I realize this title look like troll-bait, but please hear me out. Given the revived "DHA-Accelerated Aging Hypothesis Validated" thread, I noticed a surprising omission from the discussion. With all the focus on excess O-3 fats (which are clearly a problem), very little attention has been paid to to the fact that the group of mice fed a high-lard diet lived the longest!
MR does touch on it here :
A lot of the biochemistry is above my head right now, but I understand this to say that eating SaFA is basically a bad way to get your MUFAs. But here is my question:
Is the fatty-acid profile of lard improving lifespan by another mechanism(s), perhaps helped along being consumed with a good dose of SaFA?
According to Self Nutrition Data, 100g of lard has around 40g of SaFAs and 45g of MUFAs. Similarly, there are considerable SaFA's in human adipose: "compared with adipose fat composition, 27.1 ± 4.2% saturated, 49.6 ± 5.7% monounsaturated, and 23.4 ± 3.9% diunsaturated" according to http://www.jlr.org/content/49/9/2055.full. It seems counterintuitive that our bodies would store SaFA as fuel if if were simply going to kill us dead. And I say this with much much respect to Michael, who I have followed closely. Not in a creepy way :)
Thank you for considering this question!