Dr. Axel Sigurdsson is a cardiologist who focuses his blogging on cardiovascular disease and lipid disorders. I bet he agrees with me that dietary saturated fat is not the malevolent force we were taught in medical school.
From his blog:
“The [PURE study] suggests that placing carbohydrates at the bottom of the food pyramid based on their effect on blood cholesterol was a mistake. In fact, the data show that replacing dietary carbohydrates with different types of fat may improve lipid profile.
In an interview on Medscape, Dr. Mahshid Dehghan, the principal author of the abstract said: “To summarize our findings, the most adverse effect on blood lipids is from carbohydrates; the most benefit is from consumption of monounsaturated fatty acids; and the effect of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are mixed. I believe this is a big message that we can give because we are confusing people with a low-fat diet and all the complications of total fat consumption, and WHO and AHA all suggest 55% to 60% of energy from carbohydrates.”
Today, most experts agree that diets high in saturated fatty acids or refined carbohydrates are not be recommended for the prevention of heart disease. However, it appears that carbohydrates are likely to cause a greater metabolic damage than saturated fatty acids in the rapidly growing population of people with metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity and insulin resistance.”
Source: High Carbohydrate Intake Worse than High Fat for Blood Lipids
PS: A diet naturally high in monounsaturated fat is one you may have heard of: the Mediterranean diet. The Advanced Mediterranean Diet (2nd Ed.) contains both a low-carb Mediterranean diet and a portion-controlled traditional Mediterranean diet.
Two diet books in one
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 