Almonds & saturated fat.

Clairin

I'm logging here on MFP and noticed how low my fat intake often is. I'm vegetarian & eat eggs & cheese. However, as I have a strong genetic tendency for high cholesterol I have to keep an eye on saturated fat. I never ate crisps (potato chips) years ago, I didn't crave them, yet in more recent years I'll devour a whole large bag.Same with chocolate. I suspect it's not enough fat in my diet that makes me want/ need to indulge in crisps or chocolate every so often. I've started to add 6 almonds to my breakfast as an experiment. I want to see what, if anything it does and if it affects cravings. I've looked into this online and wondering what this communities opinion is on this topic. Thanks. https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/much-fat-6-plain-almonds-5202.html

MikePTY

I am a little confused as to what the question/concern here regarding almonds is? Almonds are a good source of non-saturated fats. They have a negligible amount of saturated fats compared to their non-saturated fats. Items like eggs and cheese are much higher in saturated fats.

How much fat do you normally eat a day? What is your MFP recommended goal based on your macros? Fat is an important part of the diet. I don't think there is any way for us to know if a low fat intake is what triggers your cravings though. But you can play around with taking in more fat and see if that helps you. 6 almonds appears to be about 4 grams of fat from the article. I am not sure if that is enough of a change in fat intake to make a measurable difference regarding anything, but again, you can certainly give it a try and see if you find that it is beneficial for you.

Clairin

Hi Mike, thanks for the reply. I was asking the community here their view on the saturated fat content of nuts and also about how if its possible that a low fat diet can contribute to high fat food cravings. Sorry if my post wasnt clear. It is my first time posting anything.
My MFP goal is set at 40g and I typically get no where near that I've seen from the reports. I was looking to see if there was a correlation between my days of overreaating corresponded to days of very low fat prior and it seems to be possible from what I can figure out from my reports.
I was interested in others views of low fat triggering cravings for high fat foods. Not necessarily that others would know if it caused mine thanks.
https://www.livescience.com/51627-almonds-nutrition.html I've looked more into almonds and I can see that you are right about them being a source of good fats which are mono unsaturated fats. Im learning here thanks :-)

hmhill17

When I used to do endurance mountain biking and half marathons, my body would crave fat and salt at the end. That was due to energy expenditure and sweat. Logically if you are getting significantly less fat than your body needs to get through the day, then you would crave it.

As for almonds, Blue Diamond almonds come in a variety of flavors. I eat the Wasabi Soy, salt and vinegar, and Smokehouse ones. In general that's 170 calories, 15g fat, 1g saturated fat per serving, about 28 nuts.

Clairin

hmhill17 wrote: »

When I used to do endurance mountain biking and half marathons, my body would crave fat and salt at the end. That was due to energy expenditure and sweat. Logically if you are getting significantly less fat than your body needs to get through the day, then you would crave it.

As for almonds, Blue Diamond almonds come in a variety of flavors. I eat the Wasabi Soy, salt and vinegar, and Smokehouse ones. In general that's 170 calories, 15g fat, 1g saturated fat per serving, about 28 nuts.

Thanks a lot and that explanation is how I feel. I train hard at the gym and the craving for high fat food is after the gym.

AnnPT77

I'm also ovo-lacto veg, and fats are a category I need to pay attention to, or I don't eat enough. I can't really say that I get cravings from under-eating fats; but I do perceive that my digestive throughput suffers (i.e., more likely to experience constipation, sorry if that's TMI) - though maybe that's related to the combo of high fiber plus low fat.

If you're trying to add fat sources that are predominantly PUFAs/MUFAs, almonds seem fine; personally I usually choose walnuts (put them in my oatmeal daily) because I like them and they're in my understanding a little higher in Omega-3s.

Do you like avocados? That's a good fat source with relatively little saturated fat. I also like a little hemp seed and flax seed in my oatmeal; peanut butter; other seeds/nuts from time to time. Olive oil is good on salads or roasted veggies. Pretty much all of these things - like your almonds - have some sat fat, but it's a smaller fraction compared to mono/poly fats. I usually shoot for 50g fat minimum, and get there, but rarely go lots over.

