Dangerous Foods That Are Actually Good For You

By Kim Allison
Posted on 02 Sep, 2019

For decades, many health professionals have warned against consuming saturated fats, and many good healthy foods were thrown out with the rest without good reason. Although research has emerged to debunk a lot of these claims, this bias against food naturally high in saturated fats lingers on.

Here are 4 foods that were considered “dangerous” due to their fat content, but are actually healthy.

Butter
The “war” against butter and saturated fat was based on bad science. In fact, recent studies suggest that there is no association at all between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease. In fact, saturated fats in butter raise HDL (the good) cholesterol and change the LDL from small, dense (very bad) to Large LDL… which is benign.

Butter, especially grass-fed, is a great source of a fatty acid called Conjugated Linoleic Acid. This fatty acid has powerful effects on metabolism and is actually sold commercially as a weight loss supplement. CLA has also been shown to have anti-cancer properties as well as lowering body fat percentage in humans
Vitamin K2 can have powerful effects on health. It is intimately involved in calcium metabolism and a low intake has been associated with many serious diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Dairy from grass-fed cows is particularly rich in Vitamin K2.

Meat
In the past few decades, meat has been blamed for all sorts of Western diseases. But we’ve been eating meat for a long time and blaming new health problems on old foods doesn’t make much sense.

Humans evolved as omnivores, eating both meat and plants. Ancient humans started hunting as early as 2 million years ago. The only problem is that meat is not what it used to be.

Back in the day, animals roamed free in nature and ate a natural diet. Chickens ate bugs and seeds, while cows ate grass. These days, animals are often fed commercial grain-based feeds, pumped full of hormones and antibiotics to make them grow faster and locked inside all their lives.

Unprocessed, naturally fed meat, however, is extremely healthy. A 100 gram portion (3.5 ounces) of raw ground beef contains large amounts of Vitamin B12, B3 (Niacin), B6, Iron, Zinc, Selenium and plenty of other vitamins and minerals.

Meat also contains certain nutrients that cannot be gotten from plants. These nutrients are crucial for optimal function of the body:

• Creatine forms an energy reserve in the muscles and brain and is found only in animal foods. Vegetarians are deficient in creatine, leading to reduced physical and mental performance.
• Carnosine functions as a powerful anti-oxidant and provides protection against many degenerative processes. Carnosine is only found in animal foods.
• DHA and EPA are the active forms of Omega-3 in the human body and found primarily in animal foods. The body is inefficient at converting ALA (the plant form of Omega-3) to the active forms

Eggs
For years eggs have been considered more of a health risk than a healthy food. Since they are high in cholesterol, it was recommended that people with high cholesterol levels avoid eggs. But almost all modern research has found no relationship between egg consumption and the risk of heart disease.

Eggs are a very good source of inexpensive, high quality protein. More than half the protein of an egg is found in the egg white along with vitamin B2 and lower amounts of fat and cholesterol than the yolk. The whites are rich sources of selenium, vitamin D, B6, B12 and minerals such as zinc, iron and copper. Egg yolks contain more calories and fat. They are the source of cholesterol, fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and lecithin. Eggs are regarded a 'complete' source of protein as they contain all eight essential amino acids; the ones we cannot synthesise in our bodies and must obtain from our diet.

To find out more on the super benefits of eggs, read: Why eggs are considered a superfood

Coconut Oil
Once ostracized by the medical community for its saturated fat content, coconut oil is making a comeback in the mainstream health community. Numerous research findings have found that consuming coconut oil is a wonderful way to increase the amount of healthy fats in your diet, and is helpful in assimilation of fat soluble vitamins.

Coconut oil is the most nutrient dense part of the coconut. It is solid at room temperature like butter. It doesn’t break down in heat or light or become rancid like many oils. Coconut oil is over 90% saturated fat and has antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.

Coconut oil also has antioxidant properties and it helps in the absorption of other minerals. It is also an incredible source of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which have been shown to help increase metabolism and also be an instant source of energy.

Lastly, coconut oil contains lauric acid, which has been shown to be useful in increasing immunity and fighting viruses and disease.