Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA)

Saturated fats have a COOH "head" and a hydrocarbon "tail" in which every carbon of the tail has 2 or 3 hydrogens attached. Animal fat (and fat made by people) is naturally saturated. This is sometimes abbreviated SFA.

While mainstream medicine often maligns saturated fat as "bad" and blames the increase in chronic disease in the USA over the past 50 years on consumption of saturated fat, data from the USDA shows that consumption of animal fat over the past 50 years has stayed pretty much constant; this suggests that animal fat consumption is NOT the cause of increasing problems with chronic diseases like cardiovascular disorders and diabetes. However, data from the USDA also shows dramatic increases in the consumption of vegetable oils and high-fructose corn sweetener over this same period. While correlation does not prove causation, lack of correlation does prove lack of causation. See Dr. Weyrich's essay on Coronary Artery Disease.

That said, there is data which shows that some people are genetically predisposed to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and age-related mental decline if they carry certain variants of the APOE genes and consume too much saturated fats (or cholesterol) [NIH]; However, many studies are confounded by the association between saturated animal fat and cholesterol, so it is not clear which is the actual culprit.

It has also been stated that saturated fat is pro-inflammatory [Sears2019, pg 38]. However, since the brain and our cell membranes contain high levels of both saturated fat and cholesterol, and our bodies primarily make saturated fat, either the theory of evolution or the theory of intelligent design would suggest that whatever downside saturated fat and cholesterol may have, there must be beneficial "engineering tradeoffs" involved that justify the potential downside.

Food sources that are relatively high in saturated fats include the following:

• Coconut oil (91%) [Healthline]
• Butterfat (68%) [Healthline]
• Palm oil (51%) [Healthline]
• Lard (43%) [Healthline]
• Animal products
• Dairy products
• Crisco (not recommended)
• Margarine (not recommended)
• Hydrogenated oils (not recommended)

•  >   
  Fats
•  >   
  Cholesterol

•       [Sears2019]   Bary Sears. The Resolution Zone. (2019). Amazon
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  [Healthline]
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  [NIH]
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  [fatforweightloss]
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  [PSU]