Re: High fat diet causes depression

Your post got me looking a bit more into saturated versus unsaturated fats. I found a couple of references which suggest saturated fats are not all good.

"The team first found that mice with a genetic predisposition to get a colitis-like condition were more likely to get the disease when they were fed on a diet that contained concentrated milk fats (in similar proportion to that found in a common Western diet: about 37 percent of calories). A diet high in these fats encourages the growth of the harmful microbe Bilophila wadsworthia, which has also often been found in high levels in patients who have an inflammatory bowel and other intestinal inflammations."

"Saturated fats are difficult to break down, so the intestinal tract gets help from sulfur-rich bile provided by the liver. Many bacteria find sulfur an unpleasant element. But the B. wadsworthia bacteria happen to love sulfur. As the gut gets more sulfurous, this species thrives. Indeed, the researchers found that mice that were fed low levels of fat or unsaturated fats had an infinitesimal amount of these bacteria in their guts"

"To make matters worse, the bacteria’s waste can weaken the intestines’ walls, making it easier for the immune system to do more unintended damage to the tissue."

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/06/13/saturated-fats-ch...


"This review highlights the inflammatory and insulin-antagonizing effects of saturated fatty acids (SFA), which contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome."

"Several studies have demonstrated potential health benefits of substituting SFA with unsaturated FA, particularly oleic acid and (n-3) FA. Thus, reducing consumption of foods rich in SFA and increasing consumption of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats and poultry, fish, low-fat dairy products, and oils containing oleic acid or (n-3) FA is likely to reduce the incidence of metabolic disease."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19056664


I am far from convinced that all PUFAs are evil and that saturated fats are good for you. I think an overall low fat diet is best, especially if one suspects intestinal permeability and endotoxaemia. Of the fats, I think extra virgin olive oil and fish oil (esp EPA) are the most beneficial.