Kathy Abascal claims to have a minor in biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. Although I realize that she went through college a long time ago, my belief in Abascal's credibility and honesty was brought into serious question when I came across the following quote on her website, embedded into a post on osteoporosis:
"Ultimately, bone health is complicated and is made much more complicated by the number of studies that compare apples with oranges. Few compare healthy diets with other healthy diets. Instead, for instance, a study on the effect of saturated fats on bone did not compare diets high in cholesterol with healthy diets low in cholesterol, even though cholesterol is our most common form of saturated fat. Instead, they fed roosters palmitic acid (a saturated plant fat) and compared them to roosters fed alpha floc cellulose, not something most humans eat. As a result many questions pertaining to bone health remain unanswered."
I'm sorry to have to correct Ms. Abascal on such a basic error, but cholesterol is not a saturated fat. Cholesterol is a sterol, the precursor to sex hormones and other important hormones. It is true that consumption of saturated fat or cholesterol can alter serum lipoprotein levels (colloquially referred to as blood cholesterol); however, lipoproteins are not cholesterol and cholesterol is not a fat.
This is a basic error in the fundamental parts of biochemistry, which brings into question not only Abascal's credentials but also her credibility. One suspects that there may be other fundamental errors in her work.
(For review of organic compounds and an explanation of the shorthand notation, see here. In short, there is a carbon atom at the joints between the bonds and at the ends of these, and each carbon atom has extra hydrogens attached to reach 4 bonds total.)
"Ultimately, bone health is complicated and is made much more complicated by the number of studies that compare apples with oranges. Few compare healthy diets with other healthy diets. Instead, for instance, a study on the effect of saturated fats on bone did not compare diets high in cholesterol with healthy diets low in cholesterol, even though cholesterol is our most common form of saturated fat. Instead, they fed roosters palmitic acid (a saturated plant fat) and compared them to roosters fed alpha floc cellulose, not something most humans eat. As a result many questions pertaining to bone health remain unanswered."
I'm sorry to have to correct Ms. Abascal on such a basic error, but cholesterol is not a saturated fat. Cholesterol is a sterol, the precursor to sex hormones and other important hormones. It is true that consumption of saturated fat or cholesterol can alter serum lipoprotein levels (colloquially referred to as blood cholesterol); however, lipoproteins are not cholesterol and cholesterol is not a fat.
This is a basic error in the fundamental parts of biochemistry, which brings into question not only Abascal's credentials but also her credibility. One suspects that there may be other fundamental errors in her work.
(For review of organic compounds and an explanation of the shorthand notation, see here. In short, there is a carbon atom at the joints between the bonds and at the ends of these, and each carbon atom has extra hydrogens attached to reach 4 bonds total.)
Cholesterol, the most abundant animal sterol. It is found in tens or hundreds of milligrams in many animal foods, while saturated fat is found in gram quantities. This means that the saturated fat content of animal foods is typically on the order of 10 to 100 times larger than the cholesterol content. Plant foods do not contain cholesterol, but some plant foods contain saturated fat.
A low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) particle*. LDL is colloquially referred to as "bad cholesterol." High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is another type of lipoprotein, called "good cholesterol." Lipoprotein particles carry cholesterol and cholesterol esters, but in of themselves they are not cholesterol.
Palmitic acid**, the most common form of saturated fat. Abascal is correct that palmitic acid is found in plant fats, such as palm oil, cocoa butter, and olive oil. However, it is also found in animal fats, including beef tallow, egg yolks, and butter. The only chemical diffence between different saturated fats is the number of carbons in the chain; see this post of mine for details.
If you are reading this, Ms. Abascal, I hope this clears up any confusion you had regarding the chemistry of cholesterol and saturated fat.
Update: Since I wrote this post, I obtained a copy of Ms. Abascal's book, The Abascal Way. My expectations were not that good, but nevertheless I was quite disappointed by the pseudoscience, errors, and anecdotal evidence that seem to play as great a role in Ms. Abascal's recommendations as genuine science. She also does not seem to understand that the low calorie content of her diet is responsible for most of its beneficial effects, including its effectiveness against obesity and overweight, type 2 diabetes, and joint pain. I will publish a post fact-checking many of her assertions in the upcoming weeks, and another post explaining the role of calories in anti-inflammatory and similar diets.
* Image reference.
** Image reference.
If you are reading this, Ms. Abascal, I hope this clears up any confusion you had regarding the chemistry of cholesterol and saturated fat.
Update: Since I wrote this post, I obtained a copy of Ms. Abascal's book, The Abascal Way. My expectations were not that good, but nevertheless I was quite disappointed by the pseudoscience, errors, and anecdotal evidence that seem to play as great a role in Ms. Abascal's recommendations as genuine science. She also does not seem to understand that the low calorie content of her diet is responsible for most of its beneficial effects, including its effectiveness against obesity and overweight, type 2 diabetes, and joint pain. I will publish a post fact-checking many of her assertions in the upcoming weeks, and another post explaining the role of calories in anti-inflammatory and similar diets.
* Image reference.
** Image reference.