What is Risk From Saturated Fats?

Saturated fats or saturated fatty acids (SFA) which are typically solid at room temperature, have important metabolic functions. However, consumption of SFA is non-essential because they can be produced in the body. Nonetheless, the intake of SFA is inevitable as these fatty acids occur in all fat-containing foods varying in the relative amounts of individual SFA. Palmitic and stearic acids are abundantly found in butter, dairy and meat products, while lauric and myristic acids in butter, dairy foods, coconut, and palm kernel oils. Their functional properties in enhancing food characteristics such as flavour, stability, and structure, make them indispensable for the production of fat-containing foods. Saturated fats pose various health risks, especially coronary heart diseases due to high blood pressure, overweight, and so forth. Individual SFA affect lipoprotein levels differently, with each major dietary SFA resulting in higher levels of low-density and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, except for stearic acid. Partial replacement of dietary SFA with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is associated with significantly reduced heart disease risk and mortality, probably implying the risk of SFA or the beneficial effect of PUFA. Therefore, controlling the intake of SFA-containing foods or substituting them with healthier nutrients are key components of the dietary recommendations to tackle the risk of developing heart diseases.

How It Affects Your Body

Consumption of specific food sources of SFA is associated with higher risk of heart disease. For example, the intake of cheese is associated with significant reductions in LDL-C and HDL-C as compared to butter intake.

HDL cholesterol is said to be beneficial to the body in comparison with LDL cholesterol (which has negative effects). Consumption of SFA significantly increases LDL cholesterol level in the blood, which can be found in red meats. This potentially increases the risk of heart diseases.