Fat & Cholesterol
How could these natural substances which have been a part of our diet for 2.5 millions years of evolution and which are so essential to health become so villainized? This all started in the 1950's with a doctor named John Gofman. He somehow developed the hypothesis (which, by the way, has since been disproven time and time again) that blood cholesterol caused heart disease. A number of epidemiological studies ensued in order to prove that mysterious hypothesis.
False data has also been repeated to support the connection between heart disease, cholesterol and saturated fat as well as selecting epidemiological data which supported it (there was other epidemiological studies which showed the opposite but it was tossed aside).
In the attempt to blame cholesterol and saturated fat for heart disease, many years of studies (as you'll read in The Cholesterol Myth Part 2: Dietary Fats and Heart Disease) have failed to make the connection. In fact, people who ate less cholesterol were found to be more at risk of heart disease!
The types of fat we consume have changed from saturated and monounsaturated to polyunsaturated and this change has brought an increase in heart disease and cancer. Who knew that switching from natural fats, the fats we find in nature and have eaten for the better part of our evolution, to hydrogenated fats and over processed vegetable oils, which we would never find in nature, would lead to health problems!
The false theory against fat and cholesterol is further debunked by the studies that have been done on low carb diets. These studies have validity because something is eliminated from the diet (carby foods), rather than trying to conduct a study on a mixed diet and pointing the finger at whatever benefits the pockets of greedy corporations. It has been repeatedly demonstrated in clinical trials and in many countless experiences that the low carb diet not only reduces body fat, but it also improves health in many areas.
Cholesterol
Saturated Fat
Saturated fat was thought to contribute to heart disease because it would cause a rise in LDL. However, at the time it wasn't understood that there are subtypes of LDL, categorized into two patterns: A and B. Pattern a is associated with less cardiovascular risk while pattern b is associated with more cardiovascular risk. As it turns out, saturated fat raises pattern a-actually making it heart-healthy. High carbohydrate diets raise pattern b.
All the evidence which supposedly linked saturated fat to heart disease was recently evaluated. It was discovered that there was NO CORRELATION AT ALL.
Polyunsaturated Fat
