Is There Such A Thing as Too Little Fat? - High Cholesterol Message Board

georgiehopper · 08-09-2004, 10:44 AM

I have slashed my fat intake to about 22 grms per day give or take a few. I know this is below typical dietary recommendations, but I am determined try my best to lower my cholesterol without drugs.

I am just wondering if cutting out too much fat does more harm than good.

I'm not sure what the bare minimum of fat should be. Any ideas?

zip2play · 08-10-2004, 08:04 AM

georgiehopper,

There's no minimum for saturated fat...down to as close to ZERO won't hurt you. Some of the unsaturates are "essential fatty acids" and you need some.

Now, most will say you need 1000 mg. Omeaga-3 fatty acids...that's 1 grams.

Add a couple grams linoleic acid and linolenic acid, (mostly Omega-6's) and you're fine.

So I'm CERTAIN that there's no problem with 20 grams and am reasonaly sure that even 10 is fine if there's emphasis on vegetable sources and fish.

Not a good idea though to have the whole 22 grams from meat or dairy sources.

georgiehopper · 08-10-2004, 09:30 AM

Hopefully then, I should be ok...none of my fat comes from meat or dairy since I eat neither of them. I'm pretty close to vegetarian except I have tuna/salmon a couple of times a week.

Thanks

ZippyDawg · 08-10-2004, 09:44 AM

In my opinion the answer is a resounding yes. Fats including saturated fats provide essential nutrients for all metabolic processes. I drastically lowered my lipid levels with weight loss, aerobic exercise and a high fat diet including whole eggs and other animal based fats as well as olive oil and a low-carb diet.

Do a search on Google for the following articles. They provide a wealth of info on the relationship between dietary fat and lipid levels.

“The Truth About Saturated Fat Mary Enig”

“The Oiling of America Mary Enig”

“What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie? Gary Taubes”

“The Soft Science of Dietary Fat Gary Taubes”