fats fats fats....

[greddy]

Hey all,

Just a basic question concerning the consumption of fats.

While my understanding of fats is that, EFA's are the only fats we need to take. Saturated fats (which cannot be eliminated out of our diet completely), should be kept to a minimum.

By reading an article on saturated fats referred to by w8lifter,

http://www.mercola.com/2002/feb/23/vegetarianism_myths_06.htm

it stated that there is a misconception of saturated fats being the cause of clogging arteries and other illnesses. And where excessive amounts of polyunsaturated fats may lead to clogged arteries, cancer, etc.

Not doubting w8lifter referral, but isn't this abit hard to believe? Isn't saturated fats a known and proven "bad" fat? And polyunsaturated fats a "good" fat?

Thanks for any replies,

greddy

 

[Mudge]

Saturated fats are neccessary for the "smooth" muscle of the heart actually. The way some "studies" often work is by linking things that have some kind of relation to each other, especially those of old. So people draw conclusions without looking deeper sometimes, which is one of several reasons I take studies with a grain of salt.

Joe is fat. Joe is diabetic. Joe is also bald. Joe eats pizza, therefore pizza must have caused his overweight condition and his diabeties, as well as made him lose all his hair.

 

[Jodi]

Saturated fats are not as much of a concern as transfatty acids. That doesn't mean go adding too much additional saturated fat to your diet either. We as bodybuilders usually get enough saturated fat from our protein. Then some of us use heavy cream, coconut oil and butter but for the most part our fats come from Poly and Mono unsaturated fat.

 

[greddy]

hey mudge and jodi,

thanks for your replies

so saturated fats arent that bad from what i could gather..

so does this mean that saturated fats don't have anything to do with cloging the arteries, even excessive amounts? if this is so, then what is? (besides excess polyunsaturated)

thanks for your help, much appreciated!

greddy

 

[Jodi]

It says it right here

It should always be remembered that a number of things factor into a person getting heart disease or cancer. Instead of focusing on the phony issues of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and meat-eating, people should pay more attention to other more likely factors. These would be trans-fatty acids, excessive polyunsaturated fat intake, excessive sugar intake, excessive carbohydrate intake, smoking, certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and obesity.

 

[Fit Freak]

No...not true...saturated fats are definately "one" of the enemies...what you need to think is that trans fatty acids are the WORST but after that...saturated fats are the next enemy.

As Jodi mentionned we get plenty of saturated fat from our protein sources. IMO you should continue to try to minimize saturated fat and emphasize poly and monounsaturates.

 

[greddy]

thanks jodi and fit freak..

you guys have cleared it up pretty well.. gees diet is a very complex issue, but the more I read, the more I'm amazed and quite enjoy exploring this field actually.. thanks for your help and support.. you guys are great!

all the best,

greddy

 

[Mudge]

Diet is nuts, and IMO the most difficult thing to dicipline yourself with as well as educate yourself on, in terms of "working out" and fitness goals. Have you looked at the stickies at the top of the forum? Lots of good links to info.

 

[greddy]

hey mudge,

haha, you're absolutely correct.. diet is by far the most complex issue when it comes to fitness.. funny enough, only recently did I discover that

yes, I have started reading through some stickies, so much information but are all useful.. need to do alot more reading, alot to absorb though, but it's great..

thanks mudge,

greddy