Saturated Fats (SF)

SF, which are solid at room temperature, are common in the diet because they are present in a wide variety of dissimilar foods. Therefore, it is likely that their effects upon health are extremely diverse.

One effect of SF is to influence the levels of cholesterol in the body. There two main forms of cholesterol which are ‘LDL’ and ‘HDL’. LDL is often referred to as ‘bad’ cholesterol whereas HDL is often referred to as ‘good’ cholesterol.

LDL is called ‘bad’ because it can accumulate inside the walls of arteries and therefore increase the risk of atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries) which can result in a heart attack. SF increases the levels of LDL and therefore has also been linked to the development of heart disease1.

However, some studies have shown that SF may increase the levels of HDL which has the opposite effect2.

SFs contrasting effects have produced much debate about the benefit of including or avoiding foods containing saturated fat in a healthy diet. This is a debate that continues today.