Cheese, butter is good for heart

Study Decodes How French Dodge Heart Disease Despite High-Fat Diet

Fatty foods such as cheese, butter, and cream are often considered among the main 

culprits of heart disease -but according to a new study, a diet high in saturated fats 

could in fact bring significant health benefits.

Eating more naturally high fat foods while limiting the amount of carbohydrates did 

not cause an increase in harmful cholesterol, researchers at the University of Bergen 

in Norway found. Simon Dankel, who led the study , said that the research showed 

the human body “can do perfectly well with fats as its main energy source“.

“People will say: `you can't lose weight, you can't go on any diets with saturated fats, 

no matter what',“ said Dankel. “But in this context, we see a very positive metabolic 

response. You can base your energy in your diet on either carbohydrates or fat. It 

doesn't make a big difference.“

Several health guidelines advise people to eat less saturated fats, because a diet high 

in them can raise the level of cholesterol in the blood. It is recommended that men eat 

no more than 30g of saturated fats a day , and women no more than 20g.

Around 40 obese men took part in the study, which Dankel said was more strictly 

controlled and therefore more reliable than previous research into low-carb diets. Half 

were given a strict low-fat, highcarb diet, while the others ate fewer carbohydrates but 

doubled their intake of saturated fats, with 24% of their entire energy intake for one day 

coming from butter alone.

 

“We emphasised dairy fats especially . The people were eating cream and butter, and 

some coco nut oil,“ said Dankel, who stressed the diet didn't include processed fats 

found in junk food.

Both groups ate plenty of vegetables and neither exceeded an intake of 2,100 calories 

a day. By the end of the study , both groups had lost an average of 12kg, most of which 

was body fat, lowering their risk of obesity-related diseases such as high blood pressure 

and diabetes. Dankel said the new research questioned “the alleged strong adverse effect 

of saturated fats on health, which hadn't been tested as directly before“.

The research could help explain the so-called `French paradox', in which low rates of 

heart disease in France occur alongside diets relatively rich in saturated fats.

Source : The Times of India