So, hemp seed oil has the perfect balance of omegas, and I've heard a lot that nuts/seeds/fatty fruits will take care of this balance for you.

But I was wondering if anyone knew specifically which fruits/nuts/seeds were good for which omegas? Especially if you want to cut out oils as much as possible?

What about durian, coconuts, avocados? Any nuts, seeds, or sprouts that are particularly great? Any that are either heavily 3 or 6, so I'm not getting all of one and none of the other?

Thanks!

flax and hemp are good!

Also chia seed and acai berries. And purslane (I finally found this at a Mexican grocery. But I forgot what they called it in Spanish...verdolago or something like-ish that). There aren't many plant sources.

Avo/olives and other nuts and seeds are higher in the omega 6s. Walnuts have more 3s than the others, but not enough to balance the others out.

If you eat only whole fruits and vegetables, without any of the overt fats like avos, nuts, and seeds, you will have the perfect balance of omega-6 to omega-3.

Hi,

I asked the question not too long ago about fats. I wanted to know if having a raw diet with absolutely no overt fat would still give me enough fat for an optimal health.

I got lots of answers telling me to give my body what it wants, but since I don't crave fatty foods I have to consciously add fatty food to my meals.

Some people answered me that I should include so fatty foods since fats like omega-3s ans omaga-6s are so important for a great health. At first I thought I do good since the low fat version of the diet is so praised but then I thought "what if because I don't add overt fat I don't get enough for my health?"

Just wanted to know if doing the diet without any overt fat would be a good idea.

I'm still in detox I guess because I got dry skin, feel tired all the time and am always hungry as hell, but I don't crave fat. I've been raw since the beginning of January.

sebzzz,

Whether or not you will thrive on no overt fats depends on how much you are currently depending on the consumption of fats for its various benefits or side effects. Most people coming from a standard western diet are used to 40% fat, so it may take awhile for such a person to go from 40% fat intake down to the 5% fat intake of a no overt fat diet.

Is 5% fat enough to thrive on a raw diet? Yes, if your body is used to it, and you don't require fat for its other non-nutritional benefits.

Here are some challenges I experienced while lowering my fat intake:

- Fat is very calorically dense. This means you need to eat a lot of fruit to get the same number of calories. This takes practice and the body needs time to adjust to this.

- Fat is a grounding food. If you depend on fat for this, you may find yourself ungrounded.

- There is much more variety with fat based dishes, and it took me some time to not want all that variety. Variety means stimulation.

So the bottom line is yes, it is possible. But there is no hurry to get there either if you want this for yourself, and it you don't want it, thats OK too.

You can do without any overt fat for a while while the body is cleansing, but I believe you do need some for the long term. It is better to limit your fat intake to only 10 % calorie wise. You don't need more. The body can make its own fats, except for the essential fatty acids in the right balance. By adding overt fats you easily tip the balance towards the omega-6 fatty acids, which is not healthy. May be that is one reason why people on low fat diets are doing better, they have a more favorable omega-3/omega-6 ratio.
Better concentrate on greens rather than on fats! I guess when you are always hungry then you need more fruit for calories. Are you eating any sprouts? That would also help.

Greenpower

I do eat sprouts, but I'm still experimenting and have a wide variety: grains, beans, lentils, leafies, micro-greens, brassicas. Do you know which are best for omega 3s? I ask because they all obviously have very different nutritional profiles. =)

I am slowly, slowly working my way down to a reasonable fat intake. My first month of raw was atrociously fatty, the second was a little better: I think I'm slowly getting used to getting more calories from fruit, but it takes time.

I was also using fats to ground for SURE, but I'm thinking I should be more wary of the 3/6 balance, now that the blind rage of needing to constantly stuff my face has abated.

I eat 1/2 durian (or sometimes a whole one if it's small) every day and a young coconut for sure. I think these fruits are working wonders for me in other ways, they are full of things my body wants right now. But if they're heavily omega-6, I should do something to counterbalance, if they're serious staples for the time being. Know what I mean? ^.~

Other days, I may or may not have some soaked seeds, an avocado (these not so much now), or sprouted beans/lentils. If I have nuts in the house, I will eat them nonstop (same with a lot of dried fruit)--so I've stopped buying them for now. When I work through the underlying causes, I may keep a light nut stash around for the minerals and occasional treat. ^.^ Exercise has helped my need to ground with food, but that's still a work in progress.

Can you eat/sprout hemp seeds? I don't know much about hemp at all. Like I said before, I'd rather have a whole food than an oil.

Greenpower, were you suggesting that greens were better for omega-3s, or simply to try to feed on greens, rather than fats? I'm focusing on fruit, for now: until 6 weeks ago, I ate about 3 heads of lettuce worth of greens every day, for two months straight, so while a salad is cool sometimes, my body is still greened out.

Thanks again, everybody. =)

It's interesting that you mention those traditioning from a western diet, Bryan, and "needing" or feeling like they need 40% of calories from fat. I probably got about 10% of calories from fat as a mostly whole-foods vegan for five years, and even at raw, I need more now. Maybe that will change, though. Who knows?! All of this and everyone's different experiences fascinate me, same as in the coconut oil thread.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

I the last couple of days, I haven't had any overt fat and I don't feel a urge to eat some. I don't seem to have any problem with grounding or variety.

However, like I said, I seem to be always hungry and I eat all the time to try to fill myself. If I eat a large salad of something that fills me, I get hungry just 2 or 3 hours after. Also, I've been having moods swings in the last few days. Going from tired and irritated to energetic and happy a couple of times in the same day. I wonder if those two problems come from the detox or from the fact that I don't use overt fat. I have to eat way more now, after 1 month and a half on the raw diet than at the beginning of the diet and those mood swings weren't there at the beginning either.

If chances are good those problems could come from my body wanting fat, I'll try to get more, but like I said I have to consciously add them because my I don't feel like eating overt fat.

oh ugh! i just ate a small spoonful of my coco oil and eww, how can anyone just eat it like that? it's just straight fat, yucky! the taste was great but having an oily mouth did not appeal to me at all.

I agree, straight fat is not very appealing. Nobody eats lard by the bucket but a lot of people have a problem with french fries. It has to be combined with other things to taste good.

I think it's possible that women in particular might fluctuate with how much fat they need depending on cycle.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

*!* That makes a lot of sense, too, Utopian Life.

Okay, gross, but...

My first month of raw was basically to recover from a senseless amount of damage done to my body by antibiotics, which included horrible bleeding for 33 days straight, followed by nightmares with the pill to try and make it stop (that was a new can of worms, though).

And the amount of fats I ate that first month was incredible! My cycle was definitely totally out of whack, and I still dropped weight. Interesting.

Yeah, nothing to be shy about. It's all very interesting.....I wonder if my cycle will change on raw and/or if I will need less fat eventually....we'll see! In the meantime, I eat a TON of greens.

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