valves, pacemakers, blood thinners, statins, exercise, vegan and low-fat diets, MRI/CT scans, health check-ups, fitness trackers, cardiac catheterization, and so on and so forth...:
Should diseases such as ischemic heart disease and stroke still be the leading cause of death?
Of course, everything must be viewed in perspective – eventually we (almost) all die from these diseases, but when is the question...
How many people in your social circle do you know?
who have "heart problems"?
https://www.statistik.at/statistiken/bevoelkerung-und-soziales/bevoelkerung/gestorbene/todesursachen
How many of these people eat a "healthy" diet?
So, the way it "should be":
Little red meat, little fat, lots of fruit & vegetables, cooking from scratch and eating a varied diet?
Not all cholesterol is created equal.
GOOD AND BAD. OR ARE THERE OTHERS?
In current medical guidelines, cholesterol is divided into two classes, depending on the "transporter" it uses in the blood: "good" (HDL) and "bad" (LDL) cholesterol. This is standard practice as of 2024. However, science now recognizes approximately 14 different types of cholesterol and knows relatively precisely which are associated with the occurrence of heart attacks and which are not. The same applies to blood lipids such as triglycerides: those blood parameters associated with the development of common diseases increase with the consumption of carbohydrates – simple or complex. Those parameters associated with a "protective" effect on the heart and other organs rise with the consumption of – and pay attention now: saturated fatty acids.
This information can be found in my lab report.
Patients with elevated levels of LDL fractions 3-7 have a high – up to 7 times higher (!) – coronary risk [...]
Cholesterol can do more
The diverse functions of cholesterol in the body, as a building block for hormones, bile acids, vitamins, membranes... are completely overshadowed by the hypercholesterolemia hype...
THE HAZARD POTENTIAL OF UNSATUATED FATS.
FROM RANZIG TO MALONDIALDEHYDE.
For decades, the official doctrine has been "saturated fats are bad / unsaturated fats are good." In the USA, a medication containing the C15:0 fatty acid – a saturated fatty acid – is now gaining traction. It has been impressively demonstrated that this fatty acid can reduce the incidence of arteriosclerotic diseases and simultaneously increase physical performance. More on that later, but isn't that paradoxical?
I myself ate a vegan diet for many years and consumed fats only in moderation, and if so, only unsaturated Omega 3 fatty acids such as those contained in fish oil or flaxseed oil.
Just like it says in the textbook. Result: I was feeling – let's say – so-so. Until I made a discovery by chance in the lab: I sent my blood to a laboratory for testing for intoxication with "environmental toxins," as we affectionately call the man-made poisons of everyday use. The lab routinely measures MDA, malondialdehyde. MDA is a highly toxic metabolite produced by the oxidation – that is, the "rancidification" – of fats. MDA is carcinogenic and a major burden on the body. In serious illnesses, MDA is used as a marker of disease progression, as it can represent oxidative stress in the body.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37960259/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6678812/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27789233/
MY SELF-EXPERIMENT.
CARDIOLIPINE, PHOSPHOLIPIDES AND MDA.
My test results shocked me. Up until then, I thought I was doing everything right regarding fats. And then: elevated MDA, low phospholipids, and impaired cardiolipin.
Then it dawned on me: Gently cold-pressed linseed oil has to be stored in the refrigerator and used promptly, otherwise it goes rancid, meaning it oxidizes. So, if you put that into your body, expose it to a lot of oxygen at 37°C, the stuff immediately goes rancid, meaning it oxidizes, and toxic byproducts are produced. I then did some research and came to the conclusion that I needed to completely overhaul the fatty acid composition of my diet. While I still consume small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, I primarily consume saturated fatty acids in the form of ghee, sheep's milk products, and beef and lamb fat.
Exciting development
After decades of advising people to avoid saturated fats, we now have dietary supplements containing, for example, arachidonic acid (a saturated fatty acid found primarily in pork fat and eggs) or pentadecanoic acid, a fatty acid found predominantly in sheep's milk, whose consumption has even been shown in several studies to have a protective effect on blood vessels and the heart, as well as an anti-inflammatory effect [1] . Just think about it: First, we're told to avoid fat and opt for healthy vegetable oils instead, and then a few decades later, we have capsules containing the very saturated fats we've been avoiding for so long?
Personally, I prefer to consume my fats in tasty food rather than in capsules...
A FEW WORDS ABOUT BLOOD FATS.
TRIGLYCERIDE.
When people talk about blood lipids, they usually mean triglycerides. If a blood test reveals elevated triglyceride levels, a low-fat diet is generally recommended: https://www.netdoktor.de/ernaehrung/lebensmittel/welche-lebensmittel-erhoehen-triglyceride/
Particular emphasis is placed on avoiding saturated fats of animal origin and instead consuming plant-based Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats from nuts, seeds and fish.
This can be a vicious cycle, because reduced fat intake can lead to increased carbohydrate consumption, which then actually leads to an increase in triglycerides:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3513615/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36513452/
My self-experiments have shown that my triglyceride levels remain extremely low even with an extremely high intake of animal fats. For comparison, most laboratories recommend a value of < 200 mg/dl.
NEW FINDINGS ALSO IN MEDICINE.
MEDICAL JOURNAL QUESTIONS FAT/CHOLESTEROL HYPOTHESIS.
Is the bad reputation of saturated fats really justified? A closer look at numerous studies raises questions. Some nutritionists are therefore calling for a relaxation of the strict limits and a renewed focus on whole milk, cheese, and red meat.
We've always been taught that saturated fats are unhealthy. But a closer look at the evidence casts doubt on this. It doesn't seem to be proven that saturated fats are really as harmful as their reputation suggests. Nutritional science is therefore calling for a relaxation of the strict limits for foods with a higher saturated fat content.
[...]
This is what the German Medical Journal writes in an article published in 2021.
You can find it online here:
https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/217927/Ernaehrung-Gesaettigte-Fette-nicht-verteufeln
It refers to studies that we already mentioned at the beginning:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2125600/
GENETIC INFLUENCE.
ON FAT METABOLISM.
The focus of research into which genes influence the tolerability of certain fatty acids is the adipolipoprotein ApoE gene. One of the known genotypes (ApoE4) is primarily associated with Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular diseases in the homozygous form (ApoE4/4). These individuals could indeed benefit from a low-fat diet.
It is estimated that around 2% of the population are carriers of this mutation.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17466101/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20202805/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19025720/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8073598/
https://www.alzheimer-forschung.de/alzheimer/wasistalzheimer/genetische-grundlagen/apoe4/
