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Medical Forum / General / Nutrition / July 2009The healthy high saturated fat diet of Pukapukans and Tokelauans
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/34/8/1552.pdf (warning - this is not Cordain ...) Saturated oils I don't need to tell you that saturated fat is bad. Chances are that you've come across many vocal groups proclaiming polyunsaturated fats as 'good' and saturated fats as 'bad'. This is too simplistic. Any fat in excess is bad, especially polyunsaturated. Saturated fat has been labelled a dietary monster causing {inset favourite disease here} and other untold health problems. Yet saturated fat has been a staple part of human diets for thousands of years but only recently had negative publicity – most probably profit motivated by those selling polyunsaturated products. Our ancestors lived on a diet rich in grease, lard and butter. It wasn't until the 20th century that vegetable oils (polyunsaturated) became widely available and with that has come a plague of degenerative diseases. Polynesians and saturated fats A study done on two populations of Polynesians, namely Pukapukans and Tokelauans on the effects of their dietary saturated fats showed some startling revelations. Pukapukans were getting 26-30% of their total calories from fats whereas Tokelauans were getting 47-49% of their total calories from fats. Now since the Tokelauans were obtaining around seven times more calories from saturated fats than the 7% current 'healthy' guidelines recommend, one would have expected them to perish from strokes and coronary heart disease. However, contradictory to this the investigation found that vascular disease was uncommon in both populations. No evidence of high saturated fat intake having a harmful effect was found in these populations. Interestingly the rest of the Tokelauans' diet consisted of no refined sugars, no cereals and certainly no Mc Donald's – they were not eating junk! Health benefits of saturated oils Saturated fat is needed for proper digestive function, growth, and is an essential component of every single cell in your body. Nature has infused this fat into almost all of the foods we eat, both plant and animal. Even polyunsaturated vegetable oils contain at least some saturated fats. Lauric acid, the main fatty acid found in coconut oil has many viral and bacterial properties. It's also great for the skin when rubbed in. Short and medium chain fatty acids may promote weight loss. They are metabolised rapidly without passing through the liver to provide a quick source of energy. Read more at: http://rossouk.blogspot.com/2008/12/saturated-oils.html ----------------------- The Pukapukans had 8x less linoleic acid in their adipose tissue than New Zealand Europeans! Here you go AHA with your "hearth healthy" Omega-6 ... Taka > http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/34/8/1552.pdf (warning - this is not > Cordain ...) [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] > > Taka Erp. I feel compelled to post a reminder here that while the fat of pigs, beef, and even butter are called saturated they contain consider doses of unsaturated fat. Moreover, flax seed is an ancient food and it is highly unsaturated. On other hand I agree true saturated fats aren't dietary evils. But on the other hand I don't see omega-3 fatty acids as evils either. And I'll add the best labs for blood lipids I had in the last decade were when I was eating freshing open raw coconut meat. Coconut is a healthful food as is wild caught salmon fish unlike partially hydrogenated soy oil and farmed salmon.............Trig Actually, Trig, there was a study done a few years ago, and it showed that if you steam salmon, you oxidize a much larger amount of the cholesterol as compared to other, common cooking methods, so you always need to take all factors into account, which is something "nutritional science," in general of course, does not do. As to the claims against "saturated fat," one thing that is unbelievably ridiculous is that only PUFAs can be made into AA (or long-chain omega 3s that are dangerous in other ways). Without AA, there can be no chronic inflammation, and without, there's little or no cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, etc. SFAs cannot be made into AA, and so claims against "saturated fat" simply demonstrate that the claimant is displaying gross ignorance, unless one is also putting forth a definition for "saturated fat" that makes no sense at all (and that will totally confuse almost everyone). > Actually, Trig, there was a study done a few years ago, and it showed > that if you steam salmon, you oxidize a much larger amount of the [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > definition for "saturated fat" that makes no sense at all (and that > will totally confuse almost everyone). Thanks for the reminder on the first point. I must confess that I've been using canned fish (likely with bisphenol A) and the occasional pickled herring packed in glass. And what little fish I have that I've cooked has been pan fried in palm oil which is another less than ideal cooking method. One of my grandmothers was a raw fish eater for much of her younger years. So perhaps that should be considered. soon to thaw some frozen squid.......................Trig There was another study earlier this year which found that frying fish conferred no benefit. Oven baked, lightly, seems best. > Actually, Trig, there was a study done a few years ago, and it showed > that if you steam salmon, you oxidize a much larger amount of the [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > definition for "saturated fat" that makes no sense at all (and that > will totally confuse almost everyone). More healthy Asians thriving on coconut are on Kitawa: Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Oct;66(4):845-52. Age relations of cardiovascular risk factors in a traditional Melanesian society: the Kitava Study. Lindeberg S, Berntorp E, Nilsson-Ehle P, Terént A, Vessby B. Department of Community Health Sciences, Lund University, Sweden. This study examined cross-sectional age relations of blood pressure, anthropometric indexes, serum lipids, and hemostatic variables in 203 subsistence horticulturists aged 20-86 y in Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. The population is characterized by extreme leanness (despite food abundance), low blood pressure, low plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 activity, and rarity of cardiovascular disease. Tubers, fruit, fish, and coconut are dietary staples whereas dairy products, refined fat and sugar, cereals, and alcohol are absent and salt intake is low. Although diastolic blood pressure was not associated with age in Kitavans, systolic blood pressure increased linearly