Looking back at the last few weeks, I'm usually twice as many grams of PUFAs/MUFAs as sat fats, despite eating quite a bit of cheese. I don't know whether that's good, or not so good . . . I don't have a family history of hypercholesterolemia, and my blood tests have been solidly in the normal range for lipids since reaching a healthy weight, so I haven't focused much on changing my fats. One of your links suggests < 10% of calories from sat fats is a good thing, and I'm normally well under that, looks like typically 4-6%.

kshama2001

Clairin wrote: »

I'm logging here on MFP and noticed how low my fat intake often is. I'm vegetarian & eat eggs & cheese. However, as I have a strong genetic tendency for high cholesterol I have to keep an eye on saturated fat. I never ate crisps (potato chips) years ago, I didn't crave them, yet in more recent years I'll devour a whole large bag. Same with chocolate. I suspect it's not enough fat in my diet that makes me want/ need to indulge in crisps or chocolate every so often. I've started to add 6 almonds to my breakfast as an experiment. I want to see what, if anything it does and if it affects cravings. I've looked into this online and wondering what this communities opinion is on this topic. Thanks. https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/much-fat-6-plain-almonds-5202.html

What's your protein target and how well do you hit it?

I have cravings for everything but protein, when it's actually protein I'm lacking.

Or iron. I don't recommend chocolate as a source of iron, but it is a source of iron. I'm anemic and I supplement, but I do up my chocolate (and liver) during my TOM, when I lose a lot of iron.

Clairin

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I'm also ovo-lacto veg, and fats are a category I need to pay attention to, or I don't eat enough. I can't really say that I get cravings from under-eating fats; but I do perceive that my digestive throughput suffers (i.e., more likely to experience constipation, sorry if that's TMI) - though maybe that's related to the combo of high fiber plus low fat.

If you're trying to add fat sources that are predominantly PUFAs/MUFAs, almonds seem fine; personally I usually choose walnuts (put them in my oatmeal daily) because I like them and they're in my understanding a little higher in Omega-3s.

Do you like avocados? That's a good fat source with relatively little saturated fat. I also like a little hemp seed and flax seed in my oatmeal; peanut butter; other seeds/nuts from time to time. Olive oil is good on salads or roasted veggies. Pretty much all of these things - like your almonds - have some sat fat, but it's a smaller fraction compared to mono/poly fats. I usually shoot for 50g fat minimum, and get there, but rarely go lots over.

Looking back at the last few weeks, I'm usually twice as many grams of PUFAs/MUFAs as sat fats, despite eating quite a bit of cheese. I don't know whether that's good, or not so good . . . I don't have a family history of hypercholesterolemia, and my blood tests have been solidly in the normal range for lipids since reaching a healthy weight, so I haven't focused much on changing my fats. One of your links suggests < 10% of calories from sat fats is a good thing, and I'm normally well under that, looks like typically 4-6%.

Ann thanks. I've learned that there is saturated fat in nuts but is far outweighed in positives by the other fats pufas/mufas as you say.
Avocado I like but again due to my belief around fat and their higher calories I had not really included avocado.
Being vegetarian and these choices has meant my fat consumption I noticed is possibly too low continually. Perhaps causing other issues like cravings.
It makes sense to me how constipation can be linked to lower fat consumption.
Seeds are in my fridge but again not used much. I'm switching this up.
Thanks a lot for the reply!

Clairin

kshama2001 wrote: »

Clairin wrote: »

I'm logging here on MFP and noticed how low my fat intake often is. I'm vegetarian & eat eggs & cheese. However, as I have a strong genetic tendency for high cholesterol I have to keep an eye on saturated fat. I never ate crisps (potato chips) years ago, I didn't crave them, yet in more recent years I'll devour a whole large bag. Same with chocolate. I suspect it's not enough fat in my diet that makes me want/ need to indulge in crisps or chocolate every so often. I've started to add 6 almonds to my breakfast as an experiment. I want to see what, if anything it does and if it affects cravings. I've looked into this online and wondering what this communities opinion is on this topic. Thanks. https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/much-fat-6-plain-almonds-5202.html

What's your protein target and how well do you hit it?

I have cravings for everything but protein, when it's actually protein I'm lacking.

Or iron. I don't recommend chocolate as a source of iron, but it is a source of iron. I'm anemic and I supplement, but I do up my chocolate (and liver) during my TOM, when I lose a lot of iron.

Thanks my protein target is 60 gr. I get close enough or surpass it. As a vegetarian carbs can easily go over. I train hard at the gym so you may be right. Maybe my protein could be higher.
I'm learning here and it all helps all this knowledge so thanks a lot.