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[at-l] Some Fat can be GOOD for you

Here is a recent findings published today on FAT intake.  It's long but
worth the
knowledge...

Tuesday November 11 2:56 PM EST

Study Says Less Fat Not Always Better

By Michael Conlon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - When it comes to low-fat cholesterol-lowering diets, a
more extreme regime is not
necessarily better, and for some people could even be bad, according to a
study published Tuesday.

"The important point is that extreme diets designed to lower cholesterol
are no more effective than
moderate fat restriction," Robert Knopp of the University of Washington
told Reuters.

"If one is talking about diet alone ... the more extreme ones did not do
any better. In fact there were
some undesirable effects," he said. "The common belief is that more is
better, but we found that is not
so."

Knopp and colleagues, in a study published in this week's Journal of the
American Medical
Association, looked at 444 men with high cholesterol levels to study the
long-range impact of cutting fat
intake aggressively and cutting it moderately.

The men were put variously on four diets that restricted energy from fat to
30 percent, 26 percent, 22
percent and 18 percent.

The men were divided into two groups -- those with only high cholesterol
and others with both high
cholesterol and elevated triglycerides, a condition that poses a greater
heart disease risk than high
cholesterol alone.

All of the diets in both groups of men reduced the levels of so-called
"bad" cholesterol, low-density
lipoprotein, that can cling to artery walls and cause blockages.

But after a year further fat restriction below the 26 percent level in high
cholesterol men and below 30
percent in the high cholesterol-triglycerides group "was without added
benefit," the study said.

"Furthermore, no statistically significant added benefit of more aggressive
fat restriction beyond the 30
percent diet was observed in body weight, glucose, insulin or blood
pressure levels" in both groups, the
report said.

But there were some potential harmful effects with the more severe diets,
including a reduction of
so-called "good" cholesterol and a significant increase in triglyceride
levels in the high-cholesterol
group.

"Good" cholesterol -- high density lipoprotein cholesterol -- is believed
to protect against heart disease.

"These observations indicate that the extra effort of aggressive fat
restriction may be not only less
beneficial but also counter productive, since elevated (triglycerides) ...
and low (good cholesterol) levels
are all cardiovascular risk predictors in their own right," the study said.

Knopp told Reuters:

"The study points out that persons with high triglyceride levels have
greater heart risk factors than
people with high cholesterol levels alone. Our research showed diet is
beneficial in that group as well.

"The diet per se does not lower triglyceride levels so other efforts such
as weight loss and exercise are
important to that group."

Knopp's study said its findings support the dietary guidelines of the
National Cholesterol Education
Program which call for a total intake of fat of less than 30 percent of
energy and of saturated fat of less
than 10 percent and then 7 percent, in two steps.

Cholesterol has been in the news at the annual conference of the American
Heart Association in
Florida this week, where several studies presented Monday challenged
prevailing beliefs.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. researchers presented two studies they said showed
it was not necessary to
lower cholesterol as much as doctors had thought.

Another study from the University of California San Diego reported that
good cholesterol can cause
heart attacks in patients who have just undergone surgery and in those with
severe infections.


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