(versión en español: pincha aquí)

6-week long study. Eight men follow two different diets, both low in carbs and high in fat, one of them with more saturated fat (CRD-SFA), the other one with more polyunsaturated fat (CRD-UFA). The baseline diet has 34% Cals from carbs, halfway between a low-carb diet and the brutal diet recommended by our health authorities (with those incredible 55% of Cals from carbs). The cholesterol and saturated fat intake in the CRD-SFA diet is double than that of the baseline diet.

After six weeks following the diet, the CRD-SFA diet has the following outcomes:

• decreases fat mass and increases lean body mass (although the caloric intake was chosen for weight maintenance)
• increases the HDL (the «good» cholesterol) and decreases the triglycerides, giving a much better TAG/HDL ratio
• increases the LDL (the «bad» cholesterol), but increases significantly the size of its particles
• improves insulin resistance, calculated as HOMA-IR
• decreases all the inflammation markers

 

More cholesterol and more saturated fat in the diet, better cardiovascular disease risk and better inflammation markers. And remember that the baseline diet wasn’t as bad as the diet recommended by the authorities.

My question is, what is the physiological mechanism that makes an improvement in blood cholesterol, fat mass and inflammation dangerous for our health?