Today we try to answer or at least explore a big question in the world of health: does saturated fat cause heart disease?

This is not an unreasonable concern given the fact that there have been several associative studies that have found a link between saturated fat and heart disease, which is, no doubt, a fat that we find abundantly in the typical American diet since it is richly found in staples like fatty beef, pork, butter, cheese, and other dairy products.

And if you're in the United States and you're not at least a little concerned about heart disease, you may be asleep at the wheel since it's currently our leading cause of death.

Studies mentioned in this episode:

• Association of dietary, circulating, and supplement fatty acids with coronary risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
• Visceral adiposity and metabolic syndrome after very high–fat and low-fat isocaloric diets: a randomized controlled trial.
• Low to moderate sugar-sweetened beverage consumption impairs glucose and lipid metabolism and promotes inflammation in healthy young men: a randomized controlled trial.
• Personalized Nutrition by Prediction of Glycemic Responses.
• Saturated Fats Compared With Unsaturated Fats and Sources of Carbohydrates in Relation to Risk of Coronary Heart Disease.
• Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among US adults.

Genetics resources:

• 23andme.com
• promethease.com
• foundmyfitness.com/genetics