Good fats, bad fats

What is the difference between good and bad fats and how can I tell one from
the other by reading product labels? Same question re. cholesterol. (I'm in
the US.)

I've knocked a lot of the tuna out of my diet. I became mindful of the
mercury issue and realized I was eating way too much. I've replaced that
mostly with chicken breast and will probably start eating salmon too. Good
choices to bring down C levels, no?

Are beef and pork no-no's, or just fatty beef and pork? Corn Oil or
Vegetable? By brand, what are the better oils and margarines? What's the
deal with eggs?

Reducing fat intake, or "bad fat" intake on an LC diet seems like something
that can be accomplished through careful selection of meats. Any
suggestions?

Mike

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 18:59:38 -0800, "Mike Turco"
wrote:

What is the difference between good and bad fats and how can I tell one from
the other by reading product labels? Same question re. cholesterol. (I'm in
the US.)

well pretty much anything used in processed foods are bad (G) natural fats are
the good fats from meat and fish, butter, and coconut oil. the less processed
the better off you are.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 18:59:38 -0800, "Mike Turco"
wrote:

What is the difference between good and bad fats and how can I tell one from
the other by reading product labels? Same question re. cholesterol. (I'm in
the US.)

well pretty much anything used in processed foods are bad (G) natural fats are
the good fats from meat and fish, butter, and coconut oil. the less processed
the better off you are.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 19:48:23 -0800, Steve Knight
choked out these words:

natural fats are
the good fats from meat and fish, butter, and coconut oil.

a friend of mine dieted a few years ago, and one of the things
she did was replace butter with avocados. any time she'd usually
spread butter on bread, she'd use avocado instead. i don't know
how good an idea that is - avocados being so high in fat and all;
but it's good fat, right? of course, that's not to say that good
fat can't also make you fat, but i suppose it's better for the
heart or something.

david

well pretty much anything used in processed foods are bad (G) natural fats
are
the good fats from meat and fish, butter, and coconut oil. the less
processed
the better off you are.

This is plain inaccurate, first you have to start defining what 'processed'
means. Olive oil is a processed product since olives have to be processed to
extract the oil, yet it's commonly regarded as a 'good' fat. Smoked salmon
is also processed, yet it's commonly regarded as one of the best sources of
Omega3 amongst other nutrients.

Fresh meat is as natural as you can get (just kill the animal & cut it up),
yet many meats are high in saturated fat, the kind regarded as 'bad fat'.
Butter & coconut oil also contain mostly saturated fat.

Vegetable oils, avocado, nuts & oily fish are generally considered sources
of 'good' fat, however, fat is fat & all of them provide 9 cals/g. It is
possible to gain a lot of weight without eating saturated fat. French Fries
are cooked in vegetable oil. Tortilla chips & nachos contain over 550
cals/100g but are cholesterol-free. Nuts are in the 500-600 cals/100g
range...

"Mike Turco" wrote in message
news:wexSd.85088$bu.37130@fed1read06...
What is the difference between good and bad fats and how can I tell one
from
the other by reading product labels? Same question re. cholesterol. (I'm
in
the US.)

I've knocked a lot of the tuna out of my diet. I became mindful of the
mercury issue and realized I was eating way too much. I've replaced that
mostly with chicken breast and will probably start eating salmon too. Good
choices to bring down C levels, no?

Are beef and pork no-no's, or just fatty beef and pork? Corn Oil or
Vegetable? By brand, what are the better oils and margarines? What's the
deal with eggs?

Reducing fat intake, or "bad fat" intake on an LC diet seems like
something
that can be accomplished through careful selection of meats. Any
suggestions?

Mike

Basically, try to avoid "partially hydrogenated oils." During the
hydrogenation process, some of the cis fats are changed to trans fats.
Research has shown that trans fats effect cholesterol levels the same as
short chained saturated fats (i.e. palmitic, not stearic).
As far as vegetable oils, the essential fatty acids (EFA) in these are
primarily omega 6 fats (an antiquated designation you will not find used in
current research, except to differentiate if from omega 3's). That is
linoleic acid, and omega-6. linoleic acid is changed into arachidonic acid
(AA) in the body, this in turn is processed into pro-inflammatory
prostaglandins (what you don't want).
Omega-3's (alpha-linolenic acid--yeah, stupid the names are so close), is
processed into DHA and EPA (I skip the chemical names here). Your brain is
about 60% fat (you fat head you), most of the saturated fat is DHA, next is
AA, both are necessary for good brain health (a good place to start with
health--if you can't think clearly you can't stay healthy). However, with
the advent of vegetable oils added into the western diet, the ratio of O6's
to O3's is about 20:1 or some ridiculous amount. Research shows (I am not
going to dig and cite here, do the work yourself--you might learn
something), that a better ratio would be 1:1 to 2:1. That means if you are
eating a normal western diet, you need to drop you O6's and raise you O3's.
Adding fish to you diet is a good way. Avoiding added vegetable oil is
another.
Sorry, but I have work to do, that should at least get you started.
Oh yeah, the advantage of DHA and EPA supplementation over adding in
alpha-linolenic acid (say from Flax) is that your body is not very good at
converting this, and as you age, it gets worse. So shoot the straight stuff.

--
Dr. Dickie
Skepticult member in good standing #394-00596-438
Poking kooks with a pointy stick
Proud member of the, "Vast right-wing conspiracy."

Mike Turco wrote:
What is the difference between good and bad fats and how can I tell
one from
the other by reading product labels? Same question re. cholesterol.
(I'm in
the US.)

Here's an article that might help with your choice of fats.

http://www.pamf.org/patients/goodfat.html

Beverly





I've knocked a lot of the tuna out of my diet. I became mindful of
the
mercury issue and realized I was eating way too much. I've replaced
that
mostly with chicken breast and will probably start eating salmon too.
Good
choices to bring down C levels, no?

Are beef and pork no-no's, or just fatty beef and pork? Corn Oil or
Vegetable? By brand, what are the better oils and margarines? What's
the
deal with eggs?

Reducing fat intake, or "bad fat" intake on an LC diet seems like
something
that can be accomplished through careful selection of meats. Any
suggestions?

Mike

This is plain inaccurate, first you have to start defining what 'processed'
means. Olive oil is a processed product since olives have to be processed to
extract the oil, yet it's commonly regarded as a 'good' fat. Smoked salmon
is also processed, yet it's commonly regarded as one of the best sources of
Omega3 amongst other nutrients.

most foods have to be processed some to be edible. but then there is highly
processed. that fits most of the foods in the store these days.


Fresh meat is as natural as you can get (just kill the animal & cut it up),
yet many meats are high in saturated fat, the kind regarded as 'bad fat'.
Butter & coconut oil also contain mostly saturated fat.

nothing wrong with good saturated fat. we have just become paranoid about fats.
that's from media hype.



--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

On 22 Feb 2005 04:21:57 -0800, "Beverly" wrote:



Here's an article that might help with your choice of fats.

http://www.pamf.org/patients/goodfat.html

Beverly

that is the typical saturated fats are bad idea. people have been eating
saturated fats for a very long time and doing fine. but they don't mix with
today's junk food that for sure. but if you eat right they are not a problem at
all.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

i think good=non-saturated, and bad=hyrdogenated?
like commercially baked goods versus naturally occurring fats? don't quote
me on this; i recently had a huge conflict with nut fat--but apparently
they're good--in moderatioN!