I used to eat alot of fat, then realized that it could be the the culprit of some of my health problems.

I lowered my fat intake and I have noticed a diffence, yet, I don't want to lower it too much because, I've always gotten compiments on my skin and how youthful it is.

How much is too much, and how much is the right amount, in grams? I've tryed to limit my fat to 50 grams a day. That is an small avocado and 1/4 a cup of nuts and/or seeds, and some coconut.

Is there any scientific proof that too much "GOOD" fat is not good. I just want to see if I find any of my own personal health issues in the study/studies.

Thank you!

i love avocados. in my humble opinion i believe fat is good and my diet is like 60-80% fat because i eat a ton of avos a day fat is good its good for our skin and hair and the oils are magic

I vary between 10-20% mostly.

From FoodnSport.com:

"Avocados, nuts and seeds are extremely high in fat content. When it comes to fat, it doesn?t matter so much its origin; fat is fat. Fat goes from the lymph system directly into the blood. Too much fat will thicken the blood, causing the red blood cells to clump together so they cannot deliver oxygen to the cells. Excess fat also blocks the action of insulin in bringing sugars to the cells, which leads to diabetes. It is better to eat small amounts of avocados, nuts and seeds, and not to eat them daily. There is more than adequate fat for the body from fruits, vegetables and leafy greens."

haha ^^^ im SO done with believing random people.

its people like you who mess me up. anyone can say ANYTHING!!!!

only believe in yourself.. i am only trusting my self, and if i want to eat 5 avos i will!!!

i am SO SO SO over this crap. stop posting quotes from websites, it doesn't mean ANYTHING!!!!

actually i've recently gone low fat due to health problems, i have broken out in eczema so i'm trying the low fat appoach and what i have noticed is that my dandruff seems to be going .. also i notice if i use fats on the outside of my skin or on my hair it gets all dried out so if thats anything to go by i'm all up for experimenting for a bit .. i've been raw now 8 years and never had this before xxpipxx

I, on the other hand, appreciate rrraw's post (and that of other's, as well )

Hey Rawrr,

I think you're doing a really good thing for yourself. My friend whom I live with, who's been a high fat rawfooder for a couple years or so, has recently decided to go low fat, high fruit, and it seems to be having such a good effect on him! Definitely nicer to be around, and not just because we're now more in line diet-wise.

But he's also trying to get precise about 'how much fat per day in grams' and I'd like to offer to you what I offered to him as a suggestion instead of that: that approach seems overly regimented to me. What works for me (and probably for other folks here) is that I don't eat fat every day, just a few times a week. So I go several days with no fat and then I have some avocado or something. That way, it sort of becomes self regulating. If you don't eat fat every day you get less of a taste for it and it becomes clear how much is enough.

Just what works for me - hope it's some help!
love
Ela

Hi there,

I also went low fat because I was experiencing health challenges on a typical high fat gourmet type of raw diet. I had candida, hormonal imbalances and dry skin and dandruf. Since drastically lowering my fat content and adopting a high fruit diet all those problems are gone. I have a lot more energy and feel lighter and have better moods now too. Actually eating an avo and that many nuts everyday still seems like a lot of fat. I eat one avocado per week and no other overt fats. Fruits and veggies have fat in them. Don't worry about not getting enough fat. You might want to track your food on fitday or nutridiary for a little while to see exactly how much fat you are getting. I would aim to keep it under 20% of total calories and work towards 10%.

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

I'm just wondering about the benificial fats, like coconuts, avocadoes, and nuts and seeds. It seems that they must be an important part of ones diet, yet I know that there is a happy medium, too.

i apologize i screamed too much, its just posting some quote from a website is the cause of everyone going back to SAD diet...

dont just find some quote, it could've been written by anyone!!! then some of us beleive it and our lives are forever changed this is serious ..

I understand, jimmyjoe. What do you suggest?

THE BAD NEWS ABOUT RAW FAT

By Dr. Douglas N. Graham

This is a brief overview of some concepts from my upcoming booklet entitled "Fruit or Fat?: What Raw Fooders Don't Know Could Kill Them." This introductory piece gives you a glimpse into an essential and controversial raw-food issue: the fact that the average raw fooder consumes an astonishingly unhealthy amount of fat. To discuss the many questions you will surely have after reading this article, you can join my online discussion group at www.vegsource.com (click on Raw&Sport/Graham). Also, check my Web site, www.doctorgraham.cc and www.healthgeniuses.com, from time to time. I'll announce the publication of "Fruit or Fat?" sometime in 2003.

