Anyone else on a high-fat diet?
determined_14
Posts: 258 Member
I tracked my eating habits for week-ish and then tweaked my macros accordingly. I aim to eat 45% fat (78g), but sometimes it's more like 50%. A large part of this is because I put cream in my coffee (used to be whipping cream, now it's more often half n half because I have to create a deficit somehow! 
). I'm not afraid of fat at all, but reading some other threads, and the equations mentioned to find the recommended personal fat intake made me wonder... Is there a level at which it becomes harmful? Is there anyone out there like me, who just straight-up eats half their calories as fat on any given day? What weird things did you learn about your macro breakdown when you started tracking? (By some people's definitions, I also eat low-carb (<150g). Who knew?)
). I'm not afraid of fat at all, but reading some other threads, and the equations mentioned to find the recommended personal fat intake made me wonder... Is there a level at which it becomes harmful? Is there anyone out there like me, who just straight-up eats half their calories as fat on any given day? What weird things did you learn about your macro breakdown when you started tracking? (By some people's definitions, I also eat low-carb (<150g). Who knew?) 0
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There is a group on MFP that is all about eating Low Carb High Fat... My breakdown is 70F 25P 5C.0
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That is low carb, and you'll find plenty more people who do in the lc group
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
Anyone doing keto typically has a fat macro in the 70's, some higher. Most of them see improvement in all of their blood work, some take longer than others, but by the end of a full year, most have everything normal if it wasn't to start.0 -
Wow, that really is high fat, low carb!
It's just fascinating stuff for me-- like, I'm not really *trying* to achieve either one. I guess I like fat. And I know protein is important, so whatever is left gets chucked in the carb bin. And due largely to my prioritizing my beloved fats, my "leftover" carbs turned out to be lower than most. I go over some of the time-- still trying to fit in enough protein in a budget. 0 -
I don't mind high fat if it is healthy fat, wouldn't eat a diet high in saturated or trans fat. Just because you are losing weight and have a deficit does not mean you are healthy if you are eating junky foods.0
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HotPotato22 wrote: »I don't mind high fat if it is healthy fat, wouldn't eat a diet high in saturated or trans fat. Just because you are losing weight and have a deficit does not mean you are healthy if you are eating junky foods.
"Healthy" is so relative! I think I eat pretty well. And no, I'm not afraid of saturated fat.
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I do. High Protein/High Fat/Low Carb. I get around 225-250g of Protein, 50-100g of Carbs and 100+g of fat. It's best to make sure most of your fat is coming from lean meat sources, veggies, nuts. Things like that. Healthy fat sources. If this is where most of the source of your fat is coming from I don't see it being harmful. Of course too much of anything is a bad thing though. It's been working for me personally though.0
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determined_14 wrote: »I tracked my eating habits for week-ish and then tweaked my macros accordingly. I aim to eat 45% fat (78g), but sometimes it's more like 50%. A large part of this is because I put cream in my coffee (used to be whipping cream, now it's more often half n half because I have to create a deficit somehow! ). I'm not afraid of fat at all, but reading some other threads, and the equations mentioned to find the recommended personal fat intake made me wonder... Is there a level at which it becomes harmful? Is there anyone out there like me, who just straight-up eats half their calories as fat on any given day? What weird things did you learn about your macro breakdown when you started tracking? (By some people's definitions, I also eat low-carb (<150g). Who knew?)
Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010 Recommends 20-35 % of calories from fat with 10% or less Saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends 7% or less saturated fat. Hope this answered your question Good Luck, Choose wisely0 -
Yes, I eat high fat, moderate protein low carb. I aim for around 100 g fat/day (preferably saturated as much as possible), 75-100 g protein and 20-40 g carbs.0
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I don't know if there is a level where fat becomes harmful, I guess if intake comes at the expense of fulfilling the other nutrients your body needs.
Some people find it satiating, but I don't, and I can definitely feel hungry when my fat intake is higher than normal. I do think fat adds a lot of flavor and can be satisfying in that sense, however.
Fat is more than twice the calories per gram than protein and carbohydrate. If you lowered your fat goal by just one gram, you could increase both your protein and carbohydrate macro's by one gram. No-fat isn't the way, but overcorrecting with a high-fat diet can leave you with not much food, really, to show for your calories.0 -
CharlieRuns7225 wrote: »[
Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010 Recommends 20-35 % of calories from fat with 10% or less Saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends 7% or less saturated fat. Hope this answered your question Good Luck, Choose wisely
As I understand it, those guidelines are finally being amended, particularly the part about saturated fat. Apparently it's not the enemy after all-- who knew?
