cron-web.org

[A1CR]

[posted on behalf of MR 2001-04-06]

A CRONie wrote:
>
> Another CRONie wrote:
> Where are people on getting the idea that eating more than
> 20 percent of your diet in good fat is bad?

> More than 20% good fat is probably good for ad lib eaters but on CRON it
> would mean a lower nutrient per calorie density.

I eat a 44% fat diet. I have an absurdly good nutrient profile, per my
last dietary analysis, and it is doubtless BETTER today, as I've cut out
116 Cal of oatmeal in favor of fruits & veggies.

> The article that GW just posted suggested that many researchers believe that between 10
> and 15% fat is enough to maintain good nutrient absorption and a good EFA ratio.

But this is only 2 of many beneficial effects of fat on health.

> Also I believe that increasing any fat will increase total Choloesterol
> levels although with good fats the lipid ratios will be good.

Not true. There is simply no association between dietary fat intake per
se and TC. Rather, different fat types have distinct effects on lipid
profile and CVD risk.

Many, many controlled trials cited in the CR Society Archives ...

show that a high-MUFA diet lowers TC &LDL as much as a low-fat ( <30%
fat, Step I) one, but that it ALSO lowers TG &elevates HDL, where
low-fat diets do the reverse.

Trials cited there also show FURTHER improvements when a little extra n3
is thrown in, &that the above bennies often vanish when % fat drops
below ~35%.

This trial demonstrates that the same basic pattern holds in CR.
Exception: it found that NONE of the intervention diets lowered TC
relative to SAD; this flies in the face of many studies showing that TC
is lowered by low-fat OR high-MUFA OR low-Cal.

[see CR Society Archives for References]


... and, more importantly, your odds of CHD are again NOT dependent on
lowering fat, but on changing fat TYPE; replacing CHO with MUFA or PUFA
cuts your risk, while SaFA &trans-fats raise it:


Dietary fat intake and the risk of coronary heart disease in women.

Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Rimm E, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Hennekens CH,
Willett WC.

Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
02115, USA.

... We prospectively studied 80,082 women who were 34 to 59
years of age and had no known coronary disease, stroke, cancer,
hypercholesterolemia, or diabetes in 1980....

During 14 years of follow-up, we documented 939 cases of nonfatal myocardial
infarction or death from coronary heart disease. Mutivariate analyses included
age, smoking status, total energy intake, dietary cholesterol intake,
percentages of energy obtained from protein and specific types of fat,
and other
risk factors.

RESULTS: Each increase of 5 percent of energy intake from
saturated fat, as compared with equivalent energy intake from
carbohydrates, was
associated with a 17 percent increase in the risk of coronary disease ...

As compared
with equivalent energy from carbohydrates[:]

the relative risk for a 2 percent
increment in energy intake from trans unsaturated fat was 1.93 ...;

that for a 5 percent increment in energy from monounsaturated fat was
0.81 ...;

and that for a 5 percent increment in energy from polyunsaturated fat
was 0.62 ....

Total fat intake was not signficantly related to the risk of coronary
disease ....

PMID: 9366580

See the above links for more on ischemic stroke, dementia, etc.

Diets low in fat are BAD for you. Diets high in *good* fat are GOOD for you.