The Good and the Bad About High Fat Meals

Category: Diet and Nutrition

It seems that even moderation may not be healthy for our hearts. In the past many followed the premise that a little cheating every once in a while could not hurt, but a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that just one meal high in saturated fat may actually impede the ability of HDL, our good cholesterol, to do its job.

Cholesterol in the human body consists of several forms, the most important and well known are LDL, the bad, and HDL, the good. LDL cholesterol is pro-inflammatory, often gets oxidized by free radicals, and contributes to heart disease, atherosclerosis and stroke. HDL, on the other hand, is anti-inflammatory, protects against oxidation, can help scavenge free radicals, and is preventative against heart disease and stroke. The ratio of HDL to total cholesterol actually determines our future (and present) risk for heart disease.

So the results of this new study from Australia were quite alarming. In the study 14 adults volunteers consumed meals with either more than 75% in polyunsaturated fats (the good type) or one with more than 80% of saturated fats (the really bad type). Each participant ate each meal type, but on two separate occasions.

Then blood tests that measured cholesterol levels and the ability of HDL, the good cholesterol, to do its job were conducted after each meal and compared. A comparison was also made to fasting levels.

The researchers found that just one bad meal may in fact spoil all the good of HDL. They found that after consuming a meal high in saturated fat the HDL in the blood was not as effective as HDL after a polyunsaturated high fat meal or even fasting. But the best news was that the HDL was more effective than at fasting after the polyunsataturated meal, proving yet again that good fats are good for us.

So for all of us out there who think that sneaking a little of the bad stuff every now and then is ok, we may just be hurting ourselves, especially if we are damaging the ability of HDL to do its anti-inflammatory work in our blood vessels.

Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on January 2, 2014 10:00 AM