It looks like there is no real, documented risk to a high-fat diet from what people are posting here, and I am getting enough food, so I guess I'll sail along happily. Thanks all!
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I'm doing Keto which is high fat/medium protein/ very low carbs. I also strive for 70%F 25%P 5%C. Also saturated fats are not the enemy we once believed. There is so much research out there on this! Saturated fats help regulate hormonal systems and your mind (which is mostly made of fat lol). So a type II diabetic, celiacs suffer, PCOS having, with some clinical depression thrown in person like me really thrives on this diet. I have honestly never felt better, had better blood work, and have had my depression so stable in my entire adult life. I really find it miraculous for me!0
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^^ That's great, glad it's working for you! (Yeah, I admit that after years of being one of the rebels who insisted that eggs, full-fat dairy, and red meat are NOT unhealthy, it's nice to see the research come down on our side. ) 0
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determined_14 wrote: »I tracked my eating habits for week-ish and then tweaked my macros accordingly. I aim to eat 45% fat (78g), but sometimes it's more like 50%. A large part of this is because I put cream in my coffee (used to be whipping cream, now it's more often half n half because I have to create a deficit somehow! ). I'm not afraid of fat at all, but reading some other threads, and the equations mentioned to find the recommended personal fat intake made me wonder... Is there a level at which it becomes harmful? Is there anyone out there like me, who just straight-up eats half their calories as fat on any given day? What weird things did you learn about your macro breakdown when you started tracking? (By some people's definitions, I also eat low-carb (<150g). Who knew?)
According to most medical organisations, yes too much fat is harmful, especially for your heart. The usual recommendation is to keep it below 25-30% of your calories and to make sure that it is not saturated and definitely not trans fat. There a lot of people on this site believing otherwise, but drs did not get that memo.
This is from the American Heart Association, recommending somthing like 5% of daily calories coming from saturated fat:
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/The-American-Heart-Associations-Diet-and-Lifestyle-Recommendations_UCM_305855_Article.jsp
WHO recommends no more than 10%:
http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/5_population_nutrient/en/index12.html0 -
determined_14 wrote: »CharlieRuns7225 wrote: »[
Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010 Recommends 20-35 % of calories from fat with 10% or less Saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends 7% or less saturated fat. Hope this answered your question Good Luck, Choose wisely
As I understand it, those guidelines are finally being amended, particularly the part about saturated fat. Apparently it's not the enemy after all-- who knew?
It looks like there is no real, documented risk to a high-fat diet from what people are posting here, and I am getting enough food, so I guess I'll sail along happily. Thanks all!
Actually the American Heart Association recently replied to this claim. They still hate saturated fats, sorry:
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Saturated-Fats_UCM_301110_Article.jsp
"There’s a lot of conflicting information about saturated fats. Should I eat them or not? The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fats – which are found in butter, cheese, red meat and other animal-based foods. Decades of sound science has proven it can raise your “bad” cholesterol and put you at higher risk for heart disease.
The more important thing to remember is the overall dietary picture. Saturated fats are just one piece of the puzzle. In general, you can’t go wrong eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fewer calories.
When you hear about the latest “diet of the day” or a new or odd-sounding theory about food, consider the source. The American Heart Association makes dietary recommendations only after carefully considering the latest scientific evidence. "
This is about 6 weeks old0 -
I eat high fat. All my fat comes from healthy oils, grass fed butter, avocados etc. I average 80-90 grams of fat a day.0
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determined_14 wrote: »CharlieRuns7225 wrote: »[
Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010 Recommends 20-35 % of calories from fat with 10% or less Saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends 7% or less saturated fat. Hope this answered your question Good Luck, Choose wisely
As I understand it, those guidelines are finally being amended, particularly the part about saturated fat. Apparently it's not the enemy after all-- who knew?
It looks like there is no real, documented risk to a high-fat diet from what people are posting here, and I am getting enough food, so I guess I'll sail along happily. Thanks all!
Actually the American Heart Association recently replied to this claim. They still hate saturated fats, sorry:
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Saturated-Fats_UCM_301110_Article.jsp
"There’s a lot of conflicting information about saturated fats. Should I eat them or not? The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fats – which are found in butter, cheese, red meat and other animal-based foods. Decades of sound science has proven it can raise your “bad” cholesterol and put you at higher risk for heart disease.
