Saturated Fat?

[SollysMom]

I was a 90's child, when low-fat was all the rage, so I've come a long way in recognizing that fat can be good. I try to include lots of healthy fats in my diet through olive oil, nuts/nut butters, avocado, flax seed meal, etc. I'm an ovo-lacto veg so my biggest concern with saturated fat is dairy. I drink skim milk and buy low- or non-fat yogurt. I noticed recently that the nonfat Stonyfield Farms vanilla yogurt I buy has more sugar than the low-fat version. The difference in each isn't huge, but it got me wondering, which is worse, saturated fat or extra sugar? I know both are fine in moderation but I can't help but feel sat. fat is the devil. If it matters, I'm not coming from a weight management perspective, just overall health.

Thoughts?

[bandgeek]

Personally I prefer a little extra fat over the extra sugar, especially since my diet is very low-fat naturally (ovo veg). I actually have to consciously add fat back into my diet or I don't get enough and feel very hungry and it triggers me to overeat. So I make sure to get enough fat. I don't worry about small amounts of saturated fat. I'm doing very well on a low glycemic diet with plenty of fat...I've lost almost 20 lbs in the last 5 months and have 20 more to go. For me, sugar is the devil.

[Ms. B. Sprout]

Originally Posted by SollysMom

which is worse, saturated fat or extra sugar?

My strong vote is for sugar being worse, by far.

I recommend reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. He takes on the science of fat-is-evil and man, is it illuminating.

For a shorter version, you can read this or this.

[ParisApril]

My family has a history of Type 2 Diabetes and I tend to be hypoglycemic so I try to avoid any foods with added sugar (I eat plain yogurt). When I bake I usually cut the sugar in recipes and when I can I sub maple syrup or honey for the sugar.

I eat flax oil, oilve oil, coconut oil and hemp oil but I also eat all my my dairy whole and raw with all it's fat. I have never had any bad health concerns from eating fat. I am energetic, active ,fit , I have low cholesterol and low blood pressure etc.

[cristeen]

Well, the extra sugar in the yogurt is not actually "added" sugar - it's lactose sugar. And if you check the back of a container of non-fat milk next to one of low-fat and one of whole, you can see the increase in "sugars" in each one (whole has the least).

I do not have problem with naturally occuring saturated fats - they are (and have been) an important part of the human diet over the centuries. Sugar on the other hand is best avoided/limited in most all of it's forms.

[SollysMom]

Thanks for the replies! I guess sat. fat is not the devil after all

I don't think I could drink whole milk, I'm pretty sure it would be way too thick for my tastes. And I drink 1% chocolate milk (I know, the sugar... but it's awesome after a workout!). Should I switch to full-fat yogurt? I'm not concerned about the extra calories, just whatever's healthier overall.

[Magelet]

imo, most definitely. Saturated fat in dairy (and other foods) helps you absorb fat soluble vitamins, and overall, your body needs saturated fat.

We don't drink any fat free or low fat dairy products. (besides sat. fat actually being healthy, they usually have scary crud in them like dry milk powder and stuff. ewww)

[mambera]

Another vote for sugar is way more evil than fat.

Your body is made of lots of different kinds of fats. You need fat in your diet for healthy cell membranes. (Almost) nothing in your body is made of sugar/carbs. Sugar is only good for energy: you use it up or you store it as flab. It doesn't build anything much in your body and it spikes your blood sugar level, releasing an insulin gush which instructs your body to go store it as extra fat cells.

I usually go for full-fat dairy with no sugars/additives. We use plain whole milk yogurt (and sometimes the strained Greek kind which has about double the fat content - yum)

[SollysMom]

So I made the switch to plain yogurt for my smoothies, which dramatically cut the sugar when switching from vanilla. I stuck with nonfat because it had slightly more protein than the full-fat (not sure why?) and a small difference if any in sugar content. However, I may soon switch to a local creamery instead of Stonyfield, and their yogurts are all full-fat.

[avendesora]

Originally Posted by SollysMom

I stuck with nonfat because it had slightly more protein than the full-fat (not sure why?)...

If you have a cup of whole milk, with x grams of protein, and make it into skim milk, you then have the same x grams of protein, but now the cup is only 90% full. Top it up so that serving sizes are always one cup, and you've added in some more protein.

[SollysMom]

Ahhhh I see.

[spughy]

Also, if it helps to know these things (and I'm not sure it does) a recent meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Nutrition (I think? Some big reputable journal anyway) showed that there is no effect of dietary saturated fat on cardiovascular disease - at least no negative effect. None, zip, nada. (A meta-analysis takes vast numbers of studies, and compares results taking into account population, methodology, confounds and other aspects. It's not a new study, it's a closer look at all the previous studies in the context of each other.)

[JMJ]

Originally Posted by spughy

Also, if it helps to know these things (and I'm not sure it does) a recent meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Nutrition (I think? Some big reputable journal anyway) showed that there is no effect of dietary saturated fat on cardiovascular disease - at least no negative effect. None, zip, nada. (A meta-analysis takes vast numbers of studies, and compares results taking into account population, methodology, confounds and other aspects. It's not a new study, it's a closer look at all the previous studies in the context of each other.)

I would love more information on this if you can.

[avendesora]

I love this blog: wholehealthsource This biochemist reads medical journals for fun, and then reports on what he reads. Because he really understands his stuff, he discusses why some studies were more thoroughly managed than others, etc. He also calls the bluff on some studies - for example, I remember reading on his blog about a study that claimed 'high fat diet decreases lifespan' because they fed one group of mice cookies (which they called high fat) and one group of mice fruits & veggies, etc. Maybe it's the sugar?!?

Also check out:
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co...diet-heart.html

Aven

[spughy]

Originally Posted by JMJ

I would love more information on this if you can.

Here's the link to the study abstract. You might want to poke around a bit with Google's health to see what you think of the whole concept of the meta-analysis. Personally, I am more convinced by simply thinking of what we know of human evolutionary history: we've been eating meat for a LONG time, and most modern "primitive" cultures have a big thing for the fatty bits. Children, too, generally love the fatty bits. I can't see how we'd have evolved in such a way that we'd be harmed by the most readily available, energy- and nutrient-dense food we could find. It's far more likely that we'd be harmed by things we weren't adapted for, like concentrated sources of starch and sucrose.

[JMJ]

Originally Posted by Magelet

imo, most definitely. Saturated fat in dairy (and other foods) helps you absorb fat soluble vitamins, and overall, your body needs saturated fat.

Could you expand on this a bit? I know that fat in general helps you absorb vitamins, but I haven't been able to find a lot of specifics as to why saturated fat is important.

[serenbat]

http://www.healthy-vitamins-rx.com/h..._vitamins.html

there are some links at the bottom that help regarding saturated fats & vitamins-----and you could also look at "Good calories Bad calories"-tons of into in that