So confused about fats

jess1992uga
jess1992uga Posts: 603 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Alrighty so we have all heard by now that unsaturated fats are healthy and saturated fats not so much. Well I am someone who takes following this kind of knowledge and making it into absolute rules as in NO saturated fat. I work with a dietician and she basically slapped that idea out of my head. So now I look for "healthy" sources of saturated fat as okay. For example in nuts and nut butters where the unsaturated fat (good) outweighs the saturated fat (bad).
This has been working great. I still semi-freak out about saturated fats but I try and relax. But then I got really confused. I thought I had it down pat that saturated fats are in mostly animal based fats (I can't break these down anyway due to organ complication) so when I was going to buy some pumpkin bagels today ( 'tis the season of my favorite flavoring) I was perplexed when it had saturated fat in it. With 2 g total fat, .5 g saturated I just don't know if it's okay to eat it. I mean I bought them because some friends on here pushed me to as a way to break free of the fear, but where the heck is the fat in my bagel from and is it healthy?

Replies

  • wfte
    wfte Posts: 195 Member
    It's probably lard or something. As far as fats go I wouldn't worry unless they're Trans Fats.
  • RunnerD9000
    RunnerD9000 Posts: 16 Member
    just about any commercial bakery stuff (breads, bagels, pizza crust, snacks, donuts, pastry ) can have mono or diglycerides which are emulsifiers used to make the water and other fats blend together. they are exempt from labeling laws as a trans fat. ( nice huh ).
  • joshzaite
    joshzaite Posts: 5
    A quick google search showed a varitey of recipes. Some included vegetable oil, some eggs.

    You would be better served worrying about superfluous carbs than 0.5g saturated fat. Kudos to your dietician for trying to break your fat-fear.
  • jess1992uga
    jess1992uga Posts: 603 Member
    So do or don't worry. And are you guys saying it actually has trans fat in it too. And here I thought it was okay because it's made with pumpkin, has 9 g protein, and 5 g fiber....stupid fat.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    Don't worry. How much do you weigh? How many grams of fat are you eating per day? I aim for AT LEAST .35g fat for every lb of body weight. The recommended daily value is up to 20g saturated fat. I wouldn't worry about a few grams here and there.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    It's probably lard or something. As far as fats go I wouldn't worry unless they're Trans Fats.

    I would agree with this. Coconut oil is saturated and is very good for you, as is raw organic butter. Olive oil is not saturated and is really good for you. These are the fats I eat as well as cod liver oil for it's benefits.

    I wouldn't worry about it. It makes things way to complicated. Just avoid trans fats.
  • sarahkatara
    sarahkatara Posts: 826 Member
    Jess, .5g of ANYTHING is not enough to sway this decision. 0.5g saturated fat is basically zero. Even if it were more, you need the nutrition badly. ALL types of fat. I know it's tempting to keep thinking in these (in your words) absolute terms. That saturated fat is bad or good. However you have to challenge that, remember. It's not bad or good, it just IS. So are unsaturated fats, trans fat, soium, carbs, protein, sugar, fiber, etc etc. Especially in your situation you need every type of nutrition. I think you should talk to your nutritionist about these specifics too. Whenever I used to ask mine questions like that, I learned something new, and she put it in terms that made sense. She also gave me a lot of handouts about things like that, that I could read later to remind myself. ASK her if she has anything like that and ask her why all of the different nutrients, even "bad" ones, are necessary for recovery. :heart:
    And don't get caught up if people get crazy on here.
  • gddrdld
    gddrdld Posts: 464 Member
    DO NOT worry about .5 grams of fat! That is ridiculous....Just avoid hydrogenated oils (ie: trans fat sources). Listen to your RD...and, I am also an RD.

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