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How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

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Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#161

Post by jerf »

Julianhearn wrote: post #159
JPKab wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a stupid statement. It is analogous to this: "Why is this building crowded?" Your answer: "It's due to too many people inside. Simple as that." Real answer: There is a popular band inside, which has caused more people to walk into the building in a given 3 hour period than leave it. The "too many calories" people (you are one of them)all think that the effect of a bad diet (which is often bad caloric partitionin…

What evidence do you have that too many calories dont result in weight gain? I bet you that if eat 5000 calories of "healthy" food and your daily requirement is 3000 you will gain weight, and if you eat 2000 calories of "bad" food you will lose weight.

"What evidence do you have that too many calories dont result in weight gain?"

You should read the parent again, more carefully. The point is not that that is not a true statement, the point is that is a vacuous statement, and therefore, the wrong question. It is not controversial that things that cause weight gain cause you to gain weight, but it's not a useful statement for either science or engineering, and we have collectively wasted an awful lot of time and research while laboring under the delusion that this was some sort of actual explanation, rather than a mere restatement of the problem.

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#162

Post by andyakb »

JPKab wrote: post #124
Julianhearn wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weight gain is not because you have eaten the wrong food its due to too many calories. Simple as that.

What a stupid statement. It is analogous to this: "Why is this building crowded?" Your answer: "It's due to too many people inside. Simple as that." Real answer: There is a popular band inside, which has caused more people to walk into the building in a given 3 hour period than leave it. The "too many calories" people (you are one of them)all think that the effect of a bad diet (which is often bad caloric partitionin…

wake up on the wrong side of the bed? relax.

yea, there may be reasons why they eat too many calories (they eat the wrong foods so eating less leaves them tired), but they gain weight because they are eating too many calories. it truly is that simple, however as i think you pointed out, truly fixing the issue is going to be more work than simply saying "eat less" and requires a lot of (re)education

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#163

Post by Shorel »

analog wrote: post #123
BSousa wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't have that much difference in metabolisms (unless we are talking about actual health problems or differences between severe overweight and athletes). What happens is most people don't know what they are eating. BBC did a documentary where two friends, one skinny and one fat, swore the difference was due to metabolism, that the skinny one ate a lot and the fat one didn't. They tested it and found out that…

The basal metabolic rate varies between individuals. One study of 150 adults representative of the population in Scotland reported basal metabolic rates from as low as 1027 kcal per day (4301 kJ) to as high as 2499 kcal (10455 kJ) [1] Your metabolism also slows noticeably as you get older. In my 20s I could eat anything (and lots of it) without being able to gain any weight. Now in my 40s I have to lift weights (to i…

Most of the differences on basal metabolic rate can be explained by the difference in diet.

With keto diets you lose weight faster the more you eat.

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#164

Post by Shorel »

analog wrote: post #136
BSousa wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the study, only 26.7% difference wasn't explained by age/sex/weight. Which means for almost 75% the values were somehow dependent on sex/age/weight. And the difference between the top 5% and bottom 5% of the outliers was around 30% (which means for a 2000kcal average BMR, the bottom needed only 1700 and top 2300). This, in my opinion, is not enough for people to tout slow/fast metabolism for weight gain/…

Even if you're eating just 300kcal over what you need every day you will become overweight eventually. Edit: for reference 300kcal is about what you'd burn off with a 4 kilometer run.

I can eat 3500kcal of pork and eggs every day without gaining weight. In fact, I'm much leaner and I have more energy than when I used to eat less.

The reason: I avoid sugars and all kinds of flour.

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#165

Post by Shorel »

raverbashing wrote: post #75
scythe wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've observed rather different things. The people I know who eat the most meat are the Crossfitters around me. They are, in almost all cases, healthy. I have a roommate who drinks fat-free milk and eats lots of salad and pasta, who avoids meat like the plague. He's been struggling with his weight for as long as I've known him. I drink coconut milk -- which contains nothing but fat -- and a meal usually consists of so…

Coconut oil contains healthy fats, as well as MCTs (medium chain triglycerides) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium-chain_triglycerides Oh and testosterone is synthesized from cholesterol so low intake of cholesterol may affect testosterone levels (and testosterone -> fat loss)

Let me add something:

Vitamin-D (extremely important for your bones) is also a form of cholesterol.

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#166

Post by Shorel »

ldehaan wrote: post #113
latch wrote: post #36

While it's really interesting to debate whether you should eat potatoes or beef, the real battle for the western world is that we stop eating processed foods. Wheat vs eggs seems like a silly debate when people are living off of Coke, Oreos and Capt'N Crunch. Whenever I hear these arguments, I feel like these scientists aren't living in the same world as me. "Eggs are ok, declare scientists" reads the headline while…

Observations aside, there is actually scientific evidence to the contrary. The fact is that our bodies require certain types of fats (omega3, omega6, etc..) in order to function properly. Your body is built to break down fats, this is why you have a gall bladder. Diets low in animal fats (not ala omega3's and 6's, which your body has to break down and consequently only gets a very small percentage of usable omegas) c…

Evidence for the controlled use of fire by Homo erectus beginning some 400,000 years ago has wide scholarly support.

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#167

Post by JPKab »

jerf wrote: post #161
Julianhearn wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What evidence do you have that too many calories dont result in weight gain? I bet you that if eat 5000 calories of "healthy" food and your daily requirement is 3000 you will gain weight, and if you eat 2000 calories of "bad" food you will lose weight.

"What evidence do you have that too many calories dont result in weight gain?" You should read the parent again, more carefully. The point is not that that is not a true statement, the point is that is a vacuous statement, and therefore, the wrong question. It is not controversial that things that cause weight gain cause you to gain weight, but it's not a useful statement for either science or engineering, and we hav…

Thank you. How the above comment poster somehow read that I don't think excess calorie consumption is part of the chain of weight gain is beyond me.

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#168

Post by Shorel »

enjo wrote: post #43
schultkl wrote: post #37

I defer to Walter C. Willet, M.D., who writes in "Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy" (co-developed with the Harvard School of Public Health): "There's no question that two types of fat -- saturated fat, the kind that's abundant in whole milk or red meat, and trans fats, which are found in many margarines and vegetable shortenings -- contribute to the artery-clogging process that leads to heart disease, stroke, and other pro…

The more interesting debate is about overall health outcomes. Even the most ardent low-cholestrol folks are forced to admit that this link between higher LDL (particularly the big "fluffy" stuff) and heart disease exists. There are two really interesting things, however. 1. The link between dietary saturated fats and increased LDL isn't nearly as strong as those earlier studies suggest. This is certainly supported by…

Good post, I just want to add something:

Some fruits have lots of sugar, like apples, grapes and watermelon.

Re: How did we come to believe saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us?

#170

Post by Shorel »

SwellJoe wrote: post #19
activepeanut wrote: post #3

I've always wondered if the saturated fat in coconuts is bad for you..

Most likely good for you, along the lines of olive oil and avocado. Assuming a good balance of foods.

They have very different smoke points.

In short: coconut oil (also palm oil) will be useful after you use it to fry, while olive oil will stop being olive oil after just some heating. In fact, do not fry anything with olive oil. Olive oil should be added to food in your plate only.

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