Is there a minimum recommended amount of saturated fat?

[Kokomodo]

The diet section of the fattyliverfoundation site recommends elimination of most saturated fat and all red meat. However, I have seen at least one indication in published literature that reduction of saturated fat below 7% of calories may be detrimental (link below.) Does anyone know of other studies that indicate a minimum recommended amount of saturated fat?

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[lecc]

I don't think you can eliminate saturated fat from your diet if you are eating unsaturated fat because good sources of unsaturated fat always have a bit of saturated fat.

For instance, 100 grams of olive oil have 14g rams of saturated fat...

[nash2 Partner]

We support the 7% figure. In real life it is very difficult to get that low except as a vegetarian. Fat is ultimately fuel and you will end up consuming a mixture. The monounsaturated omega 9 of olive oil is the cleanest burning so we go strongly in that direction in our recommendation but your body does use saturated fats and makes it out of starch when needed. The advice about red meat is that stearic acid in beef fat is more inflammatory than other fats.

[Kokomodo in reply to nash2]

I wonder sometimes whether the dietary recommendations are "on average" or instantaneous in nature. (Related to this post: healthunlocked.com/fatty-li... For example, my saturated fat is, on average, very low (about 12 grams per day.) But, on the off day that I indulge in, say, dark chocolate, I could easily hit 30, 40, or more grams of saturated fat in a single day. Does a spike in saturated fat, or sugar, or sodium cause immediate damage to the liver? (In my case, compensated cirrhotic.) Or, is damage due more to the effect of sustained, daily intake?

[nash2 Partner]

Well, as they say, it depends. If your liver is able to handle the load without any damage then no harm no foul but it depends on what your reserve capacity is so it depends.

[Kokomodo in reply to nash2]

And I guess there is really no way to know that unless there are presenting symptoms to monitor.

[nash2 Partner in reply to Kokomodo]

True, the liver is generally silent until it is badly hurt so not much warning. It is the high wire act all advanced fibrosis patients walk so our advice is to stay conservative in your choices.