{"id":1874,"date":"2018-11-17T13:49:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-17T13:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insulean.co.uk\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2018-11-19T10:52:43","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T10:52:43","slug":"french-paradox-saturated-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/","title":{"rendered":"THE FRENCH PARADOX – A Black Swan Event?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and\/yet the lowest rate of heart disease. The ‘French Paradox’ is the catchphrase that summarises this ‘paradoxial’ observation. They cook with lashings of butter, lard, goose fat and double cream, while enjoying fatty cuts of meat.<\/span><\/h6>\n

\u00a0<\/span>
\nBut how can this be? Is the garlic protective? Or perhaps the red wine? What of the Ukrainians who currently have the lowest saturated fat intake in Europe, yet the highest rate of heart disease. Is this too a Ukrainian Paradox? The nutrition police repeatedly tell us that saturated fat is dangerous because it raises blood cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease. They produce a litany of ‘evidence’ to support this story.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Black Swan Theory<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

When it comes to the French Paradox, this inconvenient, yet reproducible observation, is often ascribed to the Black Swan theory<\/a>.<\/span> This describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalised after the fact, with the benefit of hindsight.\u00a0Multiple good quality studies\u00a0found that animal fat (mainly saturated fat) does indeed raise cholesterol. However, they also found that those who ate animal fat had a low risk of heart disease. In fact, in this particular study<\/span><\/a>, the most significant dietary correlate of low cardiovascular risk was high total fat and animal protein consumption.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cthe evidence shows no appreciable relationship between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol……cholesterol is not a nutrient for concern for overconsumption\u201d<\/em> DGAC 2015<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Recall that cholesterol is only found in animal products. Dietary cholesterol was recently exonerated<\/span><\/a> as a ‘nutrient of concern’. It is now considered safe to eat. If raised cholesterol levels are translating to positive outcomes, then wouldn’t it follow that saturated fat should be similarly white-listed?<\/span><\/p>\n

Could it be that the French Paradox is not so much a paradox as it is a contradiction? Could it not actually reflect the fact that saturated fat is not only good for us, but protects us from heart disease?<\/span><\/p>\n

I know what I think. What do you think?<\/span><\/p>\n

Please take a look at my four-part cholesterol series<\/a><\/span> – a deep dive into our obsession with cholesterol.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and\/yet the lowest rate of heart disease. The ‘French Paradox’ is the catchphrase that summarises this ‘paradoxial’ observation. They cook with lashings of butter, lard, goose fat and double cream, while enjoying fatty cuts of meat. \u00a0 But how can this be? Is the garlic protective? Or perhaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[33,122,34,67],"yoast_head":"\nTHE FRENCH PARADOX - A Black Swan Event? - INSULEAN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and the lowest rate of heart disease. This is often referred to as the French Paradox.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THE FRENCH PARADOX - A Black Swan Event? - INSULEAN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and the lowest rate of heart disease. This is often referred to as the French Paradox.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insulean\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-17T13:49:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-19T10:52:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"315\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr Nam Mburu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr Nam Mburu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/\",\"name\":\"THE FRENCH PARADOX - A Black Swan Event? - INSULEAN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-17T13:49:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-19T10:52:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a47bc0160b564f13ef6cf32ce01af3\"},\"description\":\"The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and the lowest rate of heart disease. This is often referred to as the French Paradox.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png\",\"width\":560,\"height\":315,\"caption\":\"THE FRENCH PARADOX INSULEAN\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"THE FRENCH PARADOX – A Black Swan Event?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Insulean\",\"description\":\"Medical Weight Loss Programme\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a47bc0160b564f13ef6cf32ce01af3\",\"name\":\"Dr Nam Mburu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09815b7413cc68c9d83f0a0bc09d0533?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09815b7413cc68c9d83f0a0bc09d0533?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dr Nam Mburu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/author\/drnam_30-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"THE FRENCH PARADOX - A Black Swan Event? - INSULEAN","description":"The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and the lowest rate of heart disease. This is often referred to as the French Paradox.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"THE FRENCH PARADOX - A Black Swan Event? - INSULEAN","og_description":"The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and the lowest rate of heart disease. This is often referred to as the French Paradox.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/","og_site_name":"Insulean","article_published_time":"2018-11-17T13:49:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-19T10:52:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":560,"height":315,"url":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Dr Nam Mburu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr Nam Mburu","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/","url":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/","name":"THE FRENCH PARADOX - A Black Swan Event? - INSULEAN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png","datePublished":"2018-11-17T13:49:17+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-19T10:52:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a47bc0160b564f13ef6cf32ce01af3"},"description":"The French have the highest consumption of animal fat in Europe, and the lowest rate of heart disease. This is often referred to as the French Paradox.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/THE-FRENCH-PARADOX.png","width":560,"height":315,"caption":"THE FRENCH PARADOX INSULEAN"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/french-paradox-saturated-fat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"THE FRENCH PARADOX – A Black Swan Event?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/","name":"Insulean","description":"Medical Weight Loss Programme","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a47bc0160b564f13ef6cf32ce01af3","name":"Dr Nam Mburu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09815b7413cc68c9d83f0a0bc09d0533?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09815b7413cc68c9d83f0a0bc09d0533?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dr Nam Mburu"},"url":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/author\/drnam_30-2\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insulean.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}