Hey Jeff,

I don't personally eat a TON of sat fats like those of northern European or Inuit descent but I do consume a high sat fat diet 25-50% from calories total. On days of intermittent fasting, coffee + coconut milk = 97% saturated fat!! This is WAY higher than CW 8 to 10 % saturated fat intake. My cholesterol intake is extremely high too in the form of 2-3 egg yolks on average most days and never cutting the fat off of pork, beef, lamb and eating straight coconut milk, coconut oil and GHEE/cultured butter...

Here are some studies showing the benefits of saturated fats for health and preventing coronary artery disease: http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/search/label/Benefits%20of%20High-Saturated%20Fat%20Diets

Oh I go low fat on high carb days otherwise high carb makes me fat and high carb + high fat makes me REALLY fat. We are not ordained genetically to burn both carbs and fat simultaneously I don't think...

Hope that helps...! G

My weak understand lies in potential complications if you also have a leaky gut

Potentially as you addressed, fat soluble crap that industrial meat is eating too

Trimming up industrial meat is sound advice, I think when it comes to grainfed, lean is definitely preferred

Processed food is more easily digestible, doesn't make it healthier. Digestion is a whole other topic tho.

When I must eat grainfed, I trim heavily then get fat thru avocado, coconut or other controlled sat fat and supplement fish oil to balance my omegas

Paleo foods might not be as expensive as the impression you have been given.

Grass fed bison is carried at $5 a pound in most of the supermarkets around Boston. A $1.69 can of coconut milk from whole foods provides 72 grams of saturated fat, 720 calories.

These are two of the cheap staples of my diet.

Just some thoughts (inspired by the article linked in the comments):

if saturated fat "only becomes very hazardous when (they) are eaten in combination with grains, beans, dairy, high-sugar foods or other foods that tend to increase inflammation"

then the problem is not the sat fat, but the other stuff, isn't it?

And then, the more you eat saturated fat, the less you will eat that other stuff?

So if you can't eat paleo style, and have to eat the other stuff, you don't have to avoid the saturated fats? Because it is a relative thing, and because of the effects on satiety of fats.

Is my (non-expert) reasoning flawed?

It seems that what Cordain (and some others) said in the quote above, only makes sense if you have believed for a long time that saturated fats were dangerous (the CW position). Now more scientists agree that saturated fats per se are not bad, but it is the combination that seems to bee the problem. We, lipophyles, know better?

PS: I understand and agree that with the saturated fats, you can ingest contaminants from conventionally raised animals, and that these are best avoided. But then again, this is not an argument against saturated fat, but against the contaminents in them.

Just a few small suggestions on saving money on grass-fed/pastured meats: Costco sells grasssfed ground beef frequently, and you should take a look at the "weird cuts" at a farmer's market (here, they are less than half the price of steak).

I really don't think (toxin and antibiotic issues aside) that saturated fat is bad in any context. But I'm open to be proven wrong.

I hear a lot of opinions but can anyone show me some scientific evidence in humans that SAFA in combination with any food is worse than the food alone?

Palmatic acid does create temporary insulin resistance which might lead to glucose hanging around a bit longer in the system, but the overall curve is flatter due to the fat slowing down the digestion of the carb into the bloodstream, so in my head it's a wash.