Ashley Moran wrote:

> I've seen a ton of (scientific) evidence that saturated fats (and
> animal fats in general) are *not bad* for you, but has anyone seen
> any thing to show that they are *good* for you?

The fat from a properly fed animal (i.e. one on a natural diet) is good
for the same reason that the animal's protein is good - it contains all
of the right kinds in the right proportions. It is not that saturated
fat is "good" per se, it is that it is not "bad." Most of the past
studies that have shown that saturated fat was bad for you (Raising the
level of low-density cholesterol in the blood) were performed with the
cheapest kind of sat. fat available - hydrogenated vegetable oils. Since
then we have learned that hydrogenated vegetable oils contain unnatural
trans-fats which are *really* bad, and saturated fats which are sort of
neutral (Not bad, not good.)

The other relevant fact is that the polyunsaturated fats aren't nearly
as good as we have been led to believe. That is to say that small
amounts of them in the right proportions (n-6:n-3) are *essential* but
too much of them is bad because they oxidize easily and release free
radicals which are believed to be the source of many diseases. So,
saturated fat is not as bad as we thought and polyunsaturated fat is not
as good as we thought, which makes saturated fat look *relatively* good.
After all, there is only one other kind of fat, monounsaturated, and
everyone already agrees that it is good (Don't be suprised when we
change our minds, though, that is how science works ;-)

This is one of the reasons that the Paleo style of eating makes so much
sense: rather than eating vegetable oils, we eat whole vegetables. Whole
vegetables have small amounts of oil, which contain essential
polyunsaturated fats, and a lot of natural antioxidants (Vitamins E, C,
beta-carotene, etc.) which prevent the polyunsaturated fats from
oxidizing before they are absorbed. We also eat animal foods, which
again contain small amounts of essential polyunsaturated fat, this time
together with saturated fat which also acts as an antioxidant and
prevents the PUFA from oxidizing.

Another thing: there are different kinds of saturated fat. Like other
macronutrients (proteins and carbohydrates) they are made up of many
fatty acids linked together in a chain. It seems that, with fats, very
short chains are absorbed very quickly (As with other nutrients) and
that isn't necessarily good (Fat == triglyceride, lots of fat in the
blood == high triglyceride, high triglyceride seems to corrolate
strongly to metabolic disease.) With fats, it seems that medium sized
chains are good. And medium sized chains of saturated fats, in
particular, seem to have an antioxidant effect. This is why coconut oil
has been getting such a good rap in the alternative health community,
because it is made up mostly of these medium chain saturated fats that
have antioxidant properties. Animal fats (Again, from healthy, properly
fed animals) have more medium and long chain fats than short chain fats,
so they are digested more slowly than vegetable fats and probably
provide some antioxidant benefit as well.

Hope that helps. If you need citations try Google; I'm too busy right
now :-p

Thanks,
Adam