QUESTION ABOUT FAT

“I'm wondering more and more about the promotion of raw fats in raw-food diets. I'd like to know your opinion. Here's the type of advice we get:

“- Eat 3 whole young coconuts a day to feel energetic. - Eat 2 to 3 avocados every single day to build muscle. - Have 2 pockets of durian every day and live longer. - Eat 3 to 4 spoonfuls of pure coconut oil per day to protect your heart - Do not forget to eat your 2 tablespoon of flax oil in the morning. - A cup of raw almonds everyday will make your skin smooth as a baby. Etc.

“Fat is "IN". I read this kind of advice all over the place now. In printed magazines, in Internet forums, from various diet gurus, in books...It looks like a vegan version of a FATkins diet.

“Aren't there physiological problems when eating that much fat even if it is from "good" source? What would the effect be? What kind of problems can one expect with a diet high in fat? What is too high and too low? I would like to read your perspective about this. I seem to recall somewhere that you yourself ate way too much fats for a while in California and had to suffer some consequences. Am I remembering this right? What happened? Did you get sick somehow?

“Thanks for looking into questions like this and sharing your answers with all of us.”

ANSWER:

Most vegetarian experts agree with each other to say that the optimal fat intake is between 10 and 15% of calories. That's about one small avocado per day, without oils or anything else. The primates eat less than 10%. Rural Chinese people eat less than 15%.

The effects of eating too much fats are numerous: the blood becomes fattier and utilization of carbohydrates is impaired. As sugar gets trapped in the blood stream, candida will proliferate. Less oxygen is available to the cells.

When eating a fruit-based diet with lots of vegetables, with some nuts and seeds (1-2 ounces a day), you cannot eat too little fat. 10-15% is plenty for our needs.

Too high is anything above that, especially when you start to get above 20%.

Most raw diets, including Hippocrates, are about 50-70% fat.

If you eliminate fruit from a raw diet, or limit it to 15% (Hippocrates), your diet will be above 50-60% fat.

I got seriously sick in California from eating too many nuts, too much fat, etc.

I would get blood sugar swings from eating fruit. I was spaced out. I couldn't concentrate. I was tired most of the time. I started having dental problems.

Now that my diet is low in fat, I can eat a whole large honeydew melon and now get spaced out at all. I can eat 6 large mangoes and be perfectly okay. No problems with concentration.

Check out the article Doug Graham has written, it answers many questions: “What You Should Know About Raw Fat”.

Frederic