Addicted to....

[earth2birth]

I know this may sound funny, but I think I am addicted to butter/fats.
I don't eat it everyday, but when I do I use a lot....
Has anyone completely given up butter/vegan butter, etc...
I mean if I have it on toast I have a lot.
Any advice would be lovely.

[junipermuse]

I sort of know what you mean. I LOVE butter. And I love to spread it really thick on toast. I'm a big believer that whole foods that aren't real processed are healthy though. So I would never give up butter entirely. I buy grassfed butter because it's a source of vit A D and K. I am trying to lose weight though and butter has a lot of calories, so I am learning to gradually reduce portion size. I find that a little is better than none for me.

[Linda on the move]

Fats are important to our body. We need them to function. The min. that I've read is 2 teaspoons a day.

I prefer olive oil to animal fat, though.

I think that part of the problem you might be having with binging is that you aren't giving your body what it needs, so you crave it, so you eat WAY too much.

[Pogo0685]

This is just your body telling you that you need more fat, I get at least 60% of my calories a day from fat and have lost weight steadily doing so, in fact when my husband and I switched to high fat, low carb eating in march he was 225 pounds, he is now 180 and looks and feels fantastic. I however still have 20 more pounds to get rid of but I am still breastfeeding and I think that is keeping the last bit of weight on me. Eat butter and fat its good for you!

[earth2birth]

Originally Posted by Pogo0685

This is just your body telling you that you need more fat, I get at least 60% of my calories a day from fat and have lost weight steadily doing so, in fact when my husband and I switched to high fat, low carb eating in march he was 225 pounds, he is now 180 and looks and feels fantastic. I however still have 20 more pounds to get rid of but I am still breastfeeding and I think that is keeping the last bit of weight on me. Eat butter and fat its good for you!

Thanks I will do some research on this.

[june'smom]

I keep hearing that fats are good for you (especially animal fats) but how do they effect your blood pressure, cholesterol, etc? I get that you can lose weight while eating them, but how do they effect your body long term?

It just seems to go against a lot of research. and not just research about losing weight, but generally accepted medical research.

[Pogo0685]

The primal blueprint my Mark Sisson (spelling might be wrong) is by far the best book I have read on eating lots of good fat. There is also a movie called my big fat diet that is about eating a low carb diet with plenty of good fat, I can't recall who made it though. But the book will be much more helpful than a movie.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by june'smom

I keep hearing that fats are good for you (especially animal fats) but how do they effect your blood pressure, cholesterol, etc? I get that you can lose weight while eating them, but how do they effect your body long term?

It just seems to go against a lot of research. and not just research about losing weight, but generally accepted medical research.

I'm with you. I get most of my fat from plant sources, such as olive oil. It works for me -- I'm in my mid 40's and just got my blood work done and it was super.

[ambereva]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

I'm with you. I get most of my fat from plant sources, such as olive oil. It works for me -- I'm in my mid 40's and just got my blood work done and it was super.

Me too. Eating copious amounts of animal fats seems to be a new fad, and I just can't get on board with it. Don't get me wrong, I eat quite a bit of fat, about 40% of my 3000 daily calories come from fat, but it's all plant based (and plenty of it is saturated, from nuts and chocolate). My last blood panel had my LDL cholesterol in the low 50's and my HDL in the low 60's. I'd pit those results against anyone's.

ETA: plus I've lost 80 pounds on my high fat, high calorie plant based diet...the key is to use more energy than you consume, and a nutrient rich diet gives you the energy to move more.

[cdmommie]

Trans fats can be addicting and really anything processed can form habits. The chemicals that are released in your brain when certain food are eaten are what make them addicting. Just like anti-depressants. At least that's what my Nutrition Professor said. You need fat, but you can make the majority of it come from polyunsaturated fats so that it's not so addicting.

[Pogo0685]

Originally Posted by ambereva

Me too. Eating copious amounts of animal fats seems to be a new fad, and I just can't get on board with it. Don't get me wrong, I eat quite a bit of fat, about 40% of my 3000 daily calories come from fat, but it's all plant based (and plenty of it is saturated, from nuts and chocolate). My last blood panel had my LDL cholesterol in the low 50's and my HDL in the low 60's. I'd pit those results against anyone's.

ETA: plus I've lost 80 pounds on my high fat, high calorie plant based diet...the key is to use more energy than you consume, and a nutrient rich diet gives you the energy to move more.

I wouldn't say that eating animal fats is a new fad. Eating animal fats is how humans evolved. So while lately it seems like its getting a lot of new followers on the Paleo and Primal diets, its not something new its just we are going back to what we SHOULD have been doing all along.

[Violet2]

Originally Posted by cdmommie

Trans fats can be addicting and really anything processed can form habits. The chemicals that are released in your brain when certain food are eaten are what make them addicting. Just like anti-depressants. At least that's what my Nutrition Professor said. You need fat, but you can make the majority of it come from polyunsaturated fats so that it's not so addicting.

I don't believe butter is a trans fat, isn't it a saturated fat?

OP--I eat a good amount of butter when I eat it. I think there can be room for anything important to you in a healthy diet. If you are losing weight or are happy with your weight, don't worry about it.

V

[cdmommie]

Butter no, but vegan butter probably.

[Violet2]

Originally Posted by cdmommie

Butter no, but vegan butter probably.

Ah okay. Trans fat is seriously bad news and should be shunned. If it's in vegan butter and that's what you eat, don't. It is very bad for the heart.

V

[DashsMama]

Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" does a very good job of debunking the low fat diet advice that doctors have been advocating for the past 40 years or so.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by Pogo0685

I wouldn't say that eating animal fats is a new fad. Eating animal fats is how humans evolved. So while lately it seems like its getting a lot of new followers on the Paleo and Primal diets, its not something new its just we are going back to what we SHOULD have been doing all along.

people used to have shorter life expectancies, too.

My grandparents and parents all ate lots of animal fat, and all ended up with heart problems. By the time my parents were my age, both were on drugs to control their cholesterol.

I just don't buy that eating lots of animal fat is good for *most* people's long term health. Obviously, every body is different and we are all just playing the odds.