The more important thing to remember is the overall dietary picture. Saturated fats are just one piece of the puzzle. In general, you can’t go wrong eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fewer calories.
When you hear about the latest “diet of the day” or a new or odd-sounding theory about food, consider the source. The American Heart Association makes dietary recommendations only after carefully considering the latest scientific evidence. "
This is about 6 weeks old 0 -
As others have already said, the low carb folks usually are, although you might not be low carb. On the whole I think preferred macro mix varies a lot person to person and I'd say just experiment with it and see how you feel best (and sure, read the studies).
If you look at traditional diets, there's quite a variety of different macro make-ups, which I think goes along with my view that no particular macro make-up is best (or best for everyone). One interesting thing I read recently that I want to look into some more is that the basis for the Med Diet (the traditional diet on Crete) was actually rather high in fat as a percentage because so many of the calories were from olive oil (with much of the other food items lower calorie foods like veggies).0 -
Everything I've read says that the link between sat fat and cholesterol exists for only a minority of the population, so the idea that it's a problem for everyone, including people with no cholesterol problems, is one I'm skeptical of.
I know there are studies linking meat or red meat consumption and increased mortality (well, earlier mortality, as we all die), but I don't believe they are more than correlations and don't do a great job of separating out other associations (like the fact that in the US eating lots of red meat often means lots of fast food or that people who actively quit red meat or quit meat in general often are more mindful of how they eat in general). I should research this again, though, and see if I find it more convincing than I did before, as I last really dug into it about 10 years ago.0 -
Lourdesong wrote: »I don't know if there is a level where fat becomes harmful, I guess if intake comes at the expense of fulfilling the other nutrients your body needs.
Some people find it satiating, but I don't, and I can definitely feel hungry when my fat intake is higher than normal. I do think fat adds a lot of flavor and can be satisfying in that sense, however.
Fat is more than twice the calories per gram than protein and carbohydrate. If you lowered your fat goal by just one gram, you could increase both your protein and carbohydrate macro's by one gram. No-fat isn't the way, but overcorrecting with a high-fat diet can leave you with not much food, really, to show for your calories.
This is a very personal thing. I get about 65-70% of my calories from fat, 25-30% from protein and 5% or less from carbs. I find I am way less hungry (on the same number of calories) than I was when I had a more "normal" split that gave me about 30% of my calories from fats 30% from protein and 40% carbs.
Oh, and my numbers? 17% decrease in triglycerides, 24% decrease in my LDL, 12% increase in my HDL.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »As others have already said, the low carb folks usually are, although you might not be low carb. On the whole I think preferred macro mix varies a lot person to person and I'd say just experiment with it and see how you feel best (and sure, read the studies).
If you look at traditional diets, there's quite a variety of different macro make-ups, which I think goes along with my view that no particular macro make-up is best (or best for everyone). One interesting thing I read recently that I want to look into some more is that the basis for the Med Diet (the traditional diet on Crete) was actually rather high in fat as a percentage because so many of the calories were from olive oil (with much of the other food items lower calorie foods like veggies).
I don't actually think of myself as low-carb, especially with others who have chimed in with their macros here. Just according to some definitions I've read on here, my diet would start to fall towards the lower end of the scale.
I whole-heartedly agree with you about the differing macro ratios and none being "ideal." Not only are we all different, we as a species are tremendously adaptable. I recently read "Diet Cults," and excellent look at the ludicrously of seeking "the one true diet" for humanity. This pursuit doesn't give nature nearly enough credit! 0 -
On Monday I started a modified fat fast (a strict fat fast is supposed to be 90% fat, under 1000 calories per day) and haven't gone under 75% fat or over 1200 calories. So far, I have lost 5 pounds (about a pound a day, which is typical for this type of eating plan). It was a little tough in the beginning, but once I got over the initial three-day hump, I feel fantastic. There's nothing better than waking up each morning to see the scale continually move downward.0
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American Heart association's advice is probably not one that I would follow regarding saturated fats
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648
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I go 40% fat, 35% carb and 25% protein. Works great for me; nice happy medium that suits my tastes in food. Not too worried about which fats I eat although I do try to eat a few avocados a week.0
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I only track calories once in a while. Never watch my macros, so I could be eating a high fat diet. Since I haven't gained any weight on maintainence I think my fat intake must be good.0
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