Saturated fat in daily life! It’s not unhealthy!

Do you still remember the taste of your childhood?

There is always a fragrant pot of oil in the kitchen at home, accompanied by the rich aroma of fat residue;

Grandma gently took a little of the white paste in the porcelain bowl and stir-fried the vegetables;

The hot pot prepared by my mother, the spiced peppers and beef fat;

On the sizzling charcoal, the lamb skewers were brushed with lamb fat over and over again.

There are many more. Those are the wonderful tastes we remember from our childhood and even now, and they are also our wonderful encounter with saturated fat.

However, with the popularization of modern nutrition, saturated fat has gradually been labeled as "unhealthy" and seems to have become something we need to avoid. But today's scientific research has found that saturated fat may not be so "bad". Now, let's re-examine the taste in our memory with new discoveries!

Ⅰ. Is saturated fat really unhealthy?

Modern dietary nutrition guidelines often recommend reducing saturated fat intake, believing that it is closely related to cardiovascular disease. However, more and more scientific studies have recently found that the situation may not be so simple.

A review article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition pointed out that the existing evidence is not sufficient to conclude that all saturated fats increase the risk of cardiovascular disease [1]. On the contrary, some studies have shown that saturated fats, in a specific dietary context, not only do not increase the risk of heart disease, but may even help improve certain health indicators. For example, a large prospective study found that when consuming moderate amounts of saturated fats (such as coconut oil and butter), the risk of overall mortality and specific diseases (such as diabetes) did not increase [2].

Ⅱ. The magical stability of saturated fat

A. Not easy to oxidize, suitable for high temperature cooking

An important difference between saturated and unsaturated fats is their chemical structure. The carbon chains in saturated fat molecules are completely "saturated" with hydrogen atoms and do not contain double bonds, which makes them very stable, especially in the face of oxidation by heat and air [3]. In contrast, unsaturated fats contain one or more double bonds, which makes them more susceptible to oxidation when cooked at high temperatures, producing potentially harmful free radicals and trans fats [4].

A study on the oxidation stability of different cooking oils at high temperatures found that saturated fats such as coconut oil and butter produced significantly fewer oxidation products in high-temperature fryers than vegetable oils [5]. This means that when we use animal fats such as coconut oil, lard, butter, and mutton fat in the kitchen, we can safely cook at high temperatures without worrying about the production of large amounts of harmful oxides.

B. Not easy to form trans fat

Trans fats are considered one of the most harmful ingredients in the diet to health, and an important advantage of saturated fats is that they are almost impossible to convert into trans fats during cooking [6]. The formation of trans fats often relies on the rearrangement of the double bonds of unsaturated fatty acids at high temperatures, while saturated fats do not have this "conversion" condition at all because they do not have double bonds [7].

Therefore, when using animal fats, we don't have to worry about the production of trans fats.

III. Animal fats: good friends of mitochondria

Mitochondria are the “energy factories” of our cells, responsible for converting energy from food into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) that the cells can use. Interestingly, studies have shown that saturated fats may have beneficial effects on mitochondrial function, particularly in maintaining the stability of the mitochondrial membrane and protecting mitochondria from oxidative stress damage [8].

An animal study showed that saturated fatty acids can improve mitochondrial function and enhance the energy metabolism capacity of cells, while unsaturated fatty acids, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), may be more likely to cause mitochondrial damage under oxidative stress conditions [9]. This suggests that saturated fats not only do not "damage" our cell function, but may also play a protective role under certain conditions.

IV. Daily use of saturated fat: a good choice to return to the kitchen

1. Use animal fats in moderation to restore traditional flavors

In our daily diet, using animal fats such as lard, butter, and mutton in moderation can not only bring unique flavors to dishes, but also provide stable cooking characteristics. Cooking with lard, baking with butter, and frying coconut-flavored foods with coconut oil can all be a way for us to return to traditional cuisine and experience the wonderful taste of our childhood again. Just like now, we use animal cream in birthday cakes.

2. The ingenious combination of vegetable oil and animal oil

Modern people may prefer to use vegetable oils (such as soybean oil and rapeseed oil) for daily cooking, but you may also try to use vegetable oils in combination with animal oils. Vegetable oils can provide rich unsaturated fatty acids when used at low temperatures, while animal oils provide better stability and aroma when cooked at high temperatures. This combination not only enriches the taste, but also ensures a healthy diet on a scientific basis.

3. New findings on saturated fat: Worth a fresh look

The latest scientific research suggests that saturated fat may not be the "health enemy" as traditionally believed. The stability, antioxidant properties, and mitochondrial friendliness of saturated fatty acids all provide us with reasons to re-examine their health benefits. Especially in traditional dietary culture, moderate use of saturated fat may not only not cause health problems, but may also be a bridge to restore health and deliciousness.

Finally, let us return to the kitchen and reacquaint ourselves with those "old friends" that were once misunderstood - lard, butter, mutton fat, and coconut oil. Perhaps we will rediscover that in this pursuit of health, traditional delicacies are only late, but never absent!

References

【1】Siri-Tarino, PW, Sun, Q., Hu, FB, & Krauss, RM (2010). Saturated fat, carbohydrate, and cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91(3), 502-509.

【2】Chowdhury, R., Warnakula, S., Kunutsor, S., Crowe, F., Ward, HA, Johnson, L., ... & Mozaffarian, D. (2014). Association of dietary, circulating, and supplement fatty acids with coronary risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine, 160(6), 398-406.

【3】Calder, PC (2015). Functional roles of fatty acids and their effects on human health. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 39(1_suppl), 18S-32S.

【4】Mozaffarian, D., & Clarke, R. (2009). Quantitative effects on cardiovascular risk of replacing trans fat with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat: a meta-analysis. PLOS Medicine, 6(3), e1000047.

【5】Warner, K., & Gupta, M. (2005). Frying quality and stability of high-oleic sunflower oil compared with other high-oleic oils. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, 82(6), 447-451.

【6】Mensink, RP, Zock, PL, Kester, AD, & Katan, MB (2003). Effects of dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates on the ratio of serum total to HDL cholesterol and on serum lipids and apolipoproteins: a meta-analysis of 60 controlled trials. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 77(5), 1146-1155.

【7】Astrup, A., Dyerberg, J., Elwood, P., Hermansen, K., Hu, FB, Jakobsen, MU, ... & Willett, WC (2011). The role of reducing intakes of saturated fat in the prevention of cardiovascular disease: where does the evidence stand in 2010?. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 93(4), 684-688.

【8】Fernandez-Checa, JC, & Kaplowitz, N. (2005). Hepatic mitochondrial glutathione: transport and role in disease and toxicity. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 204(3), 263-273.

【9】Palacios, G., & Pierre, J. (2017). Mitochondrial protective effects of dietary saturated fats: a systematic review. Nutrients, 9(3), 279.