What kind of fats should I be eating?

iwishiwasbatman

I know trans fat and saturated fat are bad, but I'm a bit confused since My Fitness Pal tells me to consume 20+ grams of saturated fat.

I need to consume fat for my body, but I'm not so sure which fats to stay away from, since I don't know which ones are good and bad to consume.

I get my fat from avocado, seeds, and nuts (don't like peanut butter), but I would still like if someone could explain it, help me, and tell me about the good fats and bad fats.

Thank you in advanced.

JoshuaSchock

I'm posting here so I can hopefully easily find this thread later and look at responses

lpfitzroy09

I've been wondering the same thing!

ndj1979

saturated fat is bad, really? What is this the 1980's..

OP - hit your calorie/macro/micro targets for the day and fill in the rest with what you see fit and you will be fine.

Lleldiranne

Avoid trans fats, yet. (I have a few from time to time because the treat is worth it, but not often).

Other than that, any fats are okay as long as they fit your macro needs. There is some evidence that some unsaturated fats can boost HDL levels ("good" cholesterols). But that doesn't mean that saturated fats are bad -- and I think that recent research has shown they aren't as bad as we once thought. All the foods you listed are great sources of fats, but it's not going to hurt to get some fat from meat, milk products, butter, etc. And they are yummy, too.

scaryg53

I just try and avoid trans fats. I have a really hard time eating enough fat in general. Even when I think I've eaten a lot of fat one day, I usually still fall short of my goal.

JohnBarth

As stated above, any fats are fine within your macro targets. Trans fats should be avoided, but saturated fats shouldn't necessarily concern you. The "science" of the 80s showing that cholesterol digested in your diet gives you high cholesterol is not true in most cases.

Eating fat doesn't make you fat; eating too much sugar makes you fat!

Olive oil is a staple in my diet, as is good old fashioned butter. All carefully weighed and logged.

1TBS of oil is 15mL or about 15g and approximately 120 calories. Other sources of fat are good, as you mentioned avocado, seeds, nuts.

ahamm002

You don't have to worry about saturated fat anymore, the 90's are over!

blktngldhrt

...there is no scientific evidence that saturated fat is harmful.

I get my fats from nuts, olive oil, hemp oil, coconut oil and coconut milk (both are high in saturated fat), fish, heavy cream, cheese, almond butter, coconut butter, meat..etc. My diet is 75% fat. My cholesterol levels are normal.

debrakgoogins

Here are a few articles to help you decide.

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20477647,00.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/skinny-fat-good-fats-bad-fats

blktngldhrt

debrakgoogins wrote: »

Here are a few articles to help you decide.

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20477647,00.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/skinny-fat-good-fats-bad-fats

this information is 5-8 years old..

ndj1979

blktngldhrt wrote: »

debrakgoogins wrote: »

Here are a few articles to help you decide.

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20477647,00.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/skinny-fat-good-fats-bad-fats

this information is 5-8 years old..

why not just post an article from the 80's...

lemurcat12

I see no particular reason to worry about saturated fats in my own diet. I think the correlation-based studies against saturated fat and meat can be easily explained without concluding that either is necessarily a problem even in larger quantities (for example, the normal amounts in a more traditional (pre current SAD) US diet vs. something like the Med diet). However, there are still warnings about overconsumption of saturated fat. IMO, this is a pretty balanced discussion: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats-full-story/

OP, I think it should be helpful on your broader question too.

Personally, I find it easier to eat in an overall healthy way when I do include a decent amount of sat fat (from meat and dairy) in my own diet, so that for me trumps the more hypothetical benefits of lowering it to the levels that some would recommend, especially since I've never had any test results that would lead to worries.

iwishiwasbatman

I read something about saturated fat not being considered bad as before, but wasn't sure and wanted to clear that up.

Thank you everyone!

jgnatca

All about fats.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fat/art-20045550

Unsaturated fats you will find in your nuts and your avocado. The good omega-3 fatty acids are found in your fatty fish like salmon.

The trans fats you want to avoid are found in processed foods.

debrakgoogins

Because it was so kindly pointed out that my article links were outdated, here are more recent ones that say basically the same thing.

http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20582466,00.html
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fat/art-20045550

berz82

good quality butter, olive oil, walnuts etc

jennifershoo

Trans fat is the ONLY one bad.

peter56765

blktngldhrt wrote: »

...there is no scientific evidence that saturated fat is harmful.

