Do Saturated Fats and Trans Fats Cause Type-2 Diabetes?
Question: I am having a very difficult time defending the benefits of a diet rich in saturated fat. I attend Bastyr University, a naturopathic medical school, and through all my nutriton classes, saturated fat has been deemed unhealthy and detrimental to one’s health. For instance, my Diet and Nutrient Therapy class professor cites a 2002 article in the British Journal of Nutrition, “Acute effects of a meal fatty acid composition on insulin sensitivity in healthy post-menopausal women”1 as showing that saturated fat reduces insulin sensitivity, thereby contributing to type-2 diabetes. He also cited a 2002 study in Diabetologia, “Substituting dietary saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat changes abdominal fat distribution and improves insulin sensitivy.” I would be very interested in your comments on these studies and your views on saturated fat and diabetes. Answer: Insulin insensitivity has been postulated to be the underlying factor for type-2 diabetes; that is, a condition in which
