Which fats are best? Animal vs. Vegetable?
 

I am new to LC, and like alot of people, am having a hard time making the brain switch to eating lots of fat. This afternoon I made bacon, and then scrambled my eggs in the leftover bacon grease!

Believe me, a true first! I couldn't believe I was actually doing it!!
:eek:

I'm ok with consuming the fat, but shouldn't I still be concerned about my heart? Which fats do you think are better for you? Animal, or vegetable (such as olive oil)...

well, actually i have read in some LC plans they mentioned abt good and bad fats....but I am not particular abt fats, so I had a vague idea only. If I am not wrong, they recommended taking less of animal fats...

but DANDR allows unlimited usage of animal and vege fats, so long you feel satisfied. When I first started out on Atkins, this issue didnt actually come to me.....I was already very very happy that i can have lots and lots of my favourite butter. But didnt the media report margarine isnt that healthy either? Olive oil is ok.

Throughout my LCing, I am just particular abt daily carbohydrates intake(taking note on those breadings,sauces, carb contents minus the fiber)....i am more liberal on fats, proteins, veges and sometimes fruits.

From Schwarzbein Principle:

Butter, cheese, chicken fat, cream, duck fat, eggs, goose fat, nutmeg oil, sour cream, almond oil, avacado oil, canola oil, hazelnut oil, olive oil are among the best. She doesn't list bacon fat, but it's fine if the bacon didn't have sugar, nitrates, etc.

Don't cook with flax oil or sesame seed oils but they are very good for you. These break down easily at moderate temps, which is why not to cook with them; even the fats listed in the first paragraph can become damaged at a certain point of heat.

NEVER eat trans-fatty acids or hydrogenated oils. These are in most prepared foods, regular peanut butter. microwave popcorn, and many other common sources. Also, unfortunately, lard (which would be GREAT if you could get the real stuff) that is sold in grocery stores is hydrogenated to make it less goopy at room temps.

That's the short answer. One long answer comes from reading Udo Erasmus's book, a tedious undetaking. :)

Thanks, Razzle
 

Razzle, thanks for your thorough response.

It's really fascinating to me. Any time I really go heavy on the fat, I wake up the next morning, and the scale creeps down. This morning, after the bacon grease scrambled eggs episode, I had lost 2 pounds!

This WOE is a real mind trip for us long time low fat/ex hippie vegetarian types! :p

I drizzle bacon grease over my fresh mushrooms that I fry up.

I KNOW.....LOL

Gotta LOVE this way of eating. On this note...my blood sugar levels have NEVER been so GREAT!!

cin

The reason fats of any kind are needed is not the fat per se, but the fatty acids in them, the most important ones being linolenic and linoleic acids. Saturated fats, such as animal, are rather low in them but possess other "virtues" which were overlooked in the past. Most nutritionists nowdays allow for the use of real butter and like olive oil for cooking. Flaxseed, and Evening Primrose oils are mostly recommended as supplements and are great for the skin, hair and nails, suppresing appetite and general health of every cell.

Fish oils are also recommended as they are good for heart health. Dr. Michael Eades, co-author of "Protein Power" highly recommends it as a way of preventing certain health problems.

One drawback about using bacon fat is that by the time one's done crisping the bacon, the fat contains a lot of burn particles that turn into free radicals in our bodies, together with the nititres of regular bacon it's a recipe for cancer, brrrrrrr! So make sure you take extra anti-oxidants whenever you want to indulge ( I do it every so often... he, he!).