"Fat Head" - is dietary fat REALLY that bad for you?

Options
dsnyprincessRN
dsnyprincessRN Posts: 20
edited January 2015 in Food and Nutrition
I just finished watching the documentary "Fat Head" and thought it was really interesting. A quick article search through ProQuest showed that a lot of what the documentary showed about dietary fat was true - which totally goes against what society tells us (fat is the devil).

I'm curious to hear from anyone who has adopted a high-fat low carb or paleo or similar type diet, and your results. It just makes so much sense when you take the time to think about it (or research...)
«1

Replies

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
    Options
    Dietary fat is necessary for many metabolic processes. Going wild on dietary fat is unnecessary.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
    Options
    I guess to expand on my comment:

    Balanced macros (fat, carbs, protein) are great because the more restrictive the diet the more likely people are to fail. Carbs are great for energy, fat is important to metabolic processes, protein is great for tissue repair. There's no need to cut one out to lose weight.
  • honkytonks85
    honkytonks85 Posts: 669 Member
    Options
    I tried low carb and got really bad headaches. I can understand the science behind it but it never suited my preference. My preference is to eat a diet that is focused on fruit, vegetables, fish, whole grains, dairy and the occasional red meat - "meditarranean" style.... studies have shown this is a great diet for health.
  • Barbellarella_
    Barbellarella_ Posts: 454 Member
    edited January 2015
    Options
    I personally have never felt well or performed well on High fat/Low carb. Not to say that some people wouldn't. I just prefer to have a moderate and balanced approach to my macros.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
    Options
    honkytonks85 wrote: »
    I tried low carb and got really bad headaches. I can understand the science behind it but it never suited my preference. My preference is to eat a diet that is focused on fruit, vegetables, fish, whole grains, dairy and the occasional red meat - "meditarranean" style.... studies have shown this is a great diet for health.

    The science behind it usually claims that when you eat more fat you burn more fat. That's only true because you are burning dietary fat along with the fat from your body.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    Yep, I've always heard you need to eat fat to lose fat. How much to eat, I have no idea...
  • dsnyprincessRN
    dsnyprincessRN Posts: 20
    Options
    I feel like diets are so completely individual and what works for one person may totally NOT work for someone else. I just thought that the higher fat lower carb diet totally goes against what is mainstream (hi food pyramid) and was interested in hearing from those who practiced this sort of diet.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    Options
    I watched Fat Head last week. It's biased, as most of the food documentaries are. Fat Head promotes low carb diets. I found the documentary interesting, but unconvincing.
  • dsnyprincessRN
    dsnyprincessRN Posts: 20
    Options
    jim180155 wrote: »
    I watched Fat Head last week. It's biased, as most of the food documentaries are. Fat Head promotes low carb diets. I found the documentary interesting, but unconvincing.

    Agreed, I also found it super biased and one-sided, but raised some interesting discussion topics for sure
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
    Options
    usmcmp wrote: »
    honkytonks85 wrote: »
    I tried low carb and got really bad headaches. I can understand the science behind it but it never suited my preference. My preference is to eat a diet that is focused on fruit, vegetables, fish, whole grains, dairy and the occasional red meat - "meditarranean" style.... studies have shown this is a great diet for health.

    The science behind it usually claims that when you eat more fat you burn more fat. That's only true because you are burning dietary fat along with the fat from your body.

    This. Here is a good explanation
    http://sigmanutrition.com/eat-more-fat-burn-more-fat-myth-magic-or-metabolic-advantage/
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
    Options
    dsnyprincessRN wrote: »
    I feel like diets are so completely individual and what works for one person may totally NOT work for someone else. I just thought that the higher fat lower carb diet totally goes against what is mainstream (hi food pyramid) and was interested in hearing from those who practiced this sort of diet.

    Atkins is pretty popular, so I don't really think it isn't mainstream.

    I tried low carb for a while when I first started. I really enjoyed that I felt free to eat meat and cheese all I wanted. Then came the struggle of getting vegetables in (fruit was out of the question, too many carbs). Vegetables and fruit are important to providing the micronutrients our bodies need. I started to feel horrible and had zero energy. They say it passes once you "detox" of carbs and sugar (which is false). Once your body runs out of the easy energy from carbs it switches to a different process and you get used to that energy level it provides.

