Is a high Fat (not saturated fat) intake bad ?

jordanoye101

My diet and eating habits involve allot of good fats and a moderate saturated fat intake.

What are the drawbacks of a high fat intake?

kommodevaran

As long as you don't go over on calories and don't crowd out other essential nutrients, a high fat intake is fine.

BTW, you are implying that saturated fats are bad? They are not. Man made trans fat are bad.

GlassAngyl

Keto? High fat low carb diets have lots of health benefits.. but isn't necessary for losing weight or being "healthy" in general. Keto is great for reversing diabetes, helping those with autoimmune diseases lose weight, reducing cancer, controlling epilepsy.. etc etc. But if you are healthy already, it isn't necessary but it won't hurt you either. Just another diet.

psuLemon

GlassAngyl wrote: »

Keto? High fat low carb diets have lots of health benefits.. but isn't necessary for losing weight or being "healthy" in general. Keto is great for reversing diabetes, helping those with autoimmune diseases lose weight, reducing cancer, controlling epilepsy.. etc etc. But if you are healthy already, it isn't necessary but it won't hurt you either. Just another diet.

Keto doesn't reduce cancer. At best, it can help with certain types of brain cancers, but that is only because it switches energy sources, and that would be in conjunction with medical treatment.

OP, diets high in MUFA/PUFA are very healthy, especially if it comes from fatty fish.

nvmomketo

I think oils and fats are healthy, but I am a bit biased because I eat a ketogenic LCHF diet on which my health has improved.

I agree with others that man made trans fats should be avoided. I also think that vegetable oils made from legumes and seeds (soy, safflower, corn, etc) should be limited. I don't think we were made to handle larger quantities of grain and bean oils which are high in Omega 6s. Other plant oils like olive, palm and coconut appear to be healthier for us.

Saturated fats are not bad for you unless you have a familial health problem with it. For the vast majority of people, saturated fats are fine.

I think the saturated fat is bad myth came about with the eating cholesterol is bad myth. Most cholesterol containing foods are higher in saturated fats so saturated fats must be bad, right? Not the case.

shimmer_glo

I would suggest the book The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz if you're interested to learn more about why saturated fats are not the demons they've been made to be. Also your body needs fat soluable vitamins...to me the only reason to cut fat is when it is tipping my calories too far over my limit.

jordanoye101

nvmomketo wrote: »

I think oils and fats are healthy, but I am a bit biased because I eat a ketogenic LCHF diet on which my health has improved.

I agree with others that man made trans fats should be avoided. I also think that vegetable oils made from legumes and seeds (soy, safflower, corn, etc) should be limited. I don't think we were made to handle larger quantities of grain and bean oils which are high in Omega 6s. Other plant oils like olive, palm and coconut appear to be healthier for us.

Saturated fats are not bad for you unless you have a familial health problem with it. For the vast majority of people, saturated fats are fine.

I think the saturated fat is bad myth came about with the eating cholesterol is bad myth. Most cholesterol containing foods are higher in saturated fats so saturated fats must be bad, right? Not the case.

Thanks for the response, completely agree - I try and avoid nasty trans fats but is palm oil bad for you if used in frying? I have heard bad things about the use of palm oil. I try and avoid peanut butter with palm oil and here in the UK most supermarkets are stocked with palm oil free options.

nvmomketo

There are peanut butters with only peanuts and salt. I have a few brands that I eat that only have salt added. They just need a good stir before using.

Palm oil and coconut oil are both high in saturated fats compared to plant oils. They were not used much over the last couple of decades during the low fat, low cholesterol trend. Their popularity is rising again now that people are letting go of that old myth. Slowly. I live in Canada and labels still trumpet "Low in Fat" or "a heart healthy" choice, even though naturally occurring fats do not negatively affect most people's heart health.

Palm oil is actually excellent for frying. If you look at smoke points of oils (when it starts to burn and become less healthy) palm oil has a very high smoke point, about 450F (~227C).

This article discusses it a bit:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/cooking-fats-101-whats-a-smoke-point-and-why-does-it-matter.html

For frying, I would be more likely to avoid corn oils, olive oil, butter and even coconut oil since the smoke point is 350F (~177C) or lower