Last month, I was asked for input for a Richmond News article suggesting that our guidelines for the intake of saturated fats may be incorrect.
I have noticed this as a headline everywhere from popular nutrition websites to national news broadcasts.
While I can see where the interest is coming from, after reading the evidence, I can’t help but think there are some important factors we often forget to consider:
1. We don’t eat saturated fats or unsaturated fats, we eat meat, dairy products, fish, nuts, seeds, butter and oils, etc. It is hard to isolate one specific nutrient when these foods are made up of a variety of nutrients in varying compositions. To further complicate things, not all saturated fats are created equal. There are many different types of saturated fats, some known to be more harmful to our health and others thought to be quite neutral.
2. It is not just removing something from our diet that matters, it also matters what we replace it with. If we limit our intake of saturated fats, only to replace them with refined grains, high fructose corn syrup and other added sugars, then we are probably not doing ourselves any favours. However, if we replace them with more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, thereby increasing our intake of soluble fiber (which is shown to reduce cholesterol), this could have significant health benefits.
3. The answer is not black and white. All of the studies have limitations and we need more research to be done. Additionally, every person is unique and we cannot take a one-size fits all approach to nutrition advice. While we do need general guidelines, not every person has the same nutrient requirements.
The bottom line is this article was not concluding that we need to eat more saturated fat, it merely points out that we need more high quality research to be done. In the meantime, my advice won’t be changing — eat more whole unprocessed foods in their natural state, and everything in moderation.
Katie Huston is a local registered dietitian.
