Customer Reviews

Fats Are Good for You: How Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Actually Benefit the Body

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I should have been cautious that a book sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences and published by a second tier publisher would have been mediocre. Additionally, the editing of this book was absent as it reads like the draft of an unfinished rambling scientific paper. The author, a Ph.D. in pharmacology and biochemistry, almost never speaks of foods, but instead of chemical compounds. Thus, for the layperson it makes for a very hermetic read giving one no clear information on how to modify one's diet. Also, the book is full of repetitions that the reader can find confusing.

Additionally, the book is full of contradictions. Within the same page (74), the author states that the ideal multiple between Omega-6s and Omega 3s is 3 to 5. Just a paragraph later, he states it is 5 to 10. Similarly, on one page (73) he states that Omega 3s suppress the immune system but on another (92) he states they enhance it. Also, several times throughout the book he states that fats should be eaten in moderation. But, at the end of the book his concluding recommendation is a diet dominated by fats with only a "low quantity of carbohydrate and modest amounts of protein."

The book is also an infomercial for Lauricidin, his favorite saturated lipid monolaurin. The book is peppered by its universal health properties. The end of the book consists of 40 pages of testimonials lifted from a Lauricidin website where patients have indicated it cured a range of conditions such as flu, cold, Aids, toenail fungus, prevented tooth decay, etc... Is this for real? Thus, Lauricidin is the latest of expensive miracle supplements one should take (or not).

In view of the above, one may wonder why I am not rating this book a `1'? Well, if you can overcome the hermetic language, repetitions, contradictions, and infomercials, the book provides occasionally some very interesting information. The first one is that "fats" is a very complicated topic. The current labels of unsaturated fats are good and saturated fats are bad are not only a gross simplification; they are plain wrong. You need to disaggregate the family of fatty acids into its very different subgroups of chemical compounds that have different metabolic properties. The author has done that. But, he failed to synthesize what this new taxonomy of fat means in terms of actual foods and diet implications. It will be up to another author to provide the Rosetta stone to translate the chemical compound semantics into plain food vocabulary. The author does uncover that certain fats have very effective antibacterial properties and could provide an effective weapon that could supplement antibiotics. Unlike antibiotics, fats do not trigger bacterial resistance. The author also explains how antibiotic resistance is triggered by including antibiotics in industrial quantities in animal feed and soaps but at "subtherapeutic" levels (meaning levels that are not effective and allow bacteria to rapidly adapt to such antibiotics). All his material on cholesterol and the failing of statins drugs is very good. But, it is mainly an import from Ravnskov excellent The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease that the author strongly recommends too. To his credit, Kabara also focuses on the health risk of people with low cholesterol and finds they have often the multiple of certain cancer risks. From both those authors, you get that striving for very low cholesterol levels is clearly detrimental to your health. The author also indicates how the diet recommendations of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) contradict each other. The AHA strongly supports eating Omega-6s for sustaining cardiovascular health. Meanwhile, the ACS warns against too much Omega-6s because it suppresses the immune system and raises your cancer risk. So, this book does contain much interesting and original information.

In addition to Ravnskov's book that is excellent, the author also recommends The Great Cholesterol Con and Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease: From the Cholesterol Hypothesis to w6/w3 Balance (World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics). I have not read them, but if they are as good as Ravnskov's book, they are definitely worth a look.

I already knew that fats were good for me. This guy has something to sell.

A better book is Good Calories Bad Calories, or Eat Fat Lose Fat, or Nourishing Traditions.

Good Calories Bad Calories was actually the best because it explains how the last 50 years of so-called research "proving" low fat was totally rigged.

Eat Fat Lose Fat was valuable because of how Mary Enig, who is a lipid researcher explains how the big corporations tried to buy research results to prove that low fat was right.

Get off your statins and eat fat. It is the natural way to get your body to stop over producing cholesterol. And oh yes, stop the sugar and starchy carbs. You'll be shocked at the results. Also poke a finger in the eye of big pharma.