Confusing Advice About Fat
Most mainstream and "raw" experts assert that eating fat does not make us fat. They tell us that refined isolated fats and oils should be considered "health foods." Many raw-food leaders teach that consuming fat won't harm us as long as it's raw. Some even insist that eating up to 80% of calories from fat is perfectly fine. They say that the unstable fats in nuts and seeds can withstand the heat of lengthy dehydration and subsequent room-temperature storage without degrading. They even go so far as to classify refined oil as "juice," suggesting that we drink it as a daily health practice. You would do well to question all of this advice. Consider the following:

Myth: If It's Raw, It's Okay
Despite the marketing hype from vendors of olive, flax, borage, hemp, grapeseed, and other "healthy" oils, these products are stripped of their carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. That means oils are refined foods--no longer the whole foods we all know our bodies were designed for. Worse, we consume quantities of fat as oil that we would be unlikely to eat as whole foods. Here are some important facts about fat.

* Cooked or raw, higher-than-healthy levels of fat in the bloodstream force fat to precipitate and adhere to arterial walls, a condition known as atherosclerosis. A variety of vascular disorders are related to excessive consumption of dietary fat.

* Cooked or raw, increased fat in the bloodstream reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells, predisposing us to cancer and adversely affecting all cellular function, including brain-cell function. This results in impaired clarity of thought and decision making and may set the stage for senility, memory dysfunction, and learning disabilities.

* Cooked or raw, increased fat in the bloodstream requires an increased adrenaline response in order to drive the pancreas to produce insulin. Following excess stimulation, adrenal exhaustion sets in, the precursor for conditions such as Epstein-Barr virus, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus, and myofascial disease, to name just a few.

* Cooked or raw, increased fat in the bloodstream results in increased demand for insulin. The resultant continuous drain on the pancreas eventually leads to pancreatic fatigue and chronically elevated blood-sugar levels. This predisposes us to a group of lipid (fat) metabolic disorders, mistakenly referred to as "blood-sugar metabolic disorders": hyper- and hypoglycemia, hyperinsulinism, candida yeast, diabetes, and others. Whether you eat cooked animal fat or raw vegetable oil, too much fat is too much fat, and we must recognize its health-destroying potential.

Fat, Not Sugar Is the Culprit
Here lies a key and often-misunderstood physiological fact: In the presence of fat, our bodies require significantly higher-than-normal amounts of insulin to transport blood sugar across the vessel wall and the cell membrane. It's the fat--not the sugar--in our diets that is a primary cause of candida, diabetes, and other blood-sugar problems. In "Fruit or Fat?," I discuss this at length.

So, How Much Fat Should We Eat?
The percentage of calories that we consume as fat is an essential consideration for all of us, cooked or raw. The Pritikin Longevity Center, which holds the finest health regeneration record of any organization in the U.S., recommends a dietary fat consumption of 10% or less. Keeping your fat consumption down to a maximum of 10% of your calories is by far the most healthful practice.

SAD, Veggie, Vegan, Raw...Fat, Fat, Fat, Fattest?
Here are some numbers that may shock you. It is a well-known fact that those who eat the standard American diet (SAD) average a whopping 42% of their calories from fat. Surprisingly, I've found that vegetarian and vegan diets tend to contain approximately 42% of calories from fat, as well. Vegetarians tend to consume a high amount of dairy, and vegans generally increase their use of oils. Most unexpectedly, I have found that the average raw fooder eats even more fat than those who live on standard American fare. The oils, nuts, seeds, coconuts, avocados, olives, durians, and other fatty fruit in the overall diet of raw fooders add up to an astonishing 60% of calories (often much more) from fat.

