Too Much of a Good Thing?

FAT! That’s what this is about.  I realize that most all of us–myself included–know a little about dietary fat, but not really enough. Consequently, as we shop we fall for labels that say things like “turkey sausage,” or “50% less fat than our pork sausage,” or “No trans fats” and even “Lite.”  We don’t worry about the fat calories, and we often don’t even know they’re in what we eat, so we then decide we need a bit of “good fat.”

I realized during a discussion on another website that many people are consuming “good fat” in the form of either natural peanut butter or avocados and nuts. Most of them think this is because they are not getting enough fat in their diet. But here is how it really goes in an ordinary day on a very strict BFL diet:

Breakfast, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 3 grams fat.
Meal 2, Protein shake, 4 grams fat.
Meal 3, turkey rollup  9 grams fat (7 in 4 oz turkey breast roasted)
Meal 4 Myo Deluxe bar  9 grams fat, 7 saturated
Meal 5 Chicken breast,
yam, green beans       5 grams fat
Meal 6 1 cup cottage
cheese, with fruit, 2% 5 grams fat

Total, without any cheating: 32 grams of fat equals 288 cals, about 18% of the calories in a 1600 calorie diet. Substitute salmon for the chicken and you are at or just slightly above the 20% guideline, without eating anything at all as a fat portion. If, like lots of people, you blended in one egg yolk with your scrambled whites, count 4 fat grams; count 120 calories or 13 fat grams for each tablespoon of any edible oil you used, olive, peanut, canola or whatever.

Bottom line is that “good fats and oils” don’t ordinarily need to be supplemented, particularly if the trainee is taking fish oil capsules or flaxseed oil capsule. Not that eating a tablespoon of peanut butter at bedtime, or mixing one in a shake will kill you, but it is just basically adding unnecessary and unneeded fat and calories to the diet.
I like what Bill Phillips says about it all:

“Good fats include safflower oil, sesame oil, canola oil, and the fat in avocados. Now that doesn’t mean you need a portion of any of these fats. Just a tablespoon a day can provide your body with the essential fatty acids it needs. For example, you can mix a tablespoon of safflower oil with vinegar and use if as salad dressing. And, if you eat fish, especially salmon, at least three times a week, chances are you’re getting the essential fatty acids you need.” P. 89, Body for Life.