Talk to me about dietary fats!

[uv]

Howdy

So, after trying to read up on the pros/cons of different cooking oil (veg, olive, coconut, butter etc), I've seen so much contradiction and opposing views that I'm actually *more* confused than before I started reading up!

These say saturates are bad:
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/fats/saturated-vs-unsaturated-fatty-acids.html#b
http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/fat/saturatedfat.html

These say saturates are good:
http://www.coconutsecret.com/saturatedfats2.html
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_truth_about_saturated_fat

..and there's an entire internet of conflicting information out there. I understand there's some serious knowledge regarding diet around here, so.. talk to me about fat. With an aim to losing body fat (noob lifter) before I try to gain any size, what fats should I be eating and what fats should I be avoiding? And what fat/oil do you use to cook with on a regular basis?

 

[icecold]

Saturated fats (animal fats) are incredibly good food for you.

Have a good intake of omega-3 to balance out the equation.

 

[smit101]

Howdy

So, after trying to read up on the pros/cons of different cooking oil (veg, olive, coconut, butter etc), I've seen so much contradiction and opposing views that I'm actually *more* confused than before I started reading up!

These say saturates are bad:
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/fats/saturated-vs-unsaturated-fatty-acids.html#b
http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/fat/saturatedfat.html

These say saturates are good:
http://www.coconutsecret.com/saturatedfats2.html
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_truth_about_saturated_fat

..and there's an entire internet of conflicting information out there. I understand there's some serious knowledge regarding diet around here, so.. talk to me about fat. With an aim to losing body fat (noob lifter) before I try to gain any size, what fats should I be eating and what fats should I be avoiding? And what fat/oil do you use to cook with on a regular basis?

This is the truth.

Cook with any good saturated fat such as beef tallow, lard, coconut oil, butter.etc

This site has some good in depth information on saturated fats/cholesterol etc.

 

[Freefaller]

Ultimately it's everything in moderation - however, if I had a choice of eating only saturated animal fat, or heavily processed and refined carbs (like sweets *retch*) then I'd choose the saturated animal fats.

Our bodies LOVE carbs because it finds it so easy to absorb/digest and our bodies naturally have a propensity to wanting to store fat. It's just how our bodies work - caveat to that is that this doesn't include doing exercise, being active and using / building muscle. The latter points increase your metabolic rate, promotes fat burning for fuel. Your body is INCREDIBLY good at processing fat for energy - in fact it can generate more energy from fat than it can from carbs gramme for gramme - but, we naturally store glycogen from carbs, and use those first. Our bodies have a genetic predisposition to consume fats and process them for energy - the problem is, modern diets include a lot of carbs - which therefore means that the body chooses the easiest pathway for energy, carbs, and ignores the fat, and as a result does what it does best, and stores it for later.

Ideally you want to get your body into a state where it prefers to burn fats - which will give you a far more thermogenic reaction than just carbs - once you've managed to tweak your body to achieve that, you can consume carbs from time to time to no ill effect. It takes a while to knock it out of you though.

Natural fats are good for you - end of. Processed foods are bad for you, end of.

Go forth and enjoy your steaks, avocados and oily fish and nuts! Say no to heavily processed foods - be happy and be lean and strong and fit!