When eating a high fat diet would there be a problem with getting most of your fat from saturated sources especially Coconut oil?
My personal belief is that saturated dietary fat SHOULD be the #1 macro in the human diet, comprising 25% to as much as 50% of calories. I also believe that it does not instigate any disease. It actually can not be turned into a trans fat, and is basically incapable of carrying oxidative damage to body tissue because it doesn’t have any double bonds to add damaging oxidative species.
It also may be protective against autoimmune disease, and protective against the early onset of heart disease as saturated fat is sent to damaged blood vessels to HEAL them.
Some people do have problems consuming large amount of coconut oil although some indigenous tribes get most of their cals from it.
I might be afraid of a high saturated fat diet if I had already had a heart attack as at that point you already have scarring and the saturated fat (sent to heal) end up backfiring.
This is purely my educated opinion. You have to decide for yourself.
Not only is there nothing wrong with it, I recommend high coconut oil intake.
I agree with mertdawg that overall “saturated” is not in and of itself bad. It’s too broad a label.
For example, grass-fed beef still has a lot of saturated fat, but an excellent balance of individual types of fats. There’s no evidence at all that it’s anything but a positive to health.
If high intake of high-fat ground beef from corn-fed cattle is a problem, for example, the popular thing is to blame the saturated fat content, but the stronger evidence is that it’s the abnormally-high linoleic acid (unsaturated fat) content that’s correlated with increased cardiovascular risk.
Don’t worry about saturated vs unsaturated particularly, but rather consider the individual fats. Coconut oil is fine.
Thanks guys. Other than the natural fat in chicken, beef, etc. I only use coconut oil. Many times I just mix chunks of it with a bit of cocoa powder and splenda. I was just wondering if balancing it with mono from things like olive oil and avocado was necessary. I seem to not respond well to those fats.
“Necessary” is a very strong word. There are very many who for years have not added any such oils, and have excellent physiques and good values all around if tested medically.
That said, getting in some olive oil would be good.
Unfortunately, the fat present in supermarket beef and chicken is in a sense not naturally present. It has an abnormal composition - far higher in linoleic acid than would occur with natural diet - due to the abnormal diet fed to the animals. Neither chickens nor cattle are big corn or soy eaters in nature, if eating any at all.
To an extent that can be balanced out with some olive oil.
No problem coconut oil is good stuff. Also great to see you posting again Bill !
[quote]Luka24 wrote:
Thanks guys. Other than the natural fat in chicken, beef, etc. I only use coconut oil. Many times I just mix chunks of it with a bit of cocoa powder and splenda. I was just wondering if balancing it with mono from things like olive oil and avocado was necessary. I seem to not respond well to those fats.[/quote]
You should get some omega 3s, so fish or supplements are good. Coconut oil does not have carotenoids I am pretty sure, so some red palm oil would be a good addition as it has Monounsaturated, and also lots of carotenoids. (also liver will give you active vitamin A, and so will butter and egg yolk). I would use butter from grass fed sources. I usually only eat full fat beef if its only grassfed (or bison). Regular beef in leaner cuts is OK. I eat chicken on occasion, but maybe once a week.
If there is a problem with only coconut oil it is that you may lack omega-3s or vitamin A.
Based on how crappy supermarket meat and produce is would a high-fat diet be best when not able to afford grass fed/free range/organic food or to keep supermarket food at a minimum?
[quote]xXSeraphimXx wrote:
Based on how crappy supermarket meat and produce is would a high-fat diet be best when not able to afford grass fed/free range/organic food or to keep supermarket food at a minimum?[/quote]
I’ll try to give a more detailed answer later, but consider that what makes supermarket meat “crappy” is largely that they feed animals the things that you would be eating on a lower fat diet.
Don’t worry too much about beef and dairy fat. Cows (or the microbes in their guts) can desaturate fats. They are both low in PUFA and high in SFA and MUFA. Grass fed is great, but the advantage is more in the humane treatment of the animal rather than its fatty acid composition.
I’d say the challenge is avoiding the polyunsaturated vegetable oils. They are in EVERYTHING!!! If you go to a restaurant and order anything fried, it will be fried in high PUFA vegetable oils that go rancid quickly from the high heat of the fryer.
Thank Ancil Keys for the low fat hysteria!
So,
All beef and dairy will be low in PUFA. Any advantage from grass fed must be valued against the additional cost.
For chicken and pork, avoid the fatty cuts. For veg oils: coconut, olive, macadamia, and avocado are the best. Do not use canola, peanut, sunflower, safflower, soy, or corn oil.
[quote]Luka24 wrote:
Thanks guys. Other than the natural fat in chicken, beef, etc. I only use coconut oil. Many times I just mix chunks of it with a bit of cocoa powder and splenda. I was just wondering if balancing it with mono from things like olive oil and avocado was necessary. I seem to not respond well to those fats.[/quote]
Its the Splenda that I would avoid.
From the information disseminated over the past year or two, saturated fat is really the ideal fat. Coconut oil is a great source as is natural animal fat sources. Monos and polys from olive oil are good too, but a primary focus on saturated seems to be the consensus.
If you do a good job of eliminating any omega 6 oils then I agree that regular beef and butter fat are going to be about 80/20 on the good side.
If you got 100 grams of butter or beef fat a day you might get a maximum of 10 grams of omega-6s which is about my personal limit goal, but its WAY better than the 30-50 grams that most Americans get. Pork fat in the US can be 30% omega 6.
[quote]MrMuzik wrote:
So,
All beef and dairy will be low in PUFA. Any advantage from grass fed must be valued against the additional cost.
For chicken and pork, avoid the fatty cuts. For veg oils: coconut, olive, macadamia, and avocado are the best. Do not use canola, peanut, sunflower, safflower, soy, or corn oil.[/quote]
What do you think about high oleic safflower and sunflower. They claim to be about 8 grams MUFA for 2 grams PUFA and if PUFA’s are the only issue (unlike with canola) then I would be fine with that ratio.
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
[quote]Luka24 wrote:
Thanks guys. Other than the natural fat in chicken, beef, etc. I only use coconut oil. Many times I just mix chunks of it with a bit of cocoa powder and splenda. I was just wondering if balancing it with mono from things like olive oil and avocado was necessary. I seem to not respond well to those fats.[/quote]
Its the Splenda that I would avoid.[/quote]
Why?
Is there a big difference in cold pressed vs refined coconut oil? Does the body process/use it the same?
I recently got a 54 oz container of coconut oil and it turned out to have no coconut smell. I assumed it did, I have never seen a container with the word organic plastered on it like this one and it made no indication it was refined on the container.
[quote]xXSeraphimXx wrote:
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
[quote]Luka24 wrote:
Thanks guys. Other than the natural fat in chicken, beef, etc. I only use coconut oil. Many times I just mix chunks of it with a bit of cocoa powder and splenda. I was just wondering if balancing it with mono from things like olive oil and avocado was necessary. I seem to not respond well to those fats.[/quote]
Its the Splenda that I would avoid.[/quote]
Why?[/quote]
+1
There is evidence that artificial sweeteners harm intestinal flora.
I was wondering if there was a point in which fat intake should be raised instead of relying on ratios.
If one is eating to gain you could be eating hundreds of grams of carbs and still have a fat ratio of 50%. Should there be a daily limit of carb intake no matter the range in calories?
Hope that makes sense.