Good fat? Bad fat?

shigham6637

Hi all, hoping someone can clear up some confusion I read a My Fitness Pal blog post this week that said to avoid saturated fat, but monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats in the right quantities are good for the body. However, the targets in my own My Fitness Pal account don't seem to reflect this. Saturated fats seem to be encouraged, but mono and poly fats both have targets of zero. Surely this is the wrong way around? Confused!
I've attached a picture of what I see. Hope someone can help
Thanks, Suzanne

AnnPT77

The mainstream health bodies (USDA, NHS, WHO, whatever) don't typically suggest specific targets for mono/polyunsaturated fats. They do suggest a limit on saturated fat, and ideally avoiding artificial trans fats altogether. MFP typically doesn't just make up nutritional goals, they rely on the mainstream health bodies' recommendations.

In one sense, MFP could mark the mono/poly fats goals as not applicable, but then you couldn't set your own to a different number, maybe. So they're set at zero, because they don't have a specific number to recommend.

If you want to set the mono/poly fats goals to a positive value of your choice, you can. I don't know of a source for specific guidance on what it should be, though I won't pretend to have done exhaustive research on it. Personally, I just shoot for a reasonable balance, some saturated fat, but a fair fraction of mono/polyunsaturated fats daily. YMMV.

kshama2001

In 2021, I set out to reduce fat and saturated fat (and increase fiber) for a medical condition. I'd been previously eating well over the 30% fat recommended by MFP. "Reducing fats" for me meant staying at or under the MFP default goals. I ate less butter, virtually eliminated cheese, reduced baked goods, and prioritized leaner meats.

As a side effect, I lost almost 40 pounds without really feeling like I was dieting. Since fat has 9 calories per gram and carbs and protein have 4, by reducing fat I had a lot more calories for the other macros, so felt more full. While I love fat, I don't find it especially satiating, and those protein and higher fiber carb calories are better at filling me up.

Then we got ready to sell our house and sold our house. That process was stressful, and I reverted to previous eating patterns. And then we moved, and the new situation didn't work out, causing even more stress. Next month we are moving again, and here's hoping that I don't linger in the Post phase of the Stress.

(That medical condition is gone and cannot come back, so I no longer have that incentive to reduce fat.)

neanderthin

Recommending to reduce one nutrient in a food source is confusing at best and the authorities that make up the rules don't know how to address this conundrum, so they didn't and don't. The food industrial complex found solutions in the food supply and one's that not everyone agrees with, therefore you'll have to figure that out yourself and once you start to research, if in fact you actually do, you'll see why they might not want to get involved. imo. cheers.

sollyn23l2

neanderthin wrote: »

Recommending to reduce one nutrient in a food source is confusing at best and the authorities that make up the rules don't know how to address this conundrum, so they didn't and don't. The food industrial complex found solutions in the food supply and one's that not everyone agrees with, therefore you'll have to figure that out yourself and once you start to research, if in fact you actually do, you'll see why they might not want to get involved. imo. cheers.

So true. And nutrients almost never do anything in isolation. For example: protein and carbs. Carbs have a protein sparing effect, so when you eat carbs, your body doesn't need as much protein. The fewer carbs you eat, the more protein you need. Or vitamin D and Calcium. Or vitamin C and Iron.

neanderthin

sollyn23l2 wrote: »

neanderthin wrote: »

Recommending to reduce one nutrient in a food source is confusing at best and the authorities that make up the rules don't know how to address this conundrum, so they didn't and don't. The food industrial complex found solutions in the food supply and one's that not everyone agrees with, therefore you'll have to figure that out yourself and once you start to research, if in fact you actually do, you'll see why they might not want to get involved. imo. cheers.

So true. And nutrients almost never do anything in isolation. For example: protein and carbs. Carbs have a protein sparing effect, so when you eat carbs, your body doesn't need as much protein. The fewer carbs you eat, the more protein you need. Or vitamin D and Calcium. Or vitamin C and Iron.

2 really good examples for sure and there's thousands of interactions that rely on the full matrix of nutrients for our biology to function properly. We're never going to outsmart nature no matter how much we try and the proof is in the pudding, as they say. cheers