What is considered "low fat"?

[Hanalei]

I've seen some posts about people feeling different when they eat low fat compared to eating high fat - some better and some worse. What exactly is considered low fat or high fat? I have probably a half cup of walnuts and pecans 5 to 7 days a week, a handful of seeds, plus enough almond coconut milk for a bowl of cereal, and half of a large avocado maybe once a week, but those are the only things I know of that I eat that are high in fat. Is that low, high? I don't understand how you would even figure that out.

[DebB]

Hi Hanalei ~ I don't know the whole ins and outs of high and low fat - - but I do make an effort any more to keep what I eat more on the natural fats side. For example - rarely do I make salad dressings any longer with a lot of oil. Some raw recipes can call for up to 1 cup of oil for a recipe. Instead, I'll opt for avocado in the salad or maybe a tablespoon or so of oil.

I used to add oil to my raw marinara sauce. Then I tried it once with no oil and was surprised how good it was. Okay , no more oil in the sauce.

I also find that I have to limit my nuts and seeds intake quite a bit or I will gain weight. I have long standing thyroid issues, so I have to be careful with fats it seems.

I feel that in my being more aware of the fat levels I eat, that i can have a wonderful occasionally splurge and not have it affect my weight. I wish I was one of those that could eat all the fat they wanted and not gain, maybe next lifetime ;)

[Hanalei]

What are your thyroid issues? Do you have hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism?

[DebB]

I was hyper, then had my thyroid (sadly) ablated (killed -- twice with RAI). So, now I'm hypo, but still maintain some thyroid function (miracle). I'm in the process of a new regimen. I've gone off the Armour and am currently taking thyroid glandulars to see where that takes me. I'm currently having my TSH level checked every 6 weeks as I went way hyper going on the glandulars, so with the help of my local ND and long distance ND, we've been slowly tapering my dosage down. More info than you asked for ;)

Back to say - doesn't matter for me whether I'm hypo or hyper, I will gain weight (not fair, right? ;) With this last bout of going hyper, I've gained almost 30 pounds that I'm in the process of getting back off (story of my life).

[Hanalei]

My mom has hypothyroidism. It's gotten better, but her voice still frequently gets hoarse and she can't talk loudly and it's very irritating for her. It gets better when she takes a thyroid supplement (not sure exactly what it is, some kind of natural thing) and iodine. Does fat affect that? I was just looking into a high fruit raw diet, and from those, it sounds like we probably are eating pretty high fat.

[DebB]

I cannot say whether my fat intake directly affects my voice, but I know exactly what you're talking about. It's a typical out-of-balance thyroid symptom - weak voice. Mine right now is in the process of getting stronger.

For me, having had my thyroid killed - I really have to be on some kind of Rx or now - glandular. When I went hyper within the past 5 months, my voice got quite weak.

Yes, I know a bit about the diet you speak of and won't talk too much about it here or the post may get deleted. But, that way is very low fat. My husband very often eats that way and feels best eating that way and consuming very little fat.

Me? I crave it when I go too low - then I know it's time for a salad with an avocado that night :)

[Hanalei]

But does the amount of fat you eat seem to have any effect on your thyroid?

(By the way, why would the post get deleted? It's still a raw food diet, it'd just be less fat...) ?

[DebB]

I have not noticed that my fat intake directly affects my thyroid, but that would be kinda hard for me to say. Typically I only get my levels checked once a year now and a lot of the time, I simply don't know when I go more hypo. (I always feel a bit hypo and sluggish).

I really haven't gone "low fat" per se for any length of time. My husband eats that way, but I don't.

(Well, we're not supposed to post about other eating programs, etc. - but I'm sure what we've posted will be fine.)

Is your Mom thinking of cutting back her fat to see how it works for her?

[Hanalei]

I actually came across it while searching for stuff about the menstrual cycle. I've been raw almost a year, and while the cramps are mostly gone and I don't have ANY warning whatsoever when I'm going to get it (which is good that I'm getting healthier but not because I don't have any warning), it doesn't seem to have lightened up or shortened up at ALL. I know I haven't really been raw all that long, but mine are usually 7 days and heavy and uncomfortable. That's actually how I found out about the raw diet in the first place, when looking for a natural solution to it. That was when I saw a lot of people saying that when they were high raw but low fat, their periods got much more tolerable and pain-free.

And then when you posted to this question mentioning your thyroid, I immediately thought of my mom, who's been having problems with it for years. It's been better (I think since we've been raw, but I'm not really sure) in that all of her menopause symptoms - the night sweats, hot flashes, etc - have completely disappeared. But what bugs her the most is her voice.

She eats pretty much exactly the same stuff that I do, since we're the only 2 raw foodies in our family, and we usually just make enough for both of us of whatever we want.

She also has issues with receding gums (for years - her mom also has the problem) and her eyesight. Do you happen to know if either of those coudl be related to fat intake? She was going to try cutting back fat with me and see if it helps at all. I saw someone's blog post that said they cut back on the fat and increased the amount of fruit, and within 3 days they noticed differences.

[MysticTree]

I know I haven't really been raw all that long, but mine are usually 7 days and heavy and uncomfortable.

100% simple raw with NO soy products gives me pain-free, light and short cycles which are perfectly regulated. Regular food (or adding a soy miso or other soy product to my raw diet) and it slides back to how it was.

[sport]

What exactly is considered low fat or high fat? Low fat is when you get no more than 10% of your calories from fat. For me on a 2K calorie diet that means 10 grms of chia seeds per day and maybe 6 to 8 nuts per week. If I have half an avocado one day I skip the other fats. This allows for an occasional high fat day.

[Hanalei]

How do you even begin to figure out how sensitive your body is to each of these things? From what you guys have said, I apparently eat VERY high amounts of fat! :-o

[Gianni]

Is that low, high? I don't understand how you would even figure that out.

You go to a website like caloriecount.about.com and search for the food you are eating (or google something like: walnuts calories and look for the link).

They will give you the calories from fat of a given item. So then you add up the calories from fat you eat in a given day on average and divide them by the total calories you eat per day.

For example, you might eat 600 calories from fat out of a total intake of 2000 calories. 600/2000 = 30%

30% is considered high although I don't think you can compare plant based fats to animal based fats. Also you do get good nutrients from nuts, seeds and avocados so they can be very beneficial to a vegan diet as long as they aren't over consumed.

[MysticTree]

Over thinking the issue doesn't help either. Just eat what makes you feel good and don't worry about high fat/low fat.

[Gianni]

Yes, like Mystic said, if you are not feeling any ill effects then it may not be a problem with you.

[walnutty]

I have hypothyroidism and I have not noticed if my fat intake affects it. I do know that I crave salt constantly!

[Hanalei]

Thank you everyone! :throwhearts:

[sport]

You do not always feel the ill effects of food but it does not mean that it is a good long term strategy.

[MysticTree]

it doesn't mean that it's a bad strategy.

[Hanalei]

I'm going to try just cutting back on the amount of fat I eat (mostly eating my nut-based cereal not as often, maybe every other day instead of just about every day) and see if I notice any differences. I'm also trying to eat more fruit. If it seems to make me feel better, then I'll stick with it. :)