Good food vs bad food

willaustin73

Quite new to this, but what I don’t get is why lots of people say to eat things like peanut butter and avocados for ‘good fats’. What’s the difference between this and eating food like cheese? Will eating cheese make me look worse, or do avocados just have more health benefits in terms of risk of heart disease etc and there is no difference in fat gain?

psuLemon

There really is no good food vs bad food. There are some foods that are more nutrient dense, but overall, each type of food provides a specific nutrient profile. The idea is get a variety of foods to ensure you are getting the most nutrients possible.

willaustin73

So there would be no difference in terms of fat/weight gain, if the calories were similar, with eating peanut butter with 10g of fat and cheese with 10g of fat?

kimny72

willaustin73 wrote: »

So there would be no difference in terms of fat/weight gain, if the calories were similar, with eating peanut butter with 10g of fat and cheese with 10g of fat?

No, no difference. The good fats/bad fats pertains more to health, but even that is up for debate. In some instances it's about saturated/unsaturated fats. Others use good fats to mean "fats that come with lots of nutrition". Like "clean eating" it's a vague term that different folks use differently. None of it matters for weight loss though. Just calories

collectingblues

willaustin73 wrote: »

So there would be no difference in terms of fat/weight gain, if the calories were similar, with eating peanut butter with 10g of fat and cheese with 10g of fat?

No difference at all. People just like to demonize food.

Scottgriesser

Correct. For considering weight only, calories are all that matters.

For example: (completely made numbers just to illustrate point)
Two males the same age, weight, and height both require 2000 calories a day to lose a lb a week.
Man A eats avocados, chicken, tuna, quinoa, protein powders, whole grains, and instertrandomgoodfood totaling 2000calories a day for the week.
Man B eats oreos, doritos, and beer totaling 2000 calories a day for the week.
Barring any sort of random fluctuation (which do happen) they will both lose a pound.

Now, I'm not advocating going with the oreo, dorito, and beer diet as it will leave your body completely devoid of many needed nutrients, but as far as weight goes it would work just as well as the "good food" diet.

Silkysausage

It's trans fats like margarine that even flies won't go near that people need to be aware of. Meat, dairy, nuts, avocados and oily fish are all great sources.

Chieflrg

Virtually no difference in weight loss, but the type of weight loss(muscle vs. fat) it can indeed effect. Generally one should resistance train coupled with ingesting 1g of protien per lb of body weight(if not obese) & 3 grams of leucine per meal(if restrictong animal protien) when losing weight. This will help maintain muscle mass while losing weight optimally.

hroderick

manage calories for weight
manage exercise for strength
manage nutrition for health

AnnPT77

No difference for weight loss.

However, for best nutrition I personally think it's a good idea to include monounsaturated fats (most tree nuts, peanuts, seeds, avocados, etc.) and polyunsaturated fats (flaxseed, walnuts, fish) as a solid portion of hitting a minimum daily fat goal. Why? Because so much of what many people eat is saturated fats (meats, dairy, lots of commercially-prepared foods), and there's some basis for believing that a more well-rounded intake will provide useful nutrition.

It's not so much that saturated fats are "bad", but that mono/polyunsaturated fats are also good and nutritionally useful.

Nutrition Source at Havard T.H. Chan school of Public Health says:

Most people don’t eat enough healthful unsaturated fats . . . . there is evidence that eating more polyunsaturated fat—up to 15 percent of daily calories—in place of saturated fat can lower heart disease risk.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/types-of-fat

It's about balance, not "good" and "bad".

YMMV. Many people seem to do fine, without thinking about any of this.

moogie_fit

Everything in moderation

jgnatca

Hm. Peanut oil has 16g of saturated fat per 100 g, avocado oil 12 g.

The fats that were really freaking people out were trans fats, which have been virtually been eliminated from processed foods.

mmapags

There are no good or bad foods. There are only appropriate choices to support your diet, fitness and lifestyle goals.