Who's Afraid Of The Big, Bad Saturated Fat? Dr. Michael Eades On Inflammation And Diet
Dr. Michael Eades tweeted a link to one of his 2007 blog posts on the hysteria over saturated fat and his views of the inflammatory basis of heart disease. An excerpt:

If you read enough in the medical literature you will perceive a change in outlook on the underlying cause of many of the so-called diseases of civilization, especially heart disease. Most authors - mainly, I suspect, out of desire to keep their academic positions and reputation with their peers - throw a bone to the lipid hypothesis before admitting that it probably isn't the only cause of coronary artery disease. Over the last decade or so the progression has been thus: elevated cholesterol causes heart disease - elevated cholesterol and maybe a little inflammation cause heart disease - elevated cholesterol and inflammation cause heart disease - inflammation along with elevated cholesterol cause heart disease - and now, among the more enlightened - inflammation causes heart disease. In my opinion, it probably is inflammation by itself that is the driving force behind the development and progression of most cardiovascular disease.

When the cholesterol-causes-heart-theory was in its infancy the question became 'what causes cholesterol levels to go up? Of course this question led to the anti-saturated-fat hysteria that pretty much still has us by the throat. But the same question needs to be asked of anyone who claims inflammation to be the cause of heart disease: What causes inflammation?

Before we address that issue, let me add that in much the same way saturated fat has been demonized as a cause of almost everything, inflammation is thought to be the catalyst for much more than simply heart disease. There has grown up a theory called the 'common soil' theory that implicates inflammation as the underlying problem, or the 'common soil' from which spring heart disease, diabetes, obesity and the other diseases common to modern man.

No one much talks about the cause of inflammation - most seem to think it is a natural part of the aging process. As we all get older, we become more inflamed. As we become more inflamed, we tend to develop heart disease, diabetes, etc., all of which are diseases that usually strike later in life.

I have a little different opinion.

He explains the inflammation and the "innate immune system" -- be sure you read this at the link -- and then writes:

Over the past couple of decades just two of dietary changes - eating more and eating more often--have led to a state of chronic inflammation. The changes in diet composition have had an additive effect as well. Numerous studies have shown that while carbohydrates in general cause more of an inflammatory response than other macronutrients, fructose specifically causes the most rapid and intense inflammatory response of all. Polyunsaturated vegetable oils of the omega-6 variety (the majority) are inflammatory, trans fats (all of which start out as vegetable oils) are the worst, and most of the fat of animal, fish and dairy origin are actually anti-inflammatory. Sadly, we've been busy replacing the latter with the former. We find ourselves as a nation in the situation where most of our population is overfed the wrong kinds of food all too often with resulting high rates of obesity and chronic inflammation.