The term ‘saturated fat’ comes from the fat’s hydrogen saturation. Saturated fats are triglycerides which contain only saturated fatty acid radicals and are fully ‘saturated’ with hydrogen atoms – they have no double bonds, so their chemical structure has no more room for extra hydrogen atoms (they cannot be ‘hydrogenated’).
Saturated fats are much more stable at higher temperatures (such as frying or baking at aroudn 200 degrees Celsius) than their unsaturated counterparts. They are less prone to oxidisation whereas unsaturated vegetable oils degrade into trans fats fairly readily under heat.
Saturated fats have received a lot of bad press over the last 50 years regarding their relationship to heart disease, however, a recently published meta-analysis with data from over 348,000 subjects found no statistically significant relationship between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease. It appears that other factors may need to be taken into consideration to explain the previously perceived link, such as carbohydrate intake or the ratio of saturated fat to other fats. Studies have found that the saturated fat in dairy products does not appear to increase the risk of heart disease and populations of traditional Polynesian / Pacific Island dwelling people who obtain up to 2/3 of their entire caloric intake from coconut oil have practically no heart disease at all.
Dairy products, meat and fish, coconut oil, soy oil and cottonseed oil are some of the main examples of foods containing significant amounts of saturated fat.
Different foods have different amounts of the four main types of fatty acids that make up saturated fats: myristic acid, lauric acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid. Another fatty acid called butyric acid is found in butter and parmesan cheese.
More Information:
Mente A, de Koning L, Shannon HS, Anand SS (April 2009). “A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary factors and coronary heart disease”. Arch. Intern. Med. 169 (7): 659–69. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2009.38
Prior IA, Davidson F, Salmond CE, Czochanska Z (August 1981). “Cholesterol, coconuts, and diet on Polynesian atolls: a natural experiment: the Pukapuka and Tokelau island studies”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 34 (8): 1552–61. PMID 7270479
German JB, Gibson RA, Krauss RM, et al. (June 2009). “A reappraisal of the impact of dairy foods and milk fat on cardiovascular disease risk”. European Journal of Nutrition 48 (4): 191–203. doi:10.1007/s00394-009-0002-5
Siri-Tarino PW, Sun Q, Hu FB, Krauss RM (March 2010). “Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 91 (3): 535–46. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.27725
Siri-Tarino PW, Sun Q, Hu FB, Krauss RM (March 2010). “Saturated fat, carbohydrate, and cardiovascular disease”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 91 (3): 502–9. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26285
