Saturated Fats
This is an excerpt from the book, North American
Diet

SATURATED FATS
It is called "saturated" because all of its carbon atoms are saturated with hydrogen atoms. There are good and bad saturated fats. Good saturated fats are found in avocados and raw nuts. These fats are nutritious and easy to digest because they have been unaffected by light, air or heat.

The body stores fat for times of famine. It isn't particular about the quality of fat which it is storing. A diet high in meat, dairy products, white sugar, and refined flours causes the storage of sticky, saturated fat that increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and arteriosclerosis.

Since the turn of the century, saturated fat in the diet has increased by 1,000%. Yet, essential fatty acids have decreased by 80%. A diet, high in refined sugars and starches increases saturated fat in the blood. White sugar, white flour, white rice, pasta, corn starch, tapioca and most breakfast cereals convert easily into saturated fat. The foods overload the blood with glucose and the body turns the excess glucose into body fat!

The saturated fats which cause fatty, degenerative disease are mostly from animal sources. The long-chain fatty acids in beef, mutton, pork and dairy products are the most difficult to digest. The molecular nature of animal-source, saturated fats are sludge-like. These fats plug up the arteries and stick together, clogging, choking, and interfering with metabolism. Some heart attacks are triggered by a meal high in saturated fats.

The saturated fats created by processing vegetable oils are no better. Even though they do not contain cholesterol, they are still synthetic to the body and react the same as animal-source, saturated fats. Both types of fats drift through the bloodstream where they have a tendency to stick together and form hard plaques in the arteries. Elsewhere in the body, saturated fats stick together with proteins and cholesterol, forming deposits within the cells and organs.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Canadian Choiceness Conference on Cholesterol and the Canadian Dietetic Foundation recommended that saturated fat not exceed 10% of calories.