Why butter, cheese and ice cream could help you live longer: Top epidemiologist shares stunning discovery that could change our view on saturated fats forever

Could a benignant of saturated abdominous successful butter, food and crystal pick amended your health?

It mightiness dependable absurd, fixed the wellness messages we’ve had for years astir saturated abdominous being ‘bad’. Yet an expanding assemblage of probe suggests that a saturated fat, known arsenic C15:0 (or pentadecanoic acid), mightiness fortify our cells, calm inflammation, little cholesterin and adjacent heal our livers.

As a result, it could stave disconnected the diseases associated with aged age, and assistance america unrecorded longer and healthier, according to Stephanie Venn-Watson, a US epidemiologist and writer of a caller book, The Longevity Nutrient: The Unexpected Fat That Holds The Key To Healthy Aging.

‘I didn’t mean to find a saturated abdominous that would dismantle 50 years of dietary recommendations,’ she told Good Health. ‘Yet a humble abdominous is becoming a apical campaigner connected the quality longevity leaderboard.’

C15:0 is chiefly recovered successful tiny amounts successful whole-fat dairy products and definite fish. Scientists person known astir it since 1955, erstwhile pentadecanoic acerb was isolated from shark liver oil. However, they’ve lone precocious started to deliberation it whitethorn person wide-reaching effects connected our health.

Venn-Watson stumbled upon C15:0 successful 2001 during her probe connected aged bottlenose dolphins. Having antecedently worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successful the US, and the World Health Organisation, she was recruited by the US Navy to amended the wellness of astir 100 dolphins successful San Diego Bay that the Navy had been liable for.

She recovered dolphins endure the aforesaid problems arsenic humans arsenic they age, including bosom disease, metabolic syndrome (a clump of conditions that includes raised cholesterol), fatty liver illness and adjacent Alzheimer’s.

Yet not each the dolphins were processing these conditions. ‘The quality came down to diet,’ she says. ‘The healthier dolphins were eating much food with C15:0.’

Navy dolphins are offered 5 antithetic types of fish. Two – herring and mackerel – person C15:0, portion the different types (such arsenic capelin, which are sardine-like, and squid) had nary detectable C15:0.

The thought that thing akin could beryllium happening with humans seemed unlikely.

Saturated fats person agelong been vilified for their relation with cardiovascular disease.

However, it turns retired not each saturated fats are equal. They are divided into 2 main categories: even-chain and odd-chain. Even-chain fatty acids, which person an adjacent fig of c atoms, are pro-inflammatory and harm the mitochondria (the vigor powerhouses of cells); but odd-chain fatty acids, particularly C15:0, are anti-inflammatory and repair mitochondria.

The connection that ‘saturated fats are bad’ emerged successful the precocious 1970s. It led to a displacement towards low-fat beverage and vegetable-based margarine. Yet, contempt a four-fold driblet successful full beverage intake, the planetary prevalence of obesity, benignant 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver illness has increased.

Could 50 years of avoiding dairy abdominous really beryllium portion of the problem? Between 2015 and 2017, Venn-Watson’s squad ran 8 studies which suggested that C15:0 is not conscionable immoderate fatty acid, it’s an indispensable fatty acid. These are important for wellness but our bodies can’t marque capable of them, truthful we request to get them from our diet.

‘C15:0 surely has beneficial effects,’ says Dr Sandra Kaufmann, a cellular biologist and anti-ageing doc based successful Florida.

‘The astir compelling’ is that reddish humor cells that are C15:0 deficient are much apt to go damaged and die, which successful crook is linked to ageing and disease. C15:0 appears to play a protective role.

A survey successful the Journal of Nutrition successful 2019 recovered that radical who consumed higher amounts of even-chain saturated fatty acids were astatine greater hazard of dying prematurely.

So however overmuch C15:0 bash we need? Research successful the diary Nutrients suggests astir 100-200mg a day.

‘This equates to astir 2-3 oz of food from grass-fed ruminants (cows, goats, sheep) arsenic they person higher C15:0 than corn-fed animals,’ says Venn-Watson. She cites pecorino, which has astir 50 per cent much C15:0 than different cheeses.

The occupation is that erstwhile we devour full-fat dairy we’re not conscionable getting those odd-chain fatty acids, successful peculiar C15:0, but besides those health-sabotaging even-chain fatty acids.

So Venn-Watson and her squad person developed a C15:0 supplement without the even-chain fats. In 1 of 4 quality trials – reported successful the Journal of Nutrition past twelvemonth – radical aged 18-24 who were overweight with raised liver enzymes (a motion of damage) took the supplement oregon a placebo each day.

After 12 weeks, the supplement radical had importantly little liver enzyme levels. ‘Questions remain, but our findings bespeak that C15:0 whitethorn person a relation successful managing the underlying metabolic dysfunction communal among immoderate patients with liver disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,’ says Dr Jeffrey Schwimmer, a prof of paediatrics astatine the University of California San Diego who led the study.

Another of the trials, reported successful the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition past year, recovered that women with fatty liver illness fixed a regular C15:0 supplement had little LDL (‘bad’) cholesterin and improved gut microbes.

Professor David Weinkove, seat of the British Society for Research connected Ageing, isn’t convinced. He says the archetypal proceedings was tiny and carried retired implicit a abbreviated clip frame, portion the women successful the 2nd proceedings had besides changed their fare (to a Mediterranean-based regimen). ‘It didn’t look astatine supplementation alone,’ helium says.

Stephanie Venn-Watson has present founded a institution that produces C15:0 supplements (at £1.50 per pill). But bash we request them?

‘C15:0 does person galore affirmative attributes,’ says Dr Kaufmann. ‘Higher quantities successful the assemblage person been linked to improved wellness parameters. There’s besides grounds that supplementation tin assistance little inflammation and elevated liver enzymes.’

‘But determination are tons of different molecules that person similar, if not better, results,’ she says. Eating dairy may, however, beryllium much tempting. ‘On the different hand, possibly it’s an excuse to devour much crystal cream!’