Question about Fats???

Is there a specific medical reason that you're advised to be on a low fat diet? As long as it isn't crowding out other things that you need (like protein or fiber), I wouldn't worry too much about sometimes exceeding my fat goal. The only thing to be aware of with fat is that the calories *can* add up quickly, so choosing a lot of high fat foods may make it difficult to meet your calorie goals (unless you are adjusting elsewhere).

There are now reasons to devour mono fats, embrace sat fats, avoid poly fats found in ultra processed seed oils like soy and canola (extracted using chemicals and laced with deodorizer), and run as far as you can from trans fats (margarine, crisco, coolwhip, and what is used in processed boxed/bagged type foods).

My rule of thumb is to eat what nature made, avoid all man made processed oils. I will do cold or expelled pressed, like avocado and coconut oils. So I now enjoy butter, cheese, chia seeds, and coconut without stressing about them being high in sat fats. I also avoid processed foods like mayo, jar sauces, and anything else with the bad oils and fats.

Keep in mind there isn't just one kind of sat fats; there are many kinds found in nature. Assuming all sat fats are 'bad' is old science, the real unhealthy culprit looks to be the highly processed versions.

Yes. I'm 44 and had a heart attack less than 2 months ago.

Ask your doctor about it but I am like 99% sure that the important fat that you need is unsaturated fat, because your body needs it to absorb the vitamins A, D, E and K, keep your skin healthy and other important stuff. That's because it has double-bonds in between the C-Atoms. In addition, there are two types of cholesterol, one with high density and one with low density. One can get suck in your blood vessels and hence be a cause of heart attacks. The other one can remove it.
Technically, humans don't need saturated fat exept for using it as an energy source.

But as I said, ask your doctor, this is the stuff I learned at school in biochemistry.

I would talk to your doctors about this!

So much incorrect/bad science....

Let's start with the easy one; trans fats. You want to get as close to zero of these as possible. They are bad all around. Bad enough that food companies are being forced to eliminate them from their products. Trans fats are common in pastries, donuts, frozen pizzas/meals. The trick about them, is that if there is less than .5g per serving, they don't have add it onto the food label.
fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/labelingnutrition/ucm274590.htm

Saturated fats next. You also want to limit these. These are found heavily in animal products. Coconut oil actually has the highest amount of saturated fats overall but for some reason people think that because they are medium chain fatty acids that makes a difference. It doesn't. They get broken down by the same enzymes in the same way every other saturated fat does. The main reason you want to limit saturated fat is because it causes an upregulation of a hormone that is involved in cholesterol synthesis in the body. To limit saturated fats while eating animal products, look for lean cuts of meat and (unfortunately) switch to skim milk.

Last are the unsaturated fatty acids (poly and mono) aka PUFA's and MUFA's. These are the the "healthy" fats. One of the best things you can do is work on getting your Omega-3 fatty acids. You should incorporate fatty fish into your diet to get Omega-3's. Most people get plenty of Omega-6's as these are the ones found in a lot of the oils but the American diet is horribly lacking in Omega-3's overall. The reason you have to eat 3's and 6's is because your body cannot make them (it's all a bunch of biochemistry) and they are essential to normal function.

It doesn't end at fats though. There is an overwhelming amount of research into how carbohydrates affect cholesterol. And while we're on cholesterol, I'd like to straighten something out. LDL is not a type of cholesterol, it's low density lipoprotein and it carries cholesterol and fatty acids from you liver to all body tissues. HDL, high density lipoprotein picks up cholesterol from all body cells and brings it back to the liver to be used to make things like hormones and bile acids. Anyways, carbs are great for you, if you eat them right. Work on switching to whole grain options as opposed to breads/pastas/treats with a lot of sugar and white flour. Whole grain products carry a vast amount of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that help your body do what it needs to do.

Overall it's about finding a balance between eating a nutrient dense diet, incorporating exercise, and maintaining a healthy body weight, while at the same time not going overboard and forgetting how nice it is to eat donuts here and there. You don't have to be perfect on what you eat every day, but if you take time with it and slowly work on learning and making changes towards healthier choices it becomes second nature.