Discussion Board

Dear Jeff,

I am using a computer-based diet tracker that allows me to specify the ideal ratio of fats in my diet. I have already set my ideal carb/fat/protein percentages, and I am further able to choose the ideal amount of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats in the fats in my foods. The program's default is set at 40% saturated fat, 30% monounsaturated fat, and 30% polyunsaturated fat.

What would you say is the ideal saturated / monounsaturated / polyunsaturated mix?

Thanks,

Laurel

If you follow the principles, guidelines and recommendations of the program, you will not have to worry about any of that as you will automatically get a healthy amount of the right fats in the right amounts and ratio's. Micro-managing is not essential nor recommended.

However, in regard to the tracking program, I would set saturated fat to be no more than 7% of calories, so you will have to do a little estimating in regard to grams. In addition, you can set Omega 3 to 1.1 and Omega 6 to 4x that.

There are several thread on the CRON-O-Meter in this forum and in the Lounge that go into more detail in regard to the settings and you will find several long discussions on fats listed in the Hot Topics of this forum

In Health
Jeff

Thank you for the quick reply.

I am looking for the allocation of ideal saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats within whatever fats appear in the foods I eat. Assuming that all the fat I eat in a day represents 100% of my fat intake for the day, this could look something like 40% saturated fat, 30% monounsaturated fat, with 30% remaining for polyunsaturated fat. I am not sure where to find this kind of ideal allocation info.

You wrote not to exceed 7% of dietary calories in saturated fat, but I am wondering if you have an ideal percentage. If your 1.1% Omega 3 and 4.4% for Omega 6 are ideal percentages, then that covers 5.5% of dietary calories for polyunsaturated fat. If I can just get the info for ideal monounsaturated fat and ideal saturated fat (if the 7% is really a maximum rather than ideal), then I can add those up to see what your ideal fat percentage of calories is and then calculate what percentage each of the three fats (saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated) comes out to with respect to total fat eaten in a day.

Thank you,

Laurel

There is no such thing as "ideal" nor do we recommend specific allocations.



The recommendation is to keep the percentage of calories from saturated fat to under 7% and under 5% may be even better.



They are only recommendations.



This is not how we recommend you follow the program. You will never find me or Dr McDougall discussing these numbers in regard to the way you are asking for them. Therefore, if you would like to follow the program, please take some time to learn the basic principles, guidelines and recommendations of the program, all of which are available here for free. There is a free 12 Day program on the main site.

In Health
Jeff

Thanks for your detailed reply.

I have been following for many years the same general guidelines as the McDougall program and also follow the guidelines of Drs. Campbell and Esselstyn. The reason for my inquiry today is that I am using a new diet tracker from the one I used to use, and I would like my dietary reports to be meaningful. If I do not set my own fat allocation in the program, the default will stand, which is 40% saturated fat, 30% polyunsaturated fat, and 30% monounsaturated fat. I was hoping to find the ideal allocation so that I don't have to be faced with and then ignore the program's encouragement to eat more saturated fat, if the default allocation is excessive for this fat component. This situation also made me realize that I could learn more about what an ideal allocation would be. I did not have luck elsewhere online and have long respected the advice given on the McDougall web site, so I thought I'd see if I could learn more about this topic here.

If this information is not available, a workaround could be for me to take a look at my results over a long period of time as I continue to eat according to the guidelines and then see what the healthy ratios are. It may be that my quest for ideal ratios comes from the strong advice I have read with respect to carb/fat/protein percentages.

Thanks again for your quick replies and your time in addressing my questions.

Be well,

Laurel

Sure, no problem.

If you read the discussions on how best to use the CRON-O-Meter (or any other nutrition tracking software) it is to ignore the percentages as it is not something we discuss, give recommendations for, or need to be tracked. The only things that are of relevance to track are the % calories from saturated fat, the omega 3 and the omega 6/3 ratio.

In Health
Jeff