Fat

[Lucrezia]

I am going to start the MWL program tomorrow. I just have some concerns regarding the lack of fat. I thought the body needs some fat to shield the nerve cells etc. Is the fat you get from starchy vegetables and veg sufficient to maintain such matters?

[roundcoconut]

Well, feel free to do some further reading on the matter, but personally, I find it very convincing that:

1. Human beings ate whole foods, which contain fat, for years and years before we developed plants to extract the fats out of foods. What do you think people ate in towns without an olive-oil-processing plant? What do you think people did before they kept cows as slave animals and skimmed the cream off of the milk, or processed it into butter? (Oh well, I'm an animal person.) They ate whole foods and I'm always willing to believe that this worked out just fine for their health.

2. There are plenty of other mammals who eat whole foods in the world. Apes, gorillas, elephants, etc. They don't need to spread extracted fats on their foods, and their nerve cells seem to be doing just fine.

On the other hand, the humans who've got factories to extract fats from foods, and then add then back into other processed foods -- we are not doing so well, and we are sicker than most populations of wild animals. It makes you think they are doing something right, and we are doing something wrong!

This is not a scientific analysis, of course, but I just don't see where one is needed. Look around, and see for yourself.

[Lucrezia]

I did not refer to oil or dairy. I am refering to fat in general within whole foods. Like avocados and nuts.

[Lucrezia]

Well, feel free to do some further reading on the matter, but personally, I find it very convincing that:

1. Human beings ate whole foods, which contain fat, for years and years before we developed plants to extract the fats out of foods. What do you think people ate in towns without an olive-oil-processing plant? What do you think people did before they kept cows as slave animals and skimmed the cream off of the milk, or processed it into butter? (Oh well, I'm an animal person.) They ate whole foods and I'm always willing to believe that this worked out just fine for their health.

2. There are plenty of other mammals who eat whole foods in the world. Apes, gorillas, elephants, etc. They don't need to spread extracted fats on their foods, and their nerve cells seem to be doing just fine.

On the other hand, the humans who've got factories to extract fats from foods, and then add then back into other processed foods -- we are not doing so well, and we are sicker than most populations of wild animals. It makes you think they are doing something right, and we are doing something wrong!

This is not a scientific analysis, of course, but I just don't see where one is needed. Look around, and see for yourself.

I don't understand the need to compare fat with dairy. Fat is fat and there is fat in whole plant foods like olives etc.
Also, to compare different species like elefants and humans, makes no sense as our digestive systems are different.


So to be even more clear with my question: When one eats very low fat plant foods such as potatoes, peas, corn and vegetables : is that fat really enough to produce hormones, to shield nerve cells etc?

[vgpedlr]

The essential fatty acids you require are already in whole food starches, fruits and vegetables. No need to go hunting for it and add it in, whether in the form of an extracted oil, or whole nut or seed. MWL works by lowering calorie density but still preserving satiety. High fat plant foods increase calorie density dramatically without adding satiety, making weight loss more difficult. Such foods are part of the regular program, but in limited amounts based on weight and health status.

[Pumpkin Pete]

Rolled oats for instance have roughly 8 grams of fat per 100 grams - that's dried.
As a percentage of calories from fat that amounts to about 20%.
So as you can see there's no need to go hunting for avocados, nuts and seeds.
By the way oats are a very filling food, at least for me it is.

[frozenveg]

From Dr. McDougall, in the August 2007 Newsletter:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/aug/oils.htm

Oils Are Essential for Health

The human body can synthesize from raw materials almost all of the organic compounds needed to build and maintain itself. However, there are a few basic elements that it cannot synthesize. These must be obtained from the food, and include 11 vitamins, 8 amino acids, and 2 kinds of fat. Fortunately, except for two vitamins (vitamin D from the sun and B12 from bacteria), all of these essential nutrients are made by plants and found in abundant quantities in a diet based on whole starches, vegetables, and fruits.

Fats are made of chains of carbon which differ in length, and the number and positions of double bonds (a chemical term for a dual linkage between carbon atoms). Animals cannot create double bonds after the third and sixth carbon on the chain. Only plants can make this arrangement. The result is that only plants can synthesize omega-3 and omega-6 fats. These are referred to as “essential fats.” We, like all other animals, must get these essential fats directly by eating plants or indirectly by eating animals that ate plants and stored these essential fats in their tissues. For example, fish store the omega-3 fats made by algae—fish cannot synthesize this kind of fat.

Essential Fat Deficiency Is Essentially Unknown

In our bodies these plant-derived, essential fats are used for many purposes including the formation of all cellular membranes, and the synthesis of powerful hormones, known as eicosanoids (prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and thromboxanes). Our requirement is very tiny, and even the most basic diets provide sufficient linoleic acid to meet our requirement, which is estimated to be 1–2% of dietary energy.1 Therefore, in practical terms, a condition of “essential fatty acid deficiency” is essentially unknown in free-living populations.*

Essential fatty acid deficiency is seen when sick patients are fed intravenously by fat-free parenteral nutrition. In these cases, correction of the deficiency can be accomplished by applying small amounts of soybean or safflower oil to their skin—giving you some idea of the small amount of oil we require.2 Plan on your diet of basic plant-foods supplying an abundance of essential fats delivered in perfectly designed packages, functioning efficiently and safely.

So, yes, the fat we get from starchy vegetables and veg is quite sufficient!

[Morris]

Thanks frozenveg for that post. Very helpful

[KatherineUK]

Fat is also in quinoa, chickpeas, etc. It's just after lunchtime here and after my breakfast porridge with banana and grapes in it and a salad lunch of bulgur, chickpeas, peppers, celery, radish, carrot and tomato cronometer is telling me I have had over 8g of fat so far. I'll be having soup and bread made without oil for my evening meal (more beans and barley in the soup) so I'm sure I'll easily have well over the recommended amount by the end of the day.


Good luck!! Katherine