"Fruit or Fat?" will step you through the numbers in detail. For now, I'll give you just a brief illustration. A large green salad, including an entire head of romaine lettuce, some tomatoes, and a variety of nonroot vegetables would contain about 100 calories, some 15 of which would come from fat. A dressing that blends three tablespoons of oil (375 calories), an ounce of pine nuts (178 calories), and some cilantro, salt, and lemon juice would supply about 550 calories - about 530 of them from fat. Dice in a small avocado (250 calories - 85% fat), and the resulting 900-calorie meal would provide about 90 calories from carbohydrates, about 55 from protein, and more than 755 of its calories from fat - that's 84% fat!

80/10/10 for Optimum Health
When I've done this math on full meal plans with thousands of raw fooders over the years, theyÿve seen for themselves: the standard raw diet is extremely high in fat. In "Fruit or Fat?" I'll step you through the math, showing you that a low-fat, high-fruit raw diet that contains 80% carbohydrates (from fruit), 10% protein, and 10% fat is by far the most healthful and sustainable raw-food approach.

You're Likely To Be Consuming Too Much Fat If You
* Have candida, diabetes, hypoglycemia, chronic fatigue.
* Suffer from heart disease, cancer, or any digestive disorder.
* Break out in acne, whiteheads, or blemishes.
* Experience skin problems such as psoriasis, eczema, or dandruff.
* Eat--or even desire--complex carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice, corn, or potatoes.
* Crave sweets after dinner.
* Finish a meal and then desire heavy, concentrated foods such as nuts, seeds, or avocado.

No need for apologies friend Let's try to focus on the positive energy that is to be found abundantly on this forum!

The raw food diet I've figured out on fitday.com for myself is 30% fat, 67% carbs, 7% protein. That would be on most days that I'll be staying on all raw foods.

This is what I will be eating when on an all raw day..fruits are interchangeable as is the salad mixes.

2 Bananas
4 apples
2 oranges
1 C cantalope
almonds 10-20
1-2 C green salad
1 C orange juice
1 C green veg juice
distilled water
peppermint herbal tea
multi-mineral 2 tablets
Perhaps a super B vitamin

That's a raw plan I can live with and it's around 1212 calories a day..maybe a bit more depending on how much more fruit you add to it, or if you add an avo to the salad..etc.

Love,
Prism

I really appriciate you posting that article. Thank you very much.

It's easy to see in a lab when you do an experiment on animals. More fat = more cancer.

Not so easy to see in humans. We have to rely on a subtype of epidemology, because controlled trials are too short and dietary recalls are often faulty. Nonetheless there is a pretty clear trend in populations before they were westernized: the Asians who consumed the least fat got the least amount of hormonal cancers (Koreans). Also most Asian cententenarian populations studied are in the lower fat categories and the southern Italian areas with unusually high prevalence of centenarians are among the lowest fat versionss of the Mediterranean diets.

That is not even mentioning oxidative stress, probably higher when more fat is in the diet. Carbohydrates burn more cleanly.

Also higher fat tends to mean lower fiber. Lower nutrient density on the whole. A greater chance for insulin resistance.

So yes, I think lower is better, provided that EFA needs are satisified. Some people don't get enough EFAs even on high or moderate fat diets.

I'm not comfortable (mentally) with high fat diets, I am uneasy about health issues. But they taste better.

But physically, low fat is hard for me.

I did 15% fat for a while (very strict, I was absolutely sure about how much because I measured my food) and it was torture to me. I am more comfortable with 20-25%. Left to my own devices on a vegan diet somewhat healthier than SAD I would be over 40%. Left to my own devices on 100% raw I am sure I would gravitate to over 60% until I started feeling poorly.

So I guess I would conclude that as low as you can go while still feeling good and not cheating and satisfying EFA requirements, that is the best for you.

I'm not particularly low fat. However, I do try to limit pressed oils isolated from foods, raw or cooked. For example, I do eat whole soaked sunflowerseed, avocados, ground flax etc...but do not generally consume oil in capsules, or pressed oils such as olive oil. I don't worry about occational additions in this form say in a dressing in a salad a resturant. But, if I had a disease of some sort, i would avoid any refine product.

I don't have the slightest idea how many grams of fat I consume in a day.

I have been eating low low fat and think it is the best way to go the problem most people have with low fat is they dont replace the fat they ate before with a good amount of fruit so the problem is not low fat it is low food,
EAT EAT EAT and enjoy the sweet things in life.

Cherimoya

Love Peace and Happiness,