Hi everyone I'm new here! Im also new to raw food and currently transitioning. I have been vegan and had no trouble. i was very healthy and avoided processed foods. now my question has to do with fats (nuts, avocado, coconut, olives...not oils i don't plan on using them). there seems to be a lot of different opinions in the raw world as to how much or little we should have. the typical american is supposed to have under 30 percent...but we r not the typical american does that mean we can eat more? then there r those who say we should only eat 10 percent...thats a goal im not ready for! im not worried about getting fat from eating fats simply having health issues that go with fats, however, most of these studies r referring to animal fats only! so i am quite confused. i am currently trying to get rid of my daily dose of brown rice and to eat more fat would be the easier thing and more appealing at this point...whats ur thoughts and experience?

I've personally been very resistant as a rawfooder to lowering my fat intake. It's been somewhere between 20% and 30% for a long time, and I've been very satisfied with that.

However, I recently noticed that if I lower my fats to 10% to 20% (1/4 to 1/2 cup nuts/seeds or 1/2 to 1 whole avocado or sometimes 1/4 cup nuts seeds and 1/2 avocado), my running improves tremendously! I used to get side cramps and now I don't; and even though I didn't lose weight (that's not a priority since I'm already small), I feel so much lighter when I run! It's great! So far anyway.

I don't think lowering fat is essential right away when you're transitioning to raw. I think that a new raw fooder can aim at staying at or under 30%, and be fine. For me I notice that whenever I've tried to make too many changes too quickly, I've ended up backsliding. Slow and steady wins the race!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2009 12:18AM by suncloud.

It may depend on the individual. I have been in the medical field and after seeing the health issues a lot of people deal with, the amount of fat you opt to take in may depend on what the goals are although there is probably a bottom line. In the past, I have had a very low fat intake and it affected me by clouding my brain, sort of a fog. When I increased fat, I felt better although in general I needed to eat more. Still learning... You will probably need to experiment.

There seems to be 2 sides on "fats" in the raw world.

You have your 80/10/10 fans; (it's a book by Doug Graham). The breakdown here is that anything over 10% of fat in your diet (by calorie not weight) will clog your bloodstream and compromise your health. This prescription is a lot of fruit and no overt fats. Various cooked diets operate on this principle, too, Ornish, McDougall, etc.

Juliano / Amsden style is more "eat all the fat you want, it's good for you." Sexy Bitches Like it Raw (among others) have said that the "good fats" like coconut oil bind with toxic crud in your body and work to detox you.

It's a hotly debated issue - and both sides seem to have a lot of sources to quote.

Personally? If my fat intake gets above 30% I start feeling really sluggish...

whatever works for YOU

Dont get concearned with what works for others..

for me 5-10% is fine, basically I will have avocado once a fortnight or month. Otherwise no overt fats for me..I feel best, I train loads and sleep better. But this isnt the case for everyone!

80-10-10 doesn't advocate no overts! That's misinformation. You have 1 oz. nuts or seeds or 1/3 avocado per day if YOU WANT! But the average is 80-10-10 weekly/yearly/however. So some people have overts daily (plus the 5% of calories from fat that's in just regular sweet fruits and vegtables) and others don't; some never have overts; some have them occasionally.

You don't have to be a Doug Graham follower or even read his book to eat a low-fat, high fruit vegan diet.

The Geissen, Germany raw food study of 2005 had 43 vegans who averaged 30.3% caloric fat..

"Long-Term Consumption of a Raw Food Diet Is Associated with Favorable Serum LDL Cholesterol and Triglycerides but Also with Elevated Plasma Homocysteine and Low Serum HDL Cholesterol in Humans"

[jn.nutrition.org]

Utopian Life Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 80-10-10 doesn't advocate no overts! That's
> misinformation. You have 1 oz. nuts or seeds or
> 1/3 avocado per day if YOU WANT! But the average
> is 80-10-10 weekly/yearly/however. So some people
> have overts daily (plus the 5% of calories from
> fat that's in just regular sweet fruits and
> vegtables) and others don't; some never have
> overts; some have them occasionally.
>
> You don't have to be a Doug Graham follower or
> even read his book to eat a low-fat, high fruit
> vegan diet.

Agreed on this

I do better on less fat, 1oz nuts a day would make me feel sluggish

Much prefer to have a lovely hass avo whenever I fancy it

play around and see what works best for you (to the OP)

I heard a lecture from raw food nutritionist Dr. Tel Oren from Ecopolitan suggest that fat intake depends on your environment, as said before good fats counter balance free radical damage created by rancid food and polluted environment. He suggest no more than 40% calories from fat, or avocados, olive, palm and coconut oil, seeds, nuts, etc.
If you live in a clean, tropical paradise, you can use a lot less.
Just passing on info.
It was only after I transitioned and stopped loosing eight did I start to consider just how much I was using. If you are sporty male, he suggest up to 4 tbs oil daily.
I hope this helps you out.

simplefoodlover,

A big problem with the raw diet is it is very easy to overdo the fat. When I first measured my fat intake, I was eating in excess of 60% fat, and some of my meals at the time were 90% fat. A salad with a whole head of romaine lettuce and 1 tablespoon of olive oil is 60% fat.

What I found is with very little discomfort or restraint it was easy to get to my fat intake to 20% fat. And over a period of 2 years, my fat intake fell to under 10% fat quite easefully.