Ready to focus on your ticker? It’s time to learn more about the effects of trans & saturated fats!
This blog is devoted to all things breast health after treatment for ER/PR+ cancer, but remember, there’s a link between heart disease and breast cancer, which I wrote about here.
It’s just as important to pay attention to the recommendations for feeding your heart as it is to feeding your breasts – one indirectly helps the other.
February is AMERICAN HEART MONTH, the perfect time to do a bit of education on the role diet plays, especiallly those confusing DIETARY F-A-T-S.
Maybe you’re wondering:
- which is best
- which to avoid
- how much to eat
You may be especially confused about SATURATED FATS and TRANS-FATS, and with good reason. Eating too much of both is connected to increased risk of CVD (coronary vascular disease).
Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are found in animal and plant foods, and are responsible for raising cholesterol and LDL levels. Thanks to genetics, some people naturally have higher cholesterol levels, but when it comes to the DIETARY side of things, eating too much saturated fat adds to the problem.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. Consider how butter left on the kitchen counter doesn’t melt. That’s because butter is an example of a food high in saturated fat. 51% of the fat in butter, or 7 grams per tablespoon, is saturated fat. (1)
Other animal food examples of saturated fats are lard (pork fat), chicken fat, and tallow or suet (beef fat).
Animal foods that contain saturated fat:
- Butter
- Meat
- Sausage, hot dogs, bacon, ribs
- Full-fat dairy
- Milk
- Cheese
- Ice cream
- Cream
- Sour cream
- Egg yolks
- Some oily fish
Plant foods that contain saturated fat:
- Nuts
- Chocolate
- Cocoa butter
- Coconut and coconut oil
- Palm and palm kernel oils
Hold on. Aren’t nuts good for you and coconut oil the answer to all health challenges?
Not all saturated fats are created equal
Lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acids are all saturated fats. Foods that contain saturated fats have varying proportions of each of these different saturated fats, and each of these different saturated fats has a different effect on cholesterol.
For example, coconut oil is highest in lauric acid, whereas butter is highest in palmitic acid; both of them contain smaller amounts of the other fatty acids. (1)
According to one particular study examining two groups of subjects for the association between heart disease risk and saturated fat intake, the group consuming the highest amount of saturated fat (overall) had an 18% greater risk of heart disease, compared with the group consuming the least. Palmitic and stearic acid showed the highest risk. (2)
Even though saturated fatty acid levels are highest in coconut oil, in this particular study it didn’t correlate to highest risk. Regardless, that doesn’t necessarily make it a heart healthy food. The jury is still out, aka, more research is needed, especially because plant-based oils are “more than just fats”, according to Walter Willett, MD of Harvard School of Public Health and Chair of the Department of Nutrition. They contain many antioxidants and other substances that may offer health benefits that go beyond heart health. (3)
Back to the nuts.
Nuts contain primarily heart healthy fats (mono and polyunsaturated), with saturated fat weighing in at less than 2.0 grams/ounce in most varieties.
Trans Fats
Trans fats can be produced industrially through the process of hydrogenation (adding hydrogen to oils (like vegetable and fish oils) that are liquid at room temperature, but they also occur naturally in meat and dairy products from ruminant animals (e.g. cattle.)
Industrially produced trans fats are found in baked and fried foods like doughnuts, cookies, crackers, pies, pre-packaged snacks and food, and partially hydrogenated cooking oils and fats (like SHORTENING), which due to it’s low cost is frequently used in restaurants.
When you see “partially hydrogenated oil” on a nutrition label, you’re guaranteed that particular food contains trans fats. Trans fats increase levels of LDL (the BAD) cholesterol, lowers HDL (the GOOD) cholesterol, and promotes inflammation, so the goal is to reduce intake as close to zero as possible. (4)
How to Eat Less (or NO!) Trans Fats
- Limit fried foods
- Choose oils that are liquid at room temperature (i.e. olive and canola oil)
- Limit commercially prepared baked goods, snack foods, and processed foods
- If you eat food with trans fat as an ingredient, make sure “partially hydrogenated oil” appears near the end of the ingredient list (that means there’s less of it used.)
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Thanks for reading my blog post!
Most survivors of hormone-positive breast cancer get anxious when they think about what to eat after finishing treatment, so I’ve created the Peaceful Plate program to help survivors eat with peace, not panic.
When you eat with peace, you feel free to enjoy your food again.
Ready to eat with peace?
CLICK HERE and grab your FREE copy of The Five Foods Survivors Should Eat
CLICK THIS LINK and watch my 2-minute Peaceful Plate program video!
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This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your dietitian or doctor for guidance specific to your needs.
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