The low-down on high fat diets > Cliff Sheats
I’ve been getting a barrage of questions lately on high-fat diets, in which you supposedly don’t have to watch your fat intake or even monitor what kind of fat you eat. Here is my view of this type of dietary
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regimen. Diets high in conventional fat (otherwise known as long chain triglycerides or LCTs) have been around for a long time and now appear to be extremely popular. There are, however, a number of problems associated with these diets. While being high in fat, they are also low in carbohydrates, the body’s preferred source of fuel. Low carbohydrate diets upset the body’s electrolyte balance, namely the sodium/potassium ratio. Along with glycogen stores, this may be the reason for the weight gain experienced when carbohydrates are added back into the diet.
This weight gain may not be muscle. The fats typically used in high fat diets come from processed sources, often containing high levels of bacteria, which impairs the function of the Reticuloendothelial System (RES). The RES plays two important roles in the body. First, it clears harmful bacteria in the system. And second, it is involved in lipid clearance. (Guyton’s Textbook of Physiology, 368-369) After a person goes on one or two cycles of a high-fat diet, certain cells in the RES that produce antibodies become loaded with fat droplets, and their ability to clear bacteria from circulation is reduced. Bacteria goes undigested, is not processed in the liver and can end up in the lungs. This action can cause inflammation and possible organ failure.
In addition, high fat diets have been linked to cancer, possibly due to the role in fat suppressing the immune system. (Food Technology, 1991) These health consequences do not occur with diet supplemented with medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), however. In fact, a fiveyear study by the American Health Foundation demonstrated that MCTs are a non-tumor promoting fat. Other research has shown the MCTs and other structured lipids like omega-3 fatty acids do not hinder the function of the RES. (Food Technology, 1991) Animal and human studies have demonstrated that diets supplemented with medium chain triglycerides, like Parrillo CapTri®, can result in less fat gain and diminished fat deposition, compared to diets supplemented with conventional fats. This is due to the way MCTs are metabolized in the body.
MCTs are transported to the liver directly via portal vein and oxidized to ketones. By contrast, conventional fats are absorbed via the lymphatic ducts in the intestine, carried in fatprotein globules to the bloodstream via the thoracic duct, and circulated in the bloodstream. This data suggests that MCT’s have important applications in a nutrition program designed for fat loss. Where conventional fats are concerned, I recommend that you eat up to one tablespoon a day or more of safflower, linseed, canola or flaxseed oils to prevent an essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiency.
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