Saturated fats make up half of all the fats in breast milk. This is no accident. The baby needs them because they are a significant structural component of cell membranes all over the body, accounting for roughly 50 per cent of all fats there.

Those cell walls are mostly made of fat, and the balance of lipids that comprise them is critical for the cell to properly communicate with its neighbouring cells, release toxins, and absorb nutrients appropriately. Aside from saturated fats, this means having a healthy amount of polyunsaturated fats like omega 3s and 6s, monounsaturated fats, and cholesterol in the mix. Generally, our diet will determine what fats make up those membranes.

Saturated fat molecules are like straight chain-linked sticks, and the primary difference between various saturated fats is their length (or the number of links in the chain). Aside from their use in cell membranes, assorted lengths of saturated fats are used regularly on the tissue level by the lungs, liver, heart, bones, and even our immune and endocrine (hormone) systems to function.

Medium chain triglycerides, the coconut-derived 'energy fats' that have made Bulletproof coffee so fashionable, are indeed a type of saturated fat. Medium and short chain saturated fats like those found in butter and coconut oil are not employed structurally but rather burned in the mitochondria like firewood to produce cellular energy.

Various lengths of saturated fat will function differently. Still, whether they are short, medium, or long chains, none are junk—the body uses them and handles them efficiently, even in large amounts.

So what's the problem? Why would anyone think that saturated fats are something we should edit out of the picture?

The dominant perception of saturated fats not as a natural physiological occurrence regenerated by diet but rather as a kind of poison if consumed in excess goes back to a school of thinking over 150 years old, the lipid hypothesis.

Natural Infatuation

In many ways, the renaissance of heightened appreciation for healthy fats that we live through now is merely the revival of a way of thinking and eating that reigned supreme before the lipid hypothesis ever darkened our doorway.

You may still not be convinced that liberal amounts of saturated fat are safe to enjoy. But at the very least, there is undoubtedly a conversation around it. Limiting your intake may be one way of splitting the difference and getting the best of both worlds.

Nevertheless, it is high time we stop vilifying foods like ghee, butter, coconut oil, coconut cream, and fatty meats for their saturated fat content and allow them to enjoy the respect they deserve as traditional ancestral foods fully deserving their place in a healthy modern lifestyle.