    You drop weight quickly at the beginning because carbs hold water in the body. So, you're just dropping water and glycogen weight. Unless you are careful to get a variety of vegetables you could end up with problems. Workouts can be very rough when on a low carb diet.
  • Barbellarella_
    Barbellarella_ Posts: 454 Member
    Options
    MrM27 wrote: »
    Did we travel back in time to 1984?

    Powter1.jpg
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    edited January 2015
    Options
    I really liked Fat Head, insofar as a counter to the nonsense of Supersize Me.

    I'm not sure I buy into the high fat diet promoted by the experts in the doc. My experience is that fat is not satiating, I struggle the most with hunger when my fat macro level is high for the day. My experience tells me that a high fat diet, if I wasn't paying attention, that I would overeat on it, by a lot.
  • dsnyprincessRN
    dsnyprincessRN Posts: 20
    Options
    MrM27 wrote: »
    Did we travel back in time to 1984?

    sorry wasn't born then just trying to learn :)

  • dsnyprincessRN
    dsnyprincessRN Posts: 20
    Options
    Lourdesong wrote: »
    I really liked Fat Head, insofar as a counter to the nonsense of Supersize Me.

    I'm not sure I buy into the high fat diet promoted by the experts in the doc. My experience is that fat is not satiating, I struggle the most with hunger when my fat macro level is high for the day. My experience tells me that a high fat diet, if I wasn't paying attention, that I would overeat on it, by a lot.

    I saw on my random internet dawdling a guy who did the high-fat low carb thing and topped his steak with half a stick of butter.... a) that looks nauseating and b) i just have a hard time seeing how someone thinks "that looks good for me."

  • dsnyprincessRN
    dsnyprincessRN Posts: 20
    Options
    MrM27 wrote: »
    dsnyprincessRN wrote: »
    Lourdesong wrote: »
    I really liked Fat Head, insofar as a counter to the nonsense of Supersize Me.

    I'm not sure I buy into the high fat diet promoted by the experts in the doc. My experience is that fat is not satiating, I struggle the most with hunger when my fat macro level is high for the day. My experience tells me that a high fat diet, if I wasn't paying attention, that I would overeat on it, by a lot.

    I saw on my random internet dawdling a guy who did the high-fat low carb thing and topped his steak with half a stick of butter.... a) that looks nauseating and b) i just have a hard time seeing how someone thinks "that looks good for me."
    Just because you don't think someone can think something is good for you that doesn't mean someone else can't?

    You're also looking at 1 piece of a person diet as opposed to the overall contents.

    Welp I was aiming for light humor with that comment, but I get the flip side - someone can think the slice of pizza that I think looks godly looks like a greasy pile of crap. Diets are individual, no single diet is perfect for everyone, I was just interested in the discussion of this one.
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    Options
    Steak topped with a butter/blue cheese crumble mixture sounds pretty delightful right about now.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
    Options
    dsnyprincessRN wrote: »
    MrM27 wrote: »
    dsnyprincessRN wrote: »
    Lourdesong wrote: »
    I really liked Fat Head, insofar as a counter to the nonsense of Supersize Me.

    I'm not sure I buy into the high fat diet promoted by the experts in the doc. My experience is that fat is not satiating, I struggle the most with hunger when my fat macro level is high for the day. My experience tells me that a high fat diet, if I wasn't paying attention, that I would overeat on it, by a lot.

    I saw on my random internet dawdling a guy who did the high-fat low carb thing and topped his steak with half a stick of butter.... a) that looks nauseating and b) i just have a hard time seeing how someone thinks "that looks good for me."
    Just because you don't think someone can think something is good for you that doesn't mean someone else can't?

    You're also looking at 1 piece of a person diet as opposed to the overall contents.

    Welp I was aiming for light humor with that comment, but I get the flip side - someone can think the slice of pizza that I think looks godly looks like a greasy pile of crap. Diets are individual, no single diet is perfect for everyone, I was just interested in the discussion of this one.

    I posted my experience above to start and actual discussion, but you didn't reply or ask questions about my experience. I've been at this since 2010 and I am a competitive bodybuilder. I'd say my experience as well as my knowledge of the science behind it would be enough for you to continue to ask me questions.

Categories