Poor saturated fat...talk about discrimination! It's been regularly bashed for decades, often based on bad data or faulty interpretations. But it has a bad reputation that sticks, largely because it's easier to bash it than to think critically about the accusations.
One of the most common slurs it endures is "artery-clogging." Sure, we can expect this kind of thing from the mostly wrong Dr. Oz but it's a phrase that gets used by too many people who should know better.
The word "clog" is most commonly associated with plumbing, as in a "clogged pipe." Indeed, that's the kind of visual most often associated with "artery-clogging saturated fat" as in this animation:
But let's face it: if saturated fat was really artery-clogging, we'd all be dead. (And why isn't it "vein clogging" when veins are more narrow?) Also, the body can convert excess carbs to fat...guess what kind? You got it: saturated fat. Maybe it's trying to kill itself.
The process of how arteries get blocked (associated with arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries) is still not precisely understood. But we know it's much more complex than the pipe-clogging analogy.
The animation below is pretty good, despite the oversimplification of "good" and "bad" cholesterol and a few other bits. And the "Drugs!" conclusion. But overall, it's cool animation that does a decent job of showing that the process of "artery-clogging" is complex:
As the video above notes, the "clogging" process begins with damage to the blood vessel lining. What causes this damage is still uncertain. ("Inflammation" is widely blamed but then, what causes the inflammation?)
The relationship between saturated fat and cholesterol is complex and will surely turn up here in a future post. Meanwhile, this post is only addressing the "artery-clogging saturated fat" claim and is not suggesting that this poor lipid is either good or evil. But stay tuned!
Also, just to be clear, when this post talks about "clogging" it doesn't mean this kind:
Be seeing you.
-gs