Saturated fat and cardiovascular disease

Saturated fat has traditionally been seen as the bad fat that raises bad cholesterol, linked to cardiovascular disease. The government has invited food manufacturers to reduce the levels in processed food as part of the responsibility deal. However taking saturated fat alone is unlikely to give the answers. 

We eat whole foods, not single chemical elements. Within each food there are multiple elements which when taken in isolation may give positive or negative outcomes, but when together give a very different response in the body. This is true for food sources of fats and even true for the spectrum of saturated fats, with different chain lengths of molecule giving different responses on blood cholesterol - some good, some not so good. 

Thus we have to stand back and look at the bigger picture of what makes up the diet in terms of whole foods, not single elements if we want to improve what we are eating in a practical way. 

Common sense will prevail. Stand back and look at what your food intake looks like over the day and you are likely to soon see if it's rich in good quality ingredients, spread over three interesting meals combined with daily exercise and you're likely to be somewhere on track. 

Here's the good stuff: fibres, fresh vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean proteins, beans, pulses, dairy and low glycemic load carbohydrates.Have these spread over three regular meals in the day, get back to cooking basic, easy to prepare foods and you'll be surprised how easy it really is.

Here's my interview on Sky News covering the issue  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ta4_24Lvrs


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