Does it matter if fat intake is consistently low?

I believe the recommendation is to get 0.3g of fat per lb of goal body weight as a minimum. As Novus said, a reasonable amount of fat is essential, it's used on all sorts of processes in the body.

Fats help your body to absorb “fat soluble” vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Seems fine -- certainly you need some fat, but various other countries (like Japan) have lower fat diets than the US on average, and the MFP recommendation is not based on essential fat but general guidelines for balance.

Omega 3s are important, and the best source is fatty fish (like salmon, it need not taste "fatty" in the way other meats can). Nuts and seeds (not just peanuts) are IMO pretty healthful foods to add too, and avocado if you like it. As well as those, I also love olives, so being overly low on fat is not something I ever worry about. I don't think you need to worry about it either, but just some ideas if you want to add more.

Very interesting. I’d been wondering the same thing. I seldom get near the fat goal.

kiela64 wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

consider adding some higher fat options - like greek yogurt - i saw that chobani now has some greek yogurts that have nut butters mixed in (I was skeptical at first but enjoy them) - they are 7g of fat per cup, vs the 1-2g in many of the lower fat versions (or go hog wild with something like noosa - which is full-fat yogurt)

Is dairy fat good though? I went to a registered nutritionist recommended by my doctor a few years ago and they told me to go with the lowest fat dairy possible, and they especially pushed "light cheese" (which is disgusting btw). That said, 5% greek yogurt is delicious and I'd happily add it.

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Seems fine -- certainly you need some fat, but various other countries (like Japan) have lower fat diets than the US on average, and the MFP recommendation is not based on essential fat but general guidelines for balance.

Omega 3s are important, and the best source is fatty fish (like salmon, it need not taste "fatty" in the way other meats can). Nuts and seeds (not just peanuts) are IMO pretty healthful foods to add too, and avocado if you like it. As well as those, I also love olives, so being overly low on fat is not something I ever worry about. I don't think you need to worry about it either, but just some ideas if you want to add more.

Thanks! Maybe what I need to focus on is the quality not quantity of the fat?

I've tried taking omega 3 capsules, but they give me fish burps literally all day, no matter what else I eat I still burp fish-taste. It's not that bad to begin with, but it's pretty unpleasant to taste the same thing all day.

I also eat eggs on occasion, I just find them finicky because they don't really make-ahead or keep very long (I typically cook once a week and freeze sandwiches and a soup/stew in portions). Also the nutritionist I saw ~5 years ago said never to eat more than one egg in a day because of the high cholesterol. (Which I never do, when I have them I usually have 2, but I don't have them too often).

I tend to go with peanuts because they're higher in protein and decently inexpensive for a large container I can portion out. But I also like sunflower seeds, I can make a point to get some.

Egg studies are all over the place, but I believe the main consensus currently is that a couple eggs a day are fine (there was one recent study that said otherwise, but the rest of the more recent opinion/studies seems to be that eggs aren't a problem, and that cholesterol in food is unlikely to matter for most). Here's one discussion: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cholesterol-unscrambled_b_6692940

With dairy fat, the longitudinal studies don't seem to show any better results for those who consume low or no fat dairy vs. full fat (correlation analysis), although the debate on that less settled, IMO. My personal view is that I like low fat cottage cheese and greek yogurt just as well (I don't drink milk), and they have fewer calories and are just as filling for me, so I consume them as a good source of protein. I don't think dairy fat is harmful (within reason), but I also don't think it's particularly beneficial, so I don't go out of my way to include it in my diet. Cheese, of course, is all about taste, so no low fat cheese for me!

Here's one article on dairy: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/is-low-fat-or-full-fat-the-better-choice-for-dairy-products.

I would say don't go out of your way to keep fat low, but if you are happy and satisfied with your current diet and don't have any health issues, it doesn't sound like there's any need to change it, your levels aren't super low.

On omega-3, there are vegetarian sources like flax seed, but they have one kind of omega-3 (ALA) that we usually are less likely to be low in. In theory we convert ALA to DLA if we have enough, but that's not consistently true for all, from what I've read. Fish is the best source of DLA/EPA. If you don't like fish/haven't had a good experience with fish oil, there are algae sources (pill form) that vegans often use. I take them when I am not eating much fish, although I'm not saying this is really necessary -- I'm nerdy about these things.

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Seems fine -- certainly you need some fat, but various other countries (like Japan) have lower fat diets than the US on average, and the MFP recommendation is not based on essential fat but general guidelines for balance.

Omega 3s are important, and the best source is fatty fish (like salmon, it need not taste "fatty" in the way other meats can). Nuts and seeds (not just peanuts) are IMO pretty healthful foods to add too, and avocado if you like it. As well as those, I also love olives, so being overly low on fat is not something I ever worry about. I don't think you need to worry about it either, but just some ideas if you want to add more.

Thanks! Maybe what I need to focus on is the quality not quantity of the fat?

I've tried taking omega 3 capsules, but they give me fish burps literally all day, no matter what else I eat I still burp fish-taste. It's not that bad to begin with, but it's pretty unpleasant to taste the same thing all day. [/quote]

if you are burping fish taste, it means that the oil is rancid. Fish oil capsules should be refrigerated.