Fat questions

neilbo85
neilbo85 Posts: 11 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Why are the daily goals for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats 0?

Replies

  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    It's believed they are set to zero because there is no official RDA/RDI/Tolerable Upper Intake Level for mono and poly fats.

    Remember, these are "good fats" which according to the NHS LiveWell website most people should be eating more of.
  • neilbo85
    neilbo85 Posts: 11 Member
    That's what I thought. Thanks
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    The American Heart Associations recommends 25% - 35% of your calories come from fat, and limiting saturated fat to 7% and trans fat to 1%, which would leave 17% - 27% for unsaturated. They don't break out poly vs mono unsat though.

    http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/PreventionTreatmentofHighCholesterol/Know-Your-Fats_UCM_305628_Article.jsp
  • blossomofsnow
    blossomofsnow Posts: 21 Member
    @Need2Exerc1se‌ so in this app that these kind of fats are set to zero should we change it in the goal section? If yes, what is the percentage you recommend? I'm trying to gain weight, and I really really want to have peanut butter in my diet but this app won't let me have any of these fats and if they are really useful I'd really like to fix that. Thank you
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    blossomofsnow wrote: »
    @Need2Exerc1se‌ so in this app that these kind of fats are set to zero should we change it in the goal section? If yes, what is the percentage you recommend? I'm trying to gain weight, and I really really want to have peanut butter in my diet but this app won't let me have any of these fats and if they are really useful I'd really like to fix that. Thank you

    You can set goals for the unsturated fats. If I were going to set them I'd probably go with what the AHA recommends (above) and split polyunsat and monounsat evenly.
  • CamoGirl1985
    CamoGirl1985 Posts: 41 Member
    I have always wondered this too.... I have never really paid much attention to such things until recently, but I have read that you want to balance your ratios of Omega-3s and Omega-6s to 4:1 or less. Supposedly, getting to much omega-6 fats increases inflammation in bodily tissues. And a typical Western diet is way over the top with omega-6 fats. I believe both Omega-3s and Omega-6s are considered polyunsaturated (molecular build), so it is kind of hard to keep that ratio in balance..... I'm with you in wishing there was more of a guideline.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,202 Member
    edited March 2015
    Funny thing is if most of the fat in a diet came from extra virgin olive oil that person would be consuming twice the RDA for saturated fat. Iit didn't make sense 40yrs ago and t still doesn't.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Just look at overall fat grams and make sure that you are getting enough.
    http://www.pennmedicine.org/health_info/nutrition/how_much.html
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    Many manufacturers don't list the breakdown on monosaturated, an polyunsaturated fats on their labels. Skippy Natural Peanut Butter is one of them. It is hard to shoot for a specific goal when many of the foods don't put in those numbers.

    Personally, I did set my goal for 10 grams for each, but I don't really worry about if I reach them or exceed them.

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