Yes there is. There are just other studies that disagree. The big meta study from 2014 that gave saturated fat the green light has been widely criticized. Even one of the study's authors now disagrees with its primary conclusion. The study created a media circus because scientists are a favorite target to knock off their ivory towers, however the subsequent criticism garnered no headlines.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/03/19/dietary-fat-and-heart-disease-study-is-seriously-misleading/

http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2014/03/scientists-fix-errors-controversial-paper-about-saturated-fats

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/04/don-t-reach-for-the-butter-and-bacon-just-yet/index.htm

This last link is a wiki page but it has multiple links and references to different studies, some of which DID find a link between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease_controversy

I get my fats from nuts, olive oil, hemp oil, coconut oil and coconut milk (both are high in saturated fat), fish, heavy cream, cheese, almond butter, coconut butter, meat..etc. My diet is 75% fat. My cholesterol levels are normal.

Which I hope you know proves nothing by itself. Your cholesterol level is the function of many variables: age, weight, diet, family history, medications, and probably more. My cousin's mother in law smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day and lived to be 88 so smoking must be AOK, right?

neanderthin

peter56765 wrote: »

blktngldhrt wrote: »

...there is no scientific evidence that saturated fat is harmful.

Yes there is. There are just other studies that disagree. The big meta study from 2014 that gave saturated fat the green light has been widely criticized. Even one of the study's authors now disagrees with its primary conclusion. The study created a media circus because scientists are a favorite target to knock off their ivory towers, however the subsequent criticism garnered no headlines.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/03/19/dietary-fat-and-heart-disease-study-is-seriously-misleading/

http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2014/03/scientists-fix-errors-controversial-paper-about-saturated-fats

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/04/don-t-reach-for-the-butter-and-bacon-just-yet/index.htm

This last link is a wiki page but it has multiple links and references to different studies, some of which DID find a link between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease_controversy

I get my fats from nuts, olive oil, hemp oil, coconut oil and coconut milk (both are high in saturated fat), fish, heavy cream, cheese, almond butter, coconut butter, meat..etc. My diet is 75% fat. My cholesterol levels are normal.

Which I hope you know proves nothing by itself. Your cholesterol level is the function of many variables: age, weight, diet, family history, medications, and probably more. My cousin's mother in law smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day and lived to be 88 so smoking must be AOK, right?

Link, correlation will always be there. Context and dosage. Most studies over the last half centuery do not or have ever differentiated SFA's with trans fats (which for the most part are PUFA's, deranged) and pretty much all diets will have contained trans fats without it being specifically asked, plus SFA's consumed in tandem with highly processed carbs and sugar will effect outcomes that are deleterious to CVD......which is why in the last few years studies will conclude that replacing saturated with carbohydrates might not be the right course of action......basically it's a black hole where the dots have not been connected yet and the search in general to be able to connect SFA's to heart disease is getting increasingly blurry. Particle size and total particles of cholesterol is more than likely a factor in the reverse RDA announcement, which in pretty much all of these studies never gets mentioned, but really why would they, most study's are just epidemiology anyway, and not really concerned with such detail.

blktngldhrt

peter56765 wrote: »

blktngldhrt wrote: »

...there is no scientific evidence that saturated fat is harmful.

Yes there is. There are just other studies that disagree. The big meta study from 2014 that gave saturated fat the green light has been widely criticized. Even one of the study's authors now disagrees with its primary conclusion. The study created a media circus because scientists are a favorite target to knock off their ivory towers, however the subsequent criticism garnered no headlines.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2014/03/19/dietary-fat-and-heart-disease-study-is-seriously-misleading/

http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2014/03/scientists-fix-errors-controversial-paper-about-saturated-fats

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/04/don-t-reach-for-the-butter-and-bacon-just-yet/index.htm

This last link is a wiki page but it has multiple links and references to different studies, some of which DID find a link between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease_controversy

I get my fats from nuts, olive oil, hemp oil, coconut oil and coconut milk (both are high in saturated fat), fish, heavy cream, cheese, almond butter, coconut butter, meat..etc. My diet is 75% fat. My cholesterol levels are normal.

Which I hope you know proves nothing by itself. Your cholesterol level is the function of many variables: age, weight, diet, family history, medications, and probably more. My cousin's mother in law smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day and lived to be 88 so smoking must be AOK, right?

Do I really need to add the caveat about dosage?? From all of the research I've done, I feel confident saying that saturated fat is not harmful in moderation. I wasn't suggesting anyone attempt to get all of their fat from sources high in saturated fat.

Did you read all of the various sources on the wiki page for the sake of your argument? I'm assuming not. Most go something like this...

Conclusions: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. Consideration of age, sex, and study quality did not change the results.

And yeah, adding that my cholesterol levels are fine was stupid. Who cares about my levels? They've improved since switching to a high fat diet..but that's not really anyone else's concern.