Fats consumed vs fat on body: hormones

[Doug_]

A lot of people say that women need to eat _____ % of calories from fat in order to have hormonal balance. It's often higher than what is recommended on this program.

I was under the impression that the body can make all the fats it needs, of all types, except the essential fats, omega-3 and omega-6.

Could you help me understand:

1. What role does a certain threshold of stored fat on the body play in helping the body be able to find hormonal "balance" more effectively than with slightly lower (underweight) fat stores?

2. Why (aside from the essential fats) would any attention need to be paid to the percentage of calories coming from fat, if the body can make all it needs, and also use its own fat stores? People often say, "Eat more fat!" But they fail to specify or know what type of fat it should even be.

[JeffN]

1. What role does a certain threshold of stored fat on the body play in helping the body be able to find hormonal "balance" more effectively than with slightly lower (underweight) fat stores?

The main concern we have is the opposite, the negative effect of higher body fat levels on hormones, etc.

http://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resou ... al-effects

http://preventcancer.aicr.org/site/News ... _ctrl=1102

http://www.aicr.org/reduce-your-cancer- ... _link.html

http://www.aicr.org/cancer-research-upd ... Daily.html

2. Why (aside from the essential fats) would any attention need to be paid to the percentage of calories coming from fat, if the body can make all it needs, and also use its own fat stores?

As percentage of fat goes up, calorie density goes up, which increases passive over consumption of food. This can lead to excess body weight with excess levels of body fat, which leads to the above mentioned concerns.

People often say, "Eat more fat!" But they fail to specify or know what type of fat it should even be.

The mantra should be, eat the right foods in the right amounts, as per the guidelines and principles recommended here.

In Health
jeff

[Doug_]

Thank you very much Jeff for taking the time to respond and provide those informative links.

I'm concerned about the underweight side of this, rather than the effects too much fat has on hormones and cancer risk. I'm trying to understand the mechanisms affecting women's hormones when they increase body fat, to go from underweight to a recommended weight, and what it is about being (even slightly) underweight that can cause hormonal imbalance for women.

I understand that the answer of what to do is always to eat as this program recommends. But my purpose with this thread is to understand the mechanisms behind what happens physiologically for hormones when a transition is made from being underweight to being at a healthy weight.

I will try to find an endocrinology text or speak with someone well versed in these mechanisms to better understand.

[JeffN]

Let's try this...

There is an essential amount of dietary fat required and also an essential amount of body fat required. They are not the same nor directly related, though you will hear such comments, such as women "need" to eat more fat because their bodies need more fat.

A certain amount of body fat is required and is called "essential." In men, it's around 4-6% and in women around 8-12%. It is higher in women because of gender and hormonal differences and reproductive issues. Going below this amount causes problems especially in regard to proper hormone production & functioning.

I have discussed in this forum in regard to the starvation response, because going below this level does cause metabolic, hormonal, electrical & other changes.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=17541&p=160530

I have seen this occasionally in the CR community in both men & women who reduce caloric intake too far & enter what they call the "gray zone." They find problems with sleep, stress, emotions, sexual function, hair loss and it has resulted in osteoporosis. You see these same problems in anorexia too. It can happen in body builders who eat/train in a way to lower their percent body fat too far.

I recently discussed it here in regard to the potential of someones BMI going to low..,

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=48635

This is not directly related to the percent fat in the diet but more to total calories as as you can eat a diet with a high percent fat that is too low in calories & have the problem. The main driver is low body fat from reduced total caloric intake. Those on CR who have discussed having this issue were following medium to high fat diets.

On the topic...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/3117838/

https://books.google.com/books?id=MVJPA ... ne&f=false

http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20 ... ences.html

As long as someone is following the program, getting in enough calories to maintain a "healthy" weight and consuming a variety of foods, this should not be a problem. However, we do occasionally see someone push the limits thinking this is a completely no fat diet, and try to minimize and/or exclude any and all foods higher in fat, even in the recommended foods (i.e., oatmeal being 16% fat) and/or try to push their BMI's to low (below 18.5) or trying to force their BMI to the lowest end in the lower range of acceptable. I noticed a push for this after I posted that the lower end of the BMI (18.5 - 21.9) may be healthier.

In Health
Jeff

[Doug_]

Excellent! Thank you. Very helpful, and appreciated!