Healthy Fatty Foods

[ncsmn]

Deleted...

[LV40]

Well... nuts are high-protein foods that are high in the 'good' fats, so peanut butter would be an option along with walnuts, almonds, etc. Avocados are another food high in good fats, although I'm not sure of their protein content. You didn't say you were vegan, so I'm assuming you eat dairy products. Eggs are a good source of protein, as long as you don't consume the yolk too often.

Canola and olive oils are high in the good fats, but then you mentioned you don't like to cook, so I'm running out of options here, lol.

Foods rich in polyunsaturated fat include vegetable oils like corn, safflower, soybean, and sunflower seed, margarine, and most salad dressings. One downside to this type of fat is that while it lowers the bad LDL cholesterol, it may also lower the good HDL cholesterol. I don't know how concerned you are about cholesterol at this point, though. But polyunsaturates are still better than saturated.

Maybe others can offer some better suggestions, I'm a little brain-dead today.

[ncsmn]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. Do you know if Macadamia nuts have healthy fat? I used to eat them a lot, and I remember they had a lot of fat, but I don't know if it's the good kind?

[Gopherhead]

Originally Posted by ncsmn

My question is what are some examples of foods that are healthy and high in either fat or protein? I would prefer foods that are easy to prepare (I don't like cooking).

Your best bet are nuts and seeds, they are primarily fat and they require no preparation.

1 oz of Almonds (20 - 24) is 160 calories of this:
6g are protein
14g are fat
1g is saturate
9g are mono unsaturate
3g are poly unsaturate

1 oz Brazil nuts (6 - 8) is 190 calories of this:
4g are protein
19g are fat
5g are saturate
7g are monounsaturate
7g are polyunsaturate

1 oz of Cashews (16 - 18) is 160 calories of this:
4g are protein
13g are fat
3g are saturate
8g are mono
2g are poly

1 oz of Hazelnuts (18 - 20) is 180 calories of this:
4g are protein
17g are fat
1.5g are saturate
13g are mono
2g are poly

1oz of Macadamias (10 - 12) is 200 calories of this:
2g are protein
22g are fat
3g are saturate
17g are mono
0.5g are poly

1 oz of Peanuts (28) is 170 calories of this:
7g are protein
14g are fat
2g are saturate
7g are mono
4g are poly

1 oz of Pecans (18 - 20 halves) is 200 calories of this:
3g are protein
20g are fat
2g are saturate
12g are mono
6g are poly

1 oz of Pine nuts (150 - 157) is 160 calories of this:
7g are protein
14g are fat
2g are saturate
5g are mono
6g are poly

1 oz of Pistachios (45 - 47) is 160 calories of this:
6g are protein
13g are fat
1.5g are saturate
7g are mono
4g are poly

1 oz of Walnuts (14 halves) is 190 calories of this:
4g are protein
18g are fat
1.5g are saturate
2.5g are mono
13g are poly

Peanuts aren't 'technically' nuts, FYI, they are legumes.

You can eat these by themselves as a snack, you can also add them to things like salads and oatmeal to add calories.

Foods like avocados and olives are another way to add calories. One half of a florida (green skinned) avocado has 244 calories of which 23g are fat (4g saturate / 3 g poly / 14g mono) and 3g are protein. 1/4 cup of black olives is 38 calories, of which 4g are fat (.5g sat / .3g poly / 3g mono) and .3g are protein. 1/4 cup of green olives is 43 calories of which 5g is fat (.6g sat/.4g poly / 3.5g mono) and .5g protein.

I'd recommend using cold pressed extra virgin olive oil for salad dressing and cooking (if you should develop the urge!). It's important the oil be cold pressed if health is important to you, if it doesnt say 'cold pressed' it's not - cold pressing refers to how the oil is extracted from the fruit. The most common method is hexane extraction which is pretty un-healthy. This is, btw, how most oils are made if they do not say 'cold pressed'.

If you choose to use polyunsaturate oils, vegetable oil, never cook with it; it damages very easily and becomes unhealthy. You'd be better off cooking with butter.

LV is correct about polyunsature oil lowering both good (HDL) and 'bad' (LDL) cholestrol. Mono unsaturated fats do not do this, they lower only LDL, another reason to stick to Olive Oil (which is primarily mono).

Of special note are foods high in EFAs (essential fatty acids). These are walnuts, flax oil and flax seed (the oil is polyunsature and should never, ever be used to cook with) and if you can eat fish, fatty fish like herring, mackarel, sardines.

As for non meat based high protein foods the first two that come to mind are cottage cheese and eggs. I'd choose the full fat cottage cheese for the calories. Eggs, contrary to popular belief, are not bad for you. They contain powerful antioxidants and vitamines.

Cheers,
Nat

[jojo64]

Low fat/part skim cheeses are also a good choice. So are avacados.