After reading about 20 pages I realized I had been "had." The author, Dr. Kabara kept referring to his wonder lipid product - "Lauricidin" over and over again as well as touting his commercial web site ([...]). Kabara is simply a tawdry hawker of goods, his goods! His web site is so pretentious with mention of all his credentials and articles. BUT when it comes time to provide a scientific basis for his statements about his wonder lipid product all he can provide are testimonials. How scientific! He actually has the temercity to state that the reason he has no scientific, double blind studies to support his claims of his wonder product is, ready - "Drug claims cannot be made for Lauricidin®. It is difficult and expensive to conduct double-blind drug type experiments [BTW, they are called research studies, NOT experiments] for dietary supplements to support such drug claims.....However, anecdotal positive reports from thousands of grateful users worldwide suggest that serious consideration should be given to Lauricidin® as an important supplement for attaining and maintaining health rather than for disease treatment alone." Incredibly, in the same paragraph Kabara states that "Human studies underway today support the many benefits of Lauricidin® when used daily as a dietary food supplement." What studies? I thought there were no studies [sorry, experiments]. And by the way - where are these studies??

Kabara does boldy state that "Dr. Kabara was the first to pursue the unique health benefits of Lauricidin®. Lauricidin® has now been extensively tested in university, government (CDC) and medical laboratories. As a result, his initial finding have [sic, has] been confirmed by many others and reported in peer reviewed scientific journals, books and patents (See references in other sections of this web page)." Well, if even one of these "confirmations" was dispositive as to the efficacy of his wonder supplement why not have it prominently plastered on his web site. The reason is, there is none! Kabara is a master of verbal machinations wherein the words are empty husks. The linked articles are laughable. Just one will do, conclusion "The studies suggest that GML [glcerol monlaurate - not his wonder product by the way] is safe for chronic use in monkeys, when applied vaginally...." I kid you not!! Now that would sure convince me to purchase Lauricidin, and of course buy a female monkey and then have some fun.

I gues the real irony is that Kabara is a dead ringer for the heroic pilot, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, that landed the US Airways jet on the Hudson River (see his picture on the web site)

Don't waste a dime on this 200-plus page info commercial!

The title of this book is quite misleading.

This is a book on Lauricidin, a monolaurin product derived from coconut oil, that just happens to have a small amount of basic information on why the 'cholesterol hypothesis' is scientifically unsupportable.

The author has a significant vested interest in Lauricidin and does at least make this very clear. Many pages in the text are given over to positive and gushing testimonials for Lauricidin.

Coconut oil has many health promoting properties, and I'm a huge supporter of its inclusion in a healthy diet. Many books I have read have suggested that monolaurin extract can also be useful as an antiviral or an anti-Candida agent in some instances, but I'd recommend reading other less-biased books on this topic before deciding to try it.

It is absolutely something that may be worth looking into if you are ill. But plain old extra virgin coconut oil 1 - 3 tablespoons daily may also be effective in some cases and is far cheaper. For more information on this see articles and books on coconut oil by Bruce Fife and Mary Enig.

Other problems I had with the book included the stange permissive comments about sugar in the diet, about trans fats not being proven to be harmful in a balanced diet (!), the ignorant promotion of fluoride for dental health. The book was also poorly edited.

The two stars is for the solid if brief general information on cholesterol and fats. For more detailed and better referenced information on this topic books such as Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats and Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (Vintage) and Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol plus The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It are recommended reading.

I'm glad I got this one from the library rather than buying it. I feel this book should have been given a title that better reflected its content.

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E.

This book turns everything one has learned about fats for the last fifty years on its head. The truth is that saturated fats from tropical oils, butter and animals are good for you. That's why I have recommended this easy read book to my doctor and nutritionist although I live in Norway. Books like this should be prescribed for study for students becoming nutritionists and doctors.