The Skinny on Fats: What the Latest Research Says About What You Should Be Eating

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Very well balanced on the finer points of the sat fat debate. I also appreciate the mention at the end that we should be more conscious of eating patterns than of chemistry-- just eat quality, unprocessed and low-sugar foods and you should be OK. (And if you only eat the stuff around the outside of the supermarket you won't have many labels to be reading anyway!)

Cristy of TX 10:53AM January 20, 2011

This is a summary of all 21 studies over the last 30 years

http://www.nmsociety.org/App_Themes/Images/AboutFat/Siri-Tarino%20SAFA%20CVD%20Risk.pdf

Think about it, saturated fat is what your body stores. You've got 20, 50, 100

pounds of it stored away, and constantly in your bloodstream.

allan of CA 5:49PM August 13, 2010

Hmmmm--- if all the 'healthy' foods lived up to their promises, why is obesity gaining? They are not healthy! You are being conned!

I cracked the obesity just the other day. It's for sale.

hart oldenburg 9:49AM May 28, 2010

The saturated fat is in animal products, the transfat and polyunsaturated omega-6 are in processed foods (chips, crackers, snackfood). That is why the push is to add monounsaturated and omega-3's to our diets (fish, olive oil, walnuts), because they are not as readily available in the typical American diet.

written papers of IL 3:36PM April 04, 2010

I inhaled my food, then died

It was my drug

Applied psychology

Sensational comfort

Peer pressure

No way out

Ignorant

Proud

Doomed

krussbach of TX 12:49AM April 03, 2010

Dr. Atkins was right.....Period

Jok of NV 10:48PM April 02, 2010

Quick note to DrBob: Our ancestors only lived 25-30 years due to infectious diseases, most like from the lack of proper sewage treatment, not because of what they ate.

Everyone needs a certain amount of fat in balance. Our culture, unfortunately, makes it easy to get too much of saturated fat, transfat and omega-6 (polyunsaturated fat). The saturated fat is in animal products, the transfat and polyunsaturated omega-6 are in processed foods (chips, crackers, snackfood). That is why the push is to add monounsaturated and omega-3's to our diets (fish, olive oil, walnuts), because they are not as readily available in the typical American diet.

Thanks to deceptive marketing, many Americans think they are eating healthy. They perceive refined wheat products as "whole grains." If it does not look like a grain, it is not whole. Our bodies treat processed grains differently than actual whole grains (i.e. quinoa, brown rice, oat groats).

In his basic nutrition book from Harvard (Eat, Drink and Be Healthy) Dr Walter Willet, stated years ago: a diet high in refined carbohydrates and low in fat causes triglycerides to rise. We need all fat, they just need to be in balance. Which in most people, they are not.

ImThriving.com of CA 4:22PM April 02, 2010

As I tell my fit children, everything in moderation You need to remember it is not just what you eat but how it is made. A 85-90% lean burger on a potato roll won't kill you or make you fat. Enjoy it. Drop that nasty turkey burger some one is guilting you to eat, it is almost as fattening and won't satisfy you. Just don't have 3. Enjoy with a nice fresh salad and you are golden. It came to me one day when this woman came up to me and said, "You're going to eat that?!? I would never eat that. I only eat blah, blah, blah." Then I looked up at her and thought, I am under a 100 lbs and you are more than 20 lbs more than me. I politely smiles and said, "yes, I am, I like to enjoy my food. Everything in moderation."

lisa of NJ 3:55PM April 02, 2010

When people tout foods as good for us because our ancestors ate it (fats, grains, etc.) remember that our ancestors were lucky to ive to 25 or 30. If your body makes saturated fats into low or very low density cholesterols or simple carbos into similar blood fats it is likely to be harmful to you.

DrBob of CA 2:53PM April 02, 2010

Fat has been demonized for the last 30 years. And now everyone is much fatter. This was all based on the hypothesis, unproven, of Dr. Ancel Keys of the Univ of Minnesota, that dietary fat intake was responsible for heart disease. A hypothesis that remains unproven but has been repeated so many times that it is now believed to be the gospel truth by a majority of Americans. We have deprived our body of a substance that was eaten by our ancestors for thousands of years, and stuffed ourselves with "healthy" grains, resulting in a population with an obesity epidemic. Our grandparents knew better - they were connected to their food more than we, and knew that grain is what is used to fatten livestock. Many obese people are actually "starving" - their undernourished bodies are clinging to every ounce of body fat while at the cellular level, they are not being nourished. But still the same lame old advice of eat less, exercise more. You cannot exercise your way out of a bad diet - if you could then runners and other athletes wouldn't get diabetes. Yet they do.

Vic Pic of PA 12:19PM April 02, 2010

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