after 50 y of age in both sexes. Body mass index decreased with age in both sexes. Serum total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low- density-lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B increased in males between 20 and 50 y of age, whereas high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I decreased. There were no significant differences in these indexes with age in the few females studied. A slight linear age-related increase of lipoprotein(a) was present in males. Plasma fibrinogen, factor VII clotting activity, factor VIII clotting activity, and von Willebrand factor antigen increased with age in both sexes but plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 activity did not. The modest or absent relations between the indexes measured and age are apparently important explanations of the virtual nonexistence of stroke and ischemic heart disease in Kitava. PMID: 9322559 Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 2003;63(3):175-80. Determinants of serum triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in traditional Trobriand Islanders: the Kitava Study. Lindeberg S, Ahrén B, Nilsson A, Cordain L, Nilsson-Ehle P, Vessby B. Department of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden. OBJECTIVES: To analyse variables explaining the variation between serum triglycerides (TGs) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in a non-western population characterized by unfavourable TG and HDL-C levels despite marked leanness, low blood pressure and low fasting serum insulin. The study subjects included yraditional Pacific Islanders from Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea and a population in Sweden. METHODS: The study was designed as a cross- sectional survey. Fasting serum lipoproteins and apolipoproteins, insulin, blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were analysed in 122 male and 47 female Kitavans aged 20-86 years and in a control population of 729 healthy men and women aged 20-66 from Uppsala. Main outcome measures were determinants of TG and HDL-C using a simple and multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: A negative association was found between TGs and HDL-C in Kitava (r = -0.38. p < 0.0001) and Sweden (r = -0.46, p < 0.0001), while TGs were positively associated with non-HDL-C and ApoB in both groups. In contrast to what was found in the Swedish subjects, TG and HDL-C levels were not associated with body mass index, waist circumference, glucose, insulin or systolic blood pressure in the Kitavans. CONCLUSION: Despite an apparent absence of cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome in the Kitavans, the relationship between TGs and HDL-C was similar to that observed in Caucasians, while neither of the variables was associated with markers of insulin sensitivity in the Kitavans. Whether the findings can be explained by normal physiology or partially reflect the high intake of carbohydrates and saturated fat in Kitava is uncertain. PMID: 12817903 Br J Sports Med. 2008 Jun 3. Daily energy expenditure and cardiovascular risk in Masai, rural and urban Bantu Tanzanians. Mbalilaki JA, Masesa Z, Strømme SB, Høstmark AT, Sundquist J, Wändell P, Rosengren A, Hellenius ML. Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. Background Several studies have revealed that the Masai, pastoralists in Tanzania, have low rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) despite a diet high in saturated fat. It has also been suggested that they may be genetically protected. Recent studies detailing other potential protective factors, however, are lacking. Methods A cross-sectional investigation of 985 Tanzanians men and women (130 Masai, 371 rural Bantu and 484 urban Bantu) with mean age 46.0 [SD 9.3]. Anthropometric measures, blood pressure, serum lipids, and the reported dietary pattern and physical activity level were assessed. Results Eighty two percents of Masai subjects reported a high fat/low carbohydrate intake, whereas 77% of the rural Bantu subjects reported a low fat/ high carbohydrate intake, and a high fat/high carbohydrate intake was the main dietary pattern of the urban Bantu group as reported by 55%. The most conspicuous finding for the Masai was the extremely high energy expenditure, corresponding to 2565 kcal/day over basal requirements, compared to 1500 kcal/day in the rural and 891 kcal/day for the urban Bantu. Mean body mass index among the Masai was lower than among the rural and urban Bantu. Mean systolic blood pressure of the Masai was also lower compared to their rural and urban Bantu counterparts. The Masai revealed a favourable lipid profile. Conclusion The potentially atherogenic diet among the Masai was not reflected in serum lipids and was offset probably by very high energy expenditure levels and low body weight. Key terms: Masai, Bantu, energy expenditure, diet, cardiovascular disease. PMID: 18523037 ------------------ More healthy tribes thriving on saturated fat. I have seen some pictures of the Masai and they are quite muscular, not the wasted look of the "vegetarian" tribes resembling the CRonnies ... Taka > Br J Sports Med. 2008 Jun 3. > > Daily energy expenditure and cardiovascular risk in Masai, rural and > urban Bantu Tanzanians. High cholesterol foods vs high cholesterol It is also important to understand that eating high cholesterol foods will not automatically lead to high cholesterol levels in the blood. Nor will it automatically lead to heart disease. The Masai is an African tribe whose members eats only meat, blood and milk. Their diet has plenty of saturated fats as well as high cholesterol foods. Yet they have one of the world's lowest levels of blood cholesterol. George Mann, one of the scientists who studied the Masai, described the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disesase as “the greatest scam in the history of medicine." In India, North Indians, eat more meat and used mainly ghee (clarified butter) for cooking, compared with South Indians who were mainly vegetarian. The North Indian diet had 17 times more saturated fat than the South Indian diet. Plus, of course, the North Indians ate plenty of high cholesterol foods. Yet a 1968 study found that North Indians had seven times less heart disease than Indians in the South. This was because, by the late 60s, South Indians had started the switch from coconut oil, which contains about 90 percent saturated fats, to margarine and other polyunsaturated vegetable oils. More recent studies show that North Indians are finally begin to catch up with the South in heart disease rates – because North Indians have started to use less ghee and more margarine and vegetable oils. SOURCE: http://www.stop-trans-fat.com/high-cholesterol-foods.html |
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