I am trying to figure out about fats. I know there are good fats and bad fats. If I figured this up correctly, I am consuming between 40 to 80 grams of fat a day. I have read that it is suggested that an adult should only take in 50 grams of fat a day. Saturated fats 20 grams or less. If I eat as a snack a serving of whole almonds, thats 14 grams of fat right there. Also, I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil to cook and also in my salad dressing. I was told that EVO is a good fat but it has 14g of fat per tablespoon. Whats the scoop on this?

Here is a pretty good article from the harvard school of public health:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats.html

Just as a tip, I buy extra virgin olive oil with a spray pump. I think it works out to 2-3g of fat per spray and 2 sprays are fine for frying.

also, you need to understand that oil is pretty much pure fat. yes you need it for cooking but stick with extra virgin olive oil.

The "monounsaturated" fats listed in lany's link are all "good oils". They will still make you put on weight but they are essential for healthy blood, skin, hair and many vital organs.

Just try to grill, steem and bake rather than frying your food.

You will only gain weight from eating fats if you exceed your daily requirements of calories (which is easier to do, as there are more calories in one oz of fat than there is in an oz of carbs or protein).

General rule of thumb:

Good fats = vegetable/plant-based fats
Bad fats = animal fats

and even saying 'bad fats' isn't a great thing, because we DO need saturated fat in our diet to be healthy...its when we get too much saturated fat that its bad.

I would however call trans fats bad all the time.

get .4-.5g of fat per pound of lean body mass, with a pretty even split between saturated, poly, and mono unsaturated fats.

Also, the omega 3's you get from animal sources are better than plant sources...in other words fish oil is better than flaxseed oil.


a clean diet eliminates a lot of saturated fat, and most all trans fat (naturally occuring trans fats in meat aren't like the hydrogenated oils that have trans fat, plus its a tiny amount in comparison).
I occasionally have a little real butter, if it fits into my daily intake.

I eat a variety of proteins, carbs and fats...I think that's the best plan for success as well as avoiding food boredom.

I think it would be better for Noobies to hear it put like this...

"You will only gain weight if you dont burn off the calories you consume."

You know what some idiots are like, they will think that they dont have to exercise if they dont go over the daily requirements.

Thanks to all who responded.
Lany - Thats a great article.

So if I have this correct, to sum up fats, there are 4 types. Mono, polly, saturated and Trans. Mono and polly are good fats -they are plant based. Saturated and Trans are bad fats - they are animal fats. Saturated fats are the exception because even though saturated fats are considered bad, we actually need a limited amount of them. In general, we need fats and as long as you don't go overboard on them you won't gain from them.

Malkore - you posted the following and I need some clarification on it: "get .4-.5g of fat per pound of lean body mass, with a pretty even split between saturated, poly, and mono unsaturated fats." Thanks