Any issues with a high (healthy) fat diet that hits (reasonable) calorie goals?

blinx7

I'm not a low carb fanatic per se, but it's just way easier for me to cut out things like chips, rice, etc. to hit my calorie goals.

Whenever I eat moderately (but not obsessively) healthy, I end up somewhere like 40% carb, 35% fat, 25% protein. I see advice bandied about on the internet that fat should be more like 20%.

Assume a healthy portion of that fat is things like olive oil, guacamole, etc. (Some is also ice cream, cheese, etc.).

Should I be trying to lower this fat percentage or is it all good as long as calorie goals are being met and general diet it OK?

MikePTY

Not at all. That's not even really high fat. I'd consider that a moderate fat diet.

At the end of the day, most health problems that come from diet come from obesity. Weight loss is the number one thing that can improve that. The composition of the diet is a distant second.

kimny72

I'd just add to what Mike said that there seems to be a lot of disagreement in the healthcare community about the role of fat in general, and different kinds of fat in particular, in various health conditions. There are still some researchers and medical pros who see value in the 20% fat recommendation, while other data suggests that there is a misunderstanding there and you can eat considerably higher fat with no cost.

What I personally take from that is that since there is no consensus, I'm not going to worry about it, and I'm going to eat in the way that keeps me at a healthy weight. As there is myriad data to suggest that getting to and maintaining a healthy weight is one of the most important things you can do for your health. (If you have a specific health condition, or are at higher risk for a specific condition for some other reason, you might want to look at data that pertains specifically to that condition as well).

cmriverside

I used 40/40/20P as a setting during weight loss because that's how I was normally eating, it's an easy way to eat during weight loss. The default on this site is 50C/30F/20P and I've gone back to that setting, but I still eat higher on the fat and lower on the carbs.

nooboots

This is what sort of eat. I find its easier for me to feel full up. I have lost 21lbs now.

This week Ive had a little bit higher carb and I find it makes me a bit swollen and lethargic, particularly bready things. So next week I will make more of an effort to lower them again, and when I say lower carb I dont mean low low, I mean around 100 - 120ish grams a day.

lemurcat2

Seems fine to me.

I think Walter Willett is a credible source, and this is what he says: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2012/06/21/ask-the-expert-healthy-fats/

This is a good conversation too: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/multimedia-article/podcast-diet-fat/

blinx7

Thanks! My macros this week were 40 / 38 / 22. Seems pretty standard looking back at prior weeks.

Sounds like it's fine so I guess I'll just proceed with this and just keep focused on calories because I definitely prefer it to 50% carbs.

smcurtis1981

I’m usually up around 60-70% fat and I’m losing weight. Not quite keto but close.