# Episode 99
**Summary:** In Episode #99, Ari hosts Nina Teicholz, author of _The Big Fat Surprise _and a former journalist for a variety of publications including _Gourmet_, _Men’s Health_, the _Economist_ and the _New York Times_. During their conversation, Nina and Ari chat about the common misconceptions surrounding saturated fat. Their ultimate conclusion?—Saturated fats are an important, if not essential, component of a healthy diet.
**Sponsored By:** [Cognitea](http://www.cognitea.com/) – An all-natural tea designed to be smarter, healthier alternative to coffee and energy drinks
**Time Stamped Show Notes:**
– 15:05 – Introduction of Nina Teicholz
– 15:10 – _The Big Fat Surprise_
– 15:25 – An introduction into Nina’s background
– 15:58 – What turned Nina on to the subject of transfats
– 16:57 – Nina’s thesis: Saturated fats are _not_ bad for health
– 17:55 – What sparked the misconception surrounding saturated fats?
– 19:55 – The problems with the Dean Ornish study
– 21:57 – _Dean Ornish is a genius of PR, not medicine_
– 23:12 – The basic, government recommended diet of low-fat _does not work_
– 24:55 – The main issue at the heart of the current nutrition debate is: Should you reduce animal fat and saturated fat to minimize the risk of heart disease?
– 27:07 – Ari references his dietary renaissance and how he came to his own conclusions about nutrition
– 28:32 –Nina’s transition from vegetarian to omnivore
– 30:36 – How Nina responds to the question: “Isn’t saturated fat bad for you?”
– 31:40 – Saturated fats were condemned based on faulty evidence from 50 years ago
– 32:00 – Saturated fats cannot be said to cause heart disease
– 32:45 – Saturated fats are really _good_ for you
– 34:54 – Saturated fat is the only kind of fat that raises HDL (good) cholesterol
– 35:45 – Oxidation, in the case of vegetable oil, produces numerous toxic byproducts
– 37:15 – Nina’s thoughts on the importance of cholesterol levels
– 38:05 – Women over 50 are likely to live longer the _higher _ their cholesterol is
– 40:19 – The details surrounding triglycerides
– 42:10 – What are your top 3 pieces of advice for people who want to be more effective
– 42:31 – Reducing carbohydrates and eating more fat is a great strategy to better health
– 42:45 – Avoid heated vegetable oils
– 42:59 – Be kind, loving and nice – 43:30 – WWW.TheBigFatSurpise.COM **7 Key Points:**
1. Saturated fats are _not _bad for health
2. The notion that saturated fats are bad for health is rooted in antiquated and inaccurate science
3. Of and in themselves, low-fat diets do _not_ work at reducing heart disease and obesity
4. Saturated fats actually raise HDL cholesterol
5. Overuse of vegetable based cooking oils can result in oxidation-based toxin exposure
6. Women over 50 live longer with higher cholesterol
7. Keep carbohydrate intake _LOW _and fat intake _HIGH_
**Resources Mentioned:**
– [Nina Teicholz](http://www.thebigfatsurprise.com/) – Ari’s guest and author of
_[The Big Fat Surprise](http://www.thebigfatsurprise.com/)_ – [Dean Ornish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Ornish) – The current champion of the “animal fat is the enemy” movement
– [Triglyceride](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglyceride) – A composition of glycerol and fatty acids linked to sub-par coronary health
– [HDL](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_lipoprotein) – The “good” cholesterol
– [Cognitea](http://www.cognitea.com/) – An all-natural tea designed to be smarter, healthier alternative to coffee and energy drinks
– [Getting Kids to Sit Properly](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/07/the-right-and-surprisingly-wrong-ways-to-get-kids-to-sit-still-in-class/) – A Washington Post article talk — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lessdoing/message
