Healthy Fats and Oils.......IMO!

[Wifezilla]

Found another interesting article...

" While the West started avoiding fats at all costs, researchers continued to study what causes heart disease. As they discovered more about the effects of different kinds of fatssaturated, trans, mono- and poly-unsaturatedon different kinds of cholesterolHDL ("good") and LDL ("bad")the weaker the link between dietary fats and heart disease became. Unsaturated fats, like those in nuts, fish, olive oil and avocado, are fluid at room temperature; they reduce LDL, which causes buildup in the arteries. Saturated fats, found in meat and dairy, chocolate and palm oil are solid at room temperature and their effects on cholesterol is more complicated. Coconut oil, for example, has been shown to raise both good and bad cholesterol levels, whereas some of the fats in dark chocolate and beef have a neutral effect.

In other words, as Taubes puts it, when it comes to cholesterol, food high in saturated fats may be, at worst, a wash. "If you work out the numbers, you come to the surreal conclusion that you can eat lard straight from the can and conceivably reduce your risk of heart disease," he wrote in 2002. These days, he says he sees evidence of the conventional wisdom everywhere, from low-fat products on the shelves to the customers at his local bagel shop ordering soy cream cheese and skim lattes. "I always want to ask them why," he says. "Theres this overarching idea that fat is bad for youthat something has to be the problem with our diets, because we die of heart disease and we get fat."

Increasingly, researchers and nutrition experts are starting to come around. "I have been in this business for 35 years and I have never been one of those who maintain that fat is bad," says Daan Kromhout, a professor of public health at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. "We dont even know whether the two thingsfat and [being] overweighthave anything to do with each other. The fat issue is much more complicated than it was once thought to be." Moreover, Kromhout says, stating only the amount of fat in a food product is misleading, since "you have to specify what type of fat is includedsaturated, unsaturated, trans-fatbecause if you dont, people will just cut down on all fats, the good ones included.""
http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/64/fat-is-where-its-at

 

[Lovechooks]

Found another interesting article...

" While the West started avoiding fats at all costs, researchers continued to study what causes heart disease. As they discovered more about the effects of different kinds of fatssaturated, trans, mono- and poly-unsaturatedon different kinds of cholesterolHDL ("good") and LDL ("bad")the weaker the link between dietary fats and heart disease became. Unsaturated fats, like those in nuts, fish, olive oil and avocado, are fluid at room temperature; they reduce LDL, which causes buildup in the arteries. Saturated fats, found in meat and dairy, chocolate and palm oil are solid at room temperature and their effects on cholesterol is more complicated. Coconut oil, for example, has been shown to raise both good and bad cholesterol levels, whereas some of the fats in dark chocolate and beef have a neutral effect.

Yep I totally agree with this statement. Iv never said unsat fats are a problem and eat them daily. But most of your other statements I just cannot see the reasoning in them.

Anyway I agree with others a balanced diet is the best way to go and cutting out a whole food unless you have a good reason too such as a medical illness or allergy is asking for trouble.

I like a good varietly of everything I still get unsat fat and I do use butter but I always hope to not be taking in to much as that style of eating works well for me.

I also think each to their own what works for one may not be right for another person.

 

[Wifezilla]

"As they discovered more about the effects of different kinds of fats...the weaker the link between dietary fats and heart disease became."

 

[Wifezilla]

Here is another blog I subscribe to...
www.DrBriffa.com
"Dr John Briffa qualified as a doctor from University College London Medical School in 1990. A prize-winning medical student, he also completed an intercalated BSc degree in Biomedical Sciences during his medical studies."

Here is a recent post about saturated fat...

"While were repeatedly told saturated fat has heart-stopping potential, the evidence for this is not as strong as you might imagine. For instance, of the couple of dozen or so studies that have looked at the link between saturated fat and heart disease, all but a small handful have found no significant association. Also, the great majority of studies which have had people reduce their saturated fat in take have found no benefits in terms of disease risk either.

Saturated fat has been said to boost cholesterol levels, which is then assumed to boost heart disease risk. However, the evidence suggests that when individuals take dietary steps to reduce cholesterol, it simply does not save lives. That strongly suggests that cholesterol is simply not the dire threat to health it is so often made out to be. All of the evidence in this area is reviewed and referenced in my forthcoming book The True You Diet which is out at the end of May.

The idea that saturated fat is, for many of us, deeply ingrained in our psyches. For this reason I feel its important for all of us to remember this plain and simple fact:

Saturated fat has been in the human diet for as long as we have been on this planet, and is therefore something we are likely to be very well adapted to.

Compare this, however, to the industrially produced trans fats spewed out of factory facilities that weve had in our diet for less than a century.

