Question about fat intake

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PandaCustard
PandaCustard Posts: 204 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Some days I tend to go over my fat allowance. It's not every day, but I do notice it happens two or three times a week. However, the vast majority of my fat intake is from foods such as nuts and seeds, olives and olive oil, sardines, and other types of fish, which I honestly do eat quite a bit of, along with a lot of fruits and vegetables. Even if these are good fats, does this have a negative effect since I'm going over my fat allowance, but staying under my calorie allowance? For example, one ounce of Planter's Heart Healthy nut mix has 15g of fat, 1.5g of which are saturated, but 5g polyunsaturated and 8g monounsaturated. Heart disease runs in my family and I just want to know if I should cut back on these fats, even if they are healthy ones.

Replies

  • Sailorwind
    Sailorwind Posts: 158 Member
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    You are going to get a lot of mixed answers about this. As for me, I would say that no, this isn't bad. I go over every day from my healthy fats. I put a tablespoon of virgin coconut oil in my coffee every morning. Plenty of mornings my breakfast is a bulletproof coffee which is 1tbl coconut oil, coffee and 1 tbl of unsalted, grass fed butter and my snack will be a larabar jampacked with nuts. It keeps me full for hours on the healthy fats. I think an all natural diet is much higher in fat than people realize. Once you cut down the carbs and sugars enough to stop the cravings, veggies just aren't that filling and so you eat a lot more healthy fats.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    My fat intake is very high - 70 to 75% of my overall daily intake. I eat a lot of butter, coconut oil, cream, and olive oil.

    I don't think going over your fat intake is bad. Just cut back on another macro if you feel you're eating too many calories in general.
  • beckymlong
    beckymlong Posts: 111 Member
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    Bump, my fats are often high too I eat nuts and seeds and before you know it fatty levels are sky high
  • PandaCustard
    PandaCustard Posts: 204 Member
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    Okay, good to hear. I never go over my calorie intake... no really, NEVER. O_O I tend to plan out my meals before I eat them so my calories are always in line. I just tend to go over my macros here and there, mainly fiber (which I don't mind) and fat.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    Okay, good to hear. I never go over my calorie intake... no really, NEVER. O_O I tend to plan out my meals before I eat them so my calories are always in line. I just tend to go over my macros here and there, mainly fiber (which I don't mind) and fat.

    If you go over in fat, and not overall calories, then that's great. Fat can make you feel more satiated.
  • SnicciFit
    SnicciFit Posts: 967 Member
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    My fat intake is very high - 70 to 75% of my overall daily intake. I eat a lot of butter, coconut oil, cream, and olive oil.

    Same here. I think the settings on MFP are too low for fat (and too high for carbs). You can adjust them manually by changing your goals.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    Dietary fat is essential to good health. The only real consideration, since you said you never go over your calories, is making sure you are getting enough protein. If your protein intake is suffering because of overconsumption of fat, then cut back. Otherwise, don't worry about it.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    Dietary fat is essential to good health. The only real consideration, since you said you never go over your calories, is making sure you are getting enough protein. If your protein intake is suffering because of overconsumption of fat, then cut back. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

    Good point. I neglected to mention that.
  • PandaCustard
    PandaCustard Posts: 204 Member
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    Thank you guys for all of your input. My protein used to be terrible, but as of late I seem to be doing relatively well with it. In fact, I noticed that since my fat intake has gone up, my protein intake has as well. Most of the fatty foods I eat (some types of fish, nuts, seeds, etc) tend to have a nice amount of protein with it, so I guess that makes sense. Thanks! :)
  • sthak2001
    sthak2001 Posts: 10 Member
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    I'm curious about this too! What do you all think counts as "enough protein" My macro split right now is 50%F/25%P/25%C. It is definitely helping me feel full, and I don't go over my calories. But not sure if that is enough protein :smile: ????
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    I'm curious about this too! What do you all think counts as "enough protein" My macro split right now is 50%F/25%P/25%C. It is definitely helping me feel full, and I don't go over my calories. But not sure if that is enough protein :smile: ????

    My understanding is that one needs close to a gram of protein per pound of lean body weight.

    For me, that means about 20 to 25% protein. For you, maybe higher.
  • sthak2001
    sthak2001 Posts: 10 Member
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    Using this, I am on target - thank you :happy:
  • cjingles
    cjingles Posts: 11 Member
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    I was having just this problem earlier this week! I was going over my daily fat allowance every day so I decided to look into it a bit more.

    Basically, there are good fats and bad fats (olive oil, etc, being among the good kind) and MFP will let you track the different kinds in your food diary. If you go into your food diary settings, you can choose from fat, saturated fat, trans fat, polyunsaturated fat, and monounsaturated fat.

    From what I read, saturated fats and trans fats are the ones to avoid. I updated my diary to track those instead of fats and sugar (because I don't have a problem with my sugar intake) and started tracking saturated fats and trans fats instead. I don't go over those daily intakes and I assume that if I'm taking in other kinds of fats it's the good stuff that my body can use!
  • ahmadfahmy
    ahmadfahmy Posts: 214 Member
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    Some days I tend to go over my fat allowance. It's not every day, but I do notice it happens two or three times a week. However, the vast majority of my fat intake is from foods such as nuts and seeds, olives and olive oil, sardines, and other types of fish, which I honestly do eat quite a bit of, along with a lot of fruits and vegetables. Even if these are good fats, does this have a negative effect since I'm going over my fat allowance, but staying under my calorie allowance? For example, one ounce of Planter's Heart Healthy nut mix has 15g of fat, 1.5g of which are saturated, but 5g polyunsaturated and 8g monounsaturated. Heart disease runs in my family and I just want to know if I should cut back on these fats, even if they are healthy ones.

    as long as you stay in a caloric deficit, you'll be ok.
  • SnicciFit
    SnicciFit Posts: 967 Member
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    I'm curious about this too! What do you all think counts as "enough protein" My macro split right now is 50%F/25%P/25%C. It is definitely helping me feel full, and I don't go over my calories. But not sure if that is enough protein :smile: ????

    Everyone is different, so you may need to play around with the numbers a little, but I set my carbs to about 1g per pound of body weight, my protein to about 1g per pound of lean mass (my body fat is about 25%, so it's basically 75% of my weight). Lately, I've had the protein set higher (closer to 1g/lb of actual body weight) and then the fat is what's left over.

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