#2 of 10 Common Nutrition Misconceptions

When it comes to nutritional advice, everyone has an opinion. The problem is that there are so many varying opinions that it is many times very hard to find the truth. Some misguided notions are harmless, but others can be dangerous and can lead to health problems. Many nutrition myths get repeated over and over until they are mistaken for the truth. The good news is that slowly, the real truth is finally emerging. Truthful, accurate information is your number one weapon in taking control of your health. Nutritional advice from mainstream “experts” may not be based on science, but on outdated misinformation.
This is a 10 part series, attempting to separate the truth from misconceptions:

Misconception #2: Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease - The recommendation to avoid saturated fat, arose from an unproven hypothesis from the mid-1950s.
As recently as 2002, the “expert” Food & Nutrition Board issued the following misguided statement, which epitomizes this myth: “Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol have no known beneficial role in preventing chronic disease and are not required at any level in the diet.”

The National Academies’ Institute of Medicine recommends that adults get 45-65% of their calories from carbohydrates, 20-35% from fat, and 10-35% from protein. This is the opposite of the ideal fat to carb ratio and virtually guarantees you a heightened risk of disease.

Most people benefit from a diet where 50-85% of daily calories are derived from healthful fats. You need very little carbohydrates for optimal health.
Saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources, provide the building blocks for your cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances, without which your body cannot function optimally.

Fats also serve as carriers for the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K and are required for converting carotene into vitamin A, absorbing minerals and a host of other important biological processes. Saturated fat is also the preferred fuel for your heart! Good sources of healthy fats to add to your diet include; avocados, grass fed beef, organic pastured eggs, organic grass fed milk products, coconut oil, raw nuts and seeds.

The dangerous fats that should be avoided are trans-fats and oxidized fats.

For More Information:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/16/top10-nutritional-myths.aspx?x_cid=20140716_lead_facebookdoc