Think of food in this way, and it becomes intuitively apparent to many people that saturated fat have likely had an unnecessarily bad rap. I agree that industrially produced trans fats should be removed from food. But the notion that saturated fat is just as bad or even worse is neither based in science nor common sense."
http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2007/03/02/saturated-fat-said-to-be-as-bad-as-trans-fats-but-is-it/

One more post...
"Over the last 50-odd years, there have been more than two-dozen studies that have analysed the relationship between saturated fat and risk of heart disease. All but four of these studies found no association between saturated fat intake and heart disease. And in one study, higher intakes of saturated fat in the diet were found to be associated with reduced narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the head (the carotid arteries) over time.

The largest analysis to date of the relationship between lifestyle factors and risk of heart attack was published in the Lancet medical journal in 2004 [28]. This study analysed a range of risk factors and heart attack risk in some 12,000 heart attack victims and 14,000 healthy individuals from 52 countries around the World. The researchers involved in this study identified several factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, a low intake of fruits and vegetables, and low levels of physical activity that appeared to account for 90 and 94 per cent of heart attacks in men and women respectively. Curiously, this review makes no mention of animal fat, or even dietary fat in general, as being an important risk factor for heart attack.

Taken as a whole, the scientific evidence simply does not support the notion that saturated fat is bad for the heart."
http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2008/0...nment-that-is-unlikely-to-do-any-good-at-all/

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Another thing to keep in mind is that diets high in protein supposedly lead to the excretion of more calcium than those that are low in protein. I thought I should mention that since the topic seems to have veered off onto a carb vs protein/fat discussion and since calcium concerns were mentioned.

 

[freemotion]

A diet too high in protein is not appropriate for everyone. Although I don't worry about saturated fats anymore, I worry more about trans, hydrogenated, and the polyunsaturates (veg oils), I do shoot for 2 lbs of plant foods daily, mostly in the form of veggies, very little in the form of high glycemic plant materials (grains, seeds...including seeds mistakenly thought of as veggies....corn and peas and dry beans, lentils, etc.....potatoes, etc.). Grains that we do eat are almost all lacto-fermented or sprouted.

When I briefly tried Atkins years ago, I had to add whole grains within a few days. I got very jittery and didn't sleep and had weird nightmares. Seems it messed with my adrenaline production, my guess. This was the 20 g of carbs a day version that the book suggested to do for the first two weeks. We did Atkins for a few months, and dh dropped 35 pts in his total cholesterol and about 35 lbs. I learned about the role of sugar and white flour and even juice in my diet, and what it did to me and my energy levels....plummeted.....and some health issues cleared up. This was in the time before the net carb concept.

I prefer the LGI way of thinking about carbs, since it is a more natural diet, with a LOT of good veggies, with an emphasis on high fiber and greens. DH dropped 100 pts in his total cholesterol and is maintaining that, and dropped 26.2 lbs and 6" off his waist in 11 weeks during the pilot study that he was in. That was far more impressive to me than the classic low-carb thing.

Whatever diet works for any individual reading this, one important consideration....always....is the quality and purity and nutrient value of the food you take into your body. You wouldn't change the oil in your car and replace it with used oil. Your body needs to last far longer than your car!

 

[Wifezilla]

A diet too high in protein is not appropriate for everyone

Protein is rather self limiting in a way. Are you familiar with "rabbit starvation"?

Grains that we do eat are almost all lacto-fermented or sprouted.

Had I grown up on fermented and sprouted grains, I wouldn't have to avoid them like the plague now

I worry more about trans, hydrogenated, and the polyunsaturates (veg oils)

Oh heck yeah.

When I briefly tried Atkins years ago, I had to add whole grains within a few days. I got very jittery and didn't sleep and had weird nightmares. Seems it messed with my adrenaline production, my guess. This was the 20 g of carbs a day version that the book suggested to do for the first two weeks.

That is why I prefer the Barry Groves "Natural Health and Weight Loss" plan. No silly induction. You just eat a sensible level of carbohydrates that you stick to for the rest of your life.

one important consideration....always....is the quality and purity and nutrient value of the food you take into your body

 

[big brown horse]

Rabbit Starvation? What is that, just curious.

Just bit the bullet and bought some coconut oil, organic and pricey.
Any suggestions? I know you can "butter the pan" with it, but what else.

Full fat (GASP!! haven't done that in forever!) probiotic filled cottage cheese...IT WAS FABULOUS!!!!

 

[freemotion]

And your body is thanking you, I'm sure! I use coconut oil to make chocolates, mmmmm.....with stevia and baking cocoa or baking chocolate, unsweetened, and nuts. That way, too, the coconut oil is not heated.

Rabbit starvation....I think that refers to the vegetarian or vegan diet.....

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I'm not sure why you are concerned about heating coconut oil, Freemotion. I have read that it is one of the better oils for heating, besides EVOO. Many of the other oils are not as stable. Butter is a much worse fat to be heating.