This is information from Good Calories, Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes, location 3605 in the Kindle e-reader.
Porterhouse steak with a 1/4″ layer of fat. Post-cooking, 51% of the fat is MONOUNSATURATED (90% of this is oleic acid, same as in olive oil), 4% is POLYUNSATURATED, and 45% is SATURATED.
Monounsaturated fats lower LDL cholesterol (the “bad” stuff) and raise HDL cholesterol (the “good” stuff), and have no net effect on total cholesterol levels.
Saturated fats raise both HDL and LDL cholesterol.
Carbohydrates lower both LDL and HDL cholesterol
Of the 45% saturated fat, 1/3 of that is stearic acid (which metabolizes to oleic acid in the body), which increases HDL cholesterol and has NO EFFECT on LDL cholesterol.
Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) carry fats and cholesterol through the body. The smallest and densest variant of LDL (there are 7 in total) is more likely to cause atherosclerosis than larger, “fluffier” LDL particles. Research consistently shows that the lower the level of fat in the diet and the higher the carbohydrates, the smaller and denser the LDL particles are. In other words, more carbohydrates and less fat INCREASES the risk of heart disease.
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