Some health concerns regarding high fat diets

Persons consuming too much fat in a diet will probably consume too much fat from saturated fatty acids. It is the saturated fatty acids that are associated with an increased risk for heart disease. Strong evidence from human and animal studies shows that diets low in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol are associated with low risks and rates of coronary heart disease. Saturated fatty acids are the major dietary factors that raise blood low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, increasing the risk for heart disease. Increasing evidence suggests that trans-fatty acids also can increase LDL-cholesterol levels.

Unsaturated fats are considered the better types, and unsaturated fats can be divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids do not raise blood cholesterol. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are found in some fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel, are being studied to determine whether they offer protection against heart disease. The results are promising.

High fat diets may be problematic because not only is there increased exposure to the unhealthy components of fat, there is increased by products levels which have been shown to be unhealthy in the blood. Advocates of higher fat diets may be promoting the concept that the body does have a mechanism to burn the fat to maintain energy levels for the ‘typically' glucose dependent cells and tissues. The mechanism, biochemically speaking, mimics the effects caused in starvation where the body goes into a starvation mode or ‘ketosis state'. These ketones can be recognized by the glucose dependent cells and over a period of a few weeks, the body will use these ketones to feed the typically sugar dependent cells. This biochemical conversion towards a ketosis state will indeed cause weight loss, but one of the by products is that the body will burn its carbohydrates and muscle mass to drive the ‘engine' that generates the ketones. So a person will loose weight by breaking down the muscle, if a person does not eat enough nutrients to keep the fat burning mechanisms going. Since muscle is stored with lots of water around it, when a person looses muscle they also drop water weight.