First and foremost, the only essential PUFA is Omega 3 with trace amounts of Omega 6.
Secondly I find that based on meta-data MUFA is at the very least the most harmless of the fatty acid groups.
Lastly, that Saturated fat is MOSTLY not harmless. But some forms of it are MORE HARMFUL than other's. I am convinced that Palmitic acid rich foods are NOT good for an overall longevity strategy. Whereas Stearic acid is less harmful, but the jury is is not completely defined on this, however remember that things like Dark Chocolate are also high in Flavonoids which, if you get a low Cadmium Cocoa powder is perfect for getting the beneficial aspects of Cocoa without consuming the not so beneficial aspects of it, or the less offensive stearic acid composition (relative to palmitic that is).
Then there's Lauric acid. I'm sure almost all of us here went through a Coconut phase when the preliminary Anecdotes showed it was "potentially healthy" at best and "neutral" at worst.
Personally I avoid it these days because I am not convinced something with no sure shot data is going to lead to long term health benefits.
Just to reiterate my experiences for those who have not seen my post on the subject of my own Lipid Journey. I tested about 230 total cholesterol after being on a Keto diet for over a year. My LDL was 130. My ttrigs were alright but my Lp(a) was slightly elevated, which it shouldn't have been.
That keto diet happened to be high in all fats including saturated fats. Taking bergamot lowered it to about 205 total and 120 LDL but I still hadn't cut out the Saturated fats.
So I said fuck it, went on what I was terming a detox diet at the time, but which eventually evolved into a pure, high vegetable plant based diet very moderate in fat and VERY low in saturated fats.
After 4 months on this diet, not only did my total Cholesterol go down to about 145, my LDL went down to about 65, my HDL was up to about 90 my trigs were about 55 and my Lp(a) went down to normal values again.
Additionally! My A1c went down from 5.2 on Keto to 4.6 on this pure plant diet!
So, this is where my take on dietary fats emanates from.
I don't trust one off outlier studies, I don't trust fat Guru's on here claiming they eat 100 grams of fat a day and only work out once a month and have abs (even if it's true). I don't trust 22 year old bodybuilders doing Keto anymore than I trust 22 year old body buildings eating Spaghetti and meatballs every day.
In my opinion medical Meta-data is more valuable than Outlier studies, rat studies or one off studies involving an intended cause/effect variable.
I trust, and I emphasize this repeatedly, MY OWN NUMBERS based on MY OWN DIETARY EXPERIMENTS.
Which is precisely what I advise everybody here to do.
Experiment, test, re-test and see your results.
Not sure why anybody here would want a high cholesterol reading despite the ideation on LDL particle size when clearly Medical field work shows that way more often than not the standardized measurement of reading cholesterol is plenty to go by.
But, add Lp(a) into that as well and you have begun a sort of guide toward what your goals should be.
Edited by TheFountain, 27 December 2021 - 03:42 AM.
