These foods include whole pasture eggs, whole-fat dairy and meat sourced from pastured/grass-fed animals, and coconut and palm oils. Long-chain saturated fatty acids (the kinds in meat) are the heart’s preferred nutrients (the fat around the heart is saturated fat, and when we get stressed out the heart resorts to using up its stores). Medium chain saturated fatty acids (MCTs), like those found in coconut oil feed the brain, are broken down quickly and used mainly for energy, rarely winding up as body fat. Also, saturated fat doesn’t oxidize (AKA go rancid, a process that creates cancer-causing free radicals) the way unsaturated fats do (i.e. plant oils, including those from nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, and even flax), saving you from using up precious antioxidants in order to neutralize free radicals lest they damage your cells.
Furthermore, a meta-analysis of 21 studies of almost 350,000 people over 23 years demonstrates “no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of [coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease]“.