The intake of trans fats, which come mostly from junk food and animal products; saturated fat, mostly from dairy products and chicken; and cholesterol, coming mostly from eggs and chicken, should be as low as possible.
Trans Fat, Saturated Fat, & Cholesterol: Tolerable Upper Intake of Zero
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Why stop at just sprinkling statins on our Happy Meal, when we could be even more aggressive? Is it time for the polypill? One pill, containing five or six drugs: a statin; three blood pressure medications—a thiazide, beta blocker, and ACE inhibitor; maybe some aspirin—suggesting even over-the-counter availability. The chance of benefit may be less than 1% per year, and that of side effects, 6% overall—some of which, like internal bleeding, may be life-threatening.
So, for those who would rather go with diet, rather than the five drugs, how do you do it?
To lower our cholesterol through diet, we need to avoid three things: trans fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol. Trans fats are mostly in junk food and animal products.
Here are the top food sources of cholesterol-raising saturated fat. That quarter-pounder doesn’t come in until eight. It’s cheese, ice cream, chicken, then pastries, pork, reduced fat milk, and then our burger.
Where is cholesterol found in the American diet? #1’s not beef. It’s eggs and chicken, and then beef, cheese, pork, and fish before getting to cakes, cookies, doughnuts, and ice cream.
How much should we reduce our consumption of these foods? What are the tolerable upper intake levels for trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol? “The Institute of Medicine did not set upper limits for trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol because any intake level above zero increased bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol).”
Here’s trans fat. There’s no level that’s safe. It’s like a straight line. The lower the better. Any level of trans fat intake above zero increased LDL cholesterol concentration,” the #1 risk factor for our #1 killer: heart disease.
And same with saturated fat—any intake level above zero, and similar findings for cholesterol.
So, intakes of meat, eggs, dairy, and junk food should be as low as possible, because there is no tolerable intake.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Ferenczi EA, Asaria P, Hughes AD, Chaturvedi N, Francis DP. Can a statin neutralize the cardiovascular risk of unhealthy dietary choices? Am J Cardiol. 2010 Aug 15;106(4):587-92.
- Stirban AO, Tschoepe D. Should We Be More Aggressive in the Therapy Against Cardiovascular Risk Factors? Diabetes Care. 2008 Feb;31 Suppl 2:S226-8.
- Trumbo PR, Shimakawa T. Tolerable upper intake levels for trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Nutr Rev. 2011 May;69(5):270-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2011.00389.x.
Why stop at just sprinkling statins on our Happy Meal, when we could be even more aggressive? Is it time for the polypill? One pill, containing five or six drugs: a statin; three blood pressure medications—a thiazide, beta blocker, and ACE inhibitor; maybe some aspirin—suggesting even over-the-counter availability. The chance of benefit may be less than 1% per year, and that of side effects, 6% overall—some of which, like internal bleeding, may be life-threatening.
So, for those who would rather go with diet, rather than the five drugs, how do you do it?
To lower our cholesterol through diet, we need to avoid three things: trans fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol. Trans fats are mostly in junk food and animal products.
Here are the top food sources of cholesterol-raising saturated fat. That quarter-pounder doesn’t come in until eight. It’s cheese, ice cream, chicken, then pastries, pork, reduced fat milk, and then our burger.
Where is cholesterol found in the American diet? #1’s not beef. It’s eggs and chicken, and then beef, cheese, pork, and fish before getting to cakes, cookies, doughnuts, and ice cream.
How much should we reduce our consumption of these foods? What are the tolerable upper intake levels for trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol? “The Institute of Medicine did not set upper limits for trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol because any intake level above zero increased bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol).”
Here’s trans fat. There’s no level that’s safe. It’s like a straight line. The lower the better. Any level of trans fat intake above zero increased LDL cholesterol concentration,” the #1 risk factor for our #1 killer: heart disease.
And same with saturated fat—any intake level above zero, and similar findings for cholesterol.
So, intakes of meat, eggs, dairy, and junk food should be as low as possible, because there is no tolerable intake.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Ferenczi EA, Asaria P, Hughes AD, Chaturvedi N, Francis DP. Can a statin neutralize the cardiovascular risk of unhealthy dietary choices? Am J Cardiol. 2010 Aug 15;106(4):587-92.
- Stirban AO, Tschoepe D. Should We Be More Aggressive in the Therapy Against Cardiovascular Risk Factors? Diabetes Care. 2008 Feb;31 Suppl 2:S226-8.
- Trumbo PR, Shimakawa T. Tolerable upper intake levels for trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Nutr Rev. 2011 May;69(5):270-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2011.00389.x.
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Trans Fat, Saturated Fat, & Cholesterol: Tolerable Upper Intake of Zero
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Check out my associated blog posts for more context: Generic Lipitor is not the answer to our heart disease epidemic; Breast Cancer Survival and Soy; The Most Anti-Inflammatory Mushroom; How Does Meat Cause Inflammation?; Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk; Cholesterol Lowering in a Nut Shell; Biblical Daniel Fast Tested; Do Vegans Get More Cavities?; and Trans Fat in Animal Fat.
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