How Fat Smart Are You?

Get Fit Slowly posted a link to MyFatsTranslator by the American Heart Association. A step above your usual BMI calculators, this one tells you your recommended daily intake of total fats, saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. (Bring on the Twinkies!)

The Four Types Of Fat – Sorting Out the Confusion of Dietary Fats

Modern Forager’s Scott Kustes has a post on Fitness Blackbook in which he sorts out the confusion of dietary fats. There he talks about the four types of fats, where you can find them, and which ones you should use.

I really like Scott’s writing because he uses science to describe his position. He treats us, his readers, like we have brains. I respect that! And if that’s not reason enough to check out his work, then how about his stance on vegetable oils? Guess what – he doesn’t use them:

What else does my choice of natural fats rule out? Vegetable oils. Okay, so I just lost half of you who have now chalked me up to a quack. To the rest of you, here’s the logic:

• Vegetable oils come from…vegetables (or grains in the case of corn)
• Vegetables and grains have very little fat
• Therefore, it takes HUGE quantities of these foods to make a little bit of oil, quantities far larger than any human could ever eat
• The extraction methods are suspect and involve such lovely terms as hexane and supercritical carbon dioxide (in comparison, olive oil is extracted by pressing olives)
• Further processing is necessary to remove impurities and most of the vitamins to enhance shelf-stability
• Polyunsaturated oils have been shown to suppress the immune system (and are used in organ transplants for this purpose)

This has certainly made me think twice about that bottle of rapeseed oil I have in the cupboard.

Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient

Modern Forager also an interview with Jennifer McLagan, author of Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient. I haven’t read the book, and I probably won’t given that it focusses on animal fats. But I found it somewhat reassuring to read her position on meat and farming:

Meat is very cheap in North America and there is a reason for that – factory farming… We should all remember that ruminants were designed to eat grass – there is a reason a cow has four stomachs. If we are going to eat animals we should raise them well and give them a good life.

National Peanut Butter Lovers Month

MizFit informs me that November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month. Go on, celebrate! Treat yourself to some of those peanut buttery good fats. I recommend a good ol’ fashioned PB and Sprout Sandwich on whole grain bread. That’s a complete protein right there, and a serving of vegetables to boot!

For more peanut butter inspiration, check out jenna’s breakfasts on Eat, Live, Run. She puts a spoonful of peanut butter into her oatmeal. GENIUS!

Still hungry? How about a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie?

My Favorite Fatty Food: Avocado

Whether it’s smeared on toast, churned into guacamole, or blended into a smoothie, I love avocado!

What’s Your Favorite Fatty Food?

Let us know in the comments!

Related posts:

1. How Mediterranean is your diet?
2. Tuesday Link Love
3. Americans Are Eating More – But Of What?
4. Tuesday in Food and Fitness
5. Tuesday Food Diary: What Would Obama Do?

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