How little is too little fat?

Hi Erin,

How much fat is a tricky thing because all fats are not created equal! There are good fats and bad fats. The good fat can actually help you to boost your metabolism and help you burn the unwanted fat that your body carries as well as contribute to healthy cholesterol levels and good heart health. The bad fat not only contributes to weight and fat gain but also clogs your arteries, raises bad cholesterol, lowers good cholesterol and causes a multitude of other health issues.

My opinion (and it is just that...MY opinion) is to go ahead and trust what MFP has calculated for your daily fat totals, because lets be honest...the program wouldn't be so wildly popular if it wasn't a decent program. I would try to concentrate more on what type of fats your eating. In general, the Unsaturated fats (Mono- and Poly-) and Omega 3 Fatty Acids are good and the Saturated and Trans Fatty Acids are bad, but I can break it down a bit further as well...

MONOUNSATURATED FATS
-Olive Oil (big time health benefits), Canola Oil, Sunflower Oil, Peanut Oil (best to keep all oils in an opaque/dark container)
-Nuts (especially Almonds)
-Avocados
-Olives
-Peanut Butter

POLYUNSATURATED FATS
-Soybean Oil, Corn Oil, Safflower Oil (all must be refrigerated and kept in an opaque/dark container or they could go bad and turn into bad fats...best to stick to one of the MONO- Oils)
-Walnuts
-Flaxseed
-Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Sesame Seeds
-Tofu

OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS (WITH EPA AND DHA)-technically a sub category of Polyunsaturated Fats
-Salmon, Mackeral, Herring, Tuna, Trout, Anchovies
-Good quality fish oil caplets (ones that say how much EPA and DHA are in the caplets)


SATURATED FATS (Animal Fats)
-Beef, Pork, Lamb (Chicken breast has less Saturated fat, provided its skinless, than these meats listed so is a better choice)
-Cheese
-Cream
-Ice Cream
-Dairy products (especially full fat)
-Palm Oil, Coconut Oil
-Lard

TRANS FATTY ACIDS (Man made and VERY bad for our bodies!!!) (Anything that has "Hydrogenated" or "Partially Hydrogenated Oils" on the ingredient list contains Trans Fat)
-Cookies
-Cakes
-Margarine
-Potato Chips
-Icings
-Donuts
-Commercially packaged or prepared foods
-Fried foods
-Candy bars

If you are wanting to break it down even further than that in terms of "how much fat", you can take a look at this...


Total fats=20-35% of daily calorie count (Eg. 1570 cal/day x 0.35= 549.5 cal of fat)

**1 gram of fat=9 calories** (does not matter the type of fat for this calculation)
Therefore... 549.5 cal / 9cal= 61g fat/day

Saturated Fat=No more than 10% of total calorie count (1570cal x 0.10=157cal)
Trans Fat=No more than 1% of total calorie count but should be eliminated completely if possible. (1570cal x 0.01=15.7cal)


I hope this helps you to figure out the 'great fat debate'! lol I have been doing a lot of research since starting on MFP at the beginning of January and have learned a lot...hopefully I can help others too with what I have learned.

Take Care and Good Luck, I know it can be difficult!

Andi

No problem at all, my pleasure. Good luck with everything, I know you can do it!