Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Anyone got any suggestions for a fat for cooking that has balanced sat/mono/polys (1/3, 1/3, 1/3) and balanced omegas as well (2:1 omega 6 to 3)?

(or at least something with roughly even mono/sat proportions, and semi-reasonable omega balance, so I can round it out with something else heavier on the omega-3s/polys) .

Butter or coconut oil is too high in that sats, and lacking in the mono's/polys for me personally - and fish oil , well its very balanced but too expensive to cook with, plus hardly ideal to cook with - yuck!

Duck fat......sadly omega 6 to 3 ratio with duckfat is very poor (12:1) :/ (otherwise its close, though low in polys)

We are supposed to get a ratio of 2:1 omega 6 to 3, so thats a little out to be using as a standard staple..

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Would be just great to get a perfectly balanced fat for regular intake...(specially if I am to reach the target of it being 45-55 of my caloric intake)

I am not worried about saturated fat being dangerous or whatever, I am just trying to emulate the proportions of different fats in wild animals, which to me makes sense...

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Also what are thoughts on flaxseed oil? Healthy or not? And why?

Its got high polys, and high omega 3:6 ratio (4:1), and could be used to even something out (like a meat fat) that was mostly mono's and saturateds, and unbalanced omega wise...

Would seem like using that with mixed with goose fat, butter or beef tallow might be roughly right...maybe a little low in the monos (maybe could add in some olive oil lol)

I hope I dont need to blend too many fats or oils to get something with a similar portion of sats/monos and polys and omegas to wild meat!!

Also would make most sense if the fat was primarily meat based (seeing as thats what I am trying to emulate, and a broad spectrum of fatty acids would seem most healthful). Just dont like the idea of using plant oils, and plus, I do want a broad spectrum of fatty acids, meats tend to be broad, plants thin...

This is a perplexing problem, emulating the fat profile of wild game (of course I will try and eat more wild game!)...any help will be hugely appreciated....

I just want the fat I am piling in, to be balanced like most wild game.....

Calling all nutritional paleo experts!

(I know these arent all paleo foods per se, but its paleo matched nutrition I am after)

Thanks!

PS/TLDR -

I want to know how to up my fat intake, without using proportion unbalanced stuff like beef tallow, or butter, or coconut oil (all mainly sat fats), or more balanced fats like duck or chicken fat that have excess omega 6s -

I want my profile to be roughly like wild animals profile (1/3, 1/3, 1/3), and still be well up from the only 35% or so fat I am managing to get in so far even with a fair few fatty cuts (my diet is far too protein heavy IMO, i want to reach 45-55^ caloric intake of fat).

Id prefer not to add anything processed if possible. Any ideas or suggestions welcome..

edited Jun 9 at 15:32

asked Jun 9 at 5:50

Jamie
5,887●1●3●17

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There's so much wrong with this question :D! – Korion Jun 9 at 9:19

Like what? I am trying to roughly emulate a proportion of fats that our anscestors ate, for the sole reason that this is roughly what wild meat is like (1/3, 1/3, 1/3)...whats wrong with that? – Jamie Jun 9 at 15:13

Certainly my protein intake is too high and fats too low, and I am not sure how to add to that fat intake, without just relying on sat fat heavy stuff like butter, beef, animal fat etc, and some of that stuff is omega 6 high .... I am new to this. How do you add fat into with our messing up your natural wild animal-like fat proportions? How do you emulate wild food nutritional profiles without hunting for everything or just buying game? – Jamie Jun 9 at 15:17

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Wild game did not have 1/3rd of their fat as polyunsaturated. You want to minimize the amount of polyunsaturated fat in your diet. The Omega 3s in flax seed are not bioavailable, at least not as much as seafood. – AmandaLP Jun 9 at 15:21

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Yes, like Amanda says, the ratios are a bit weird. It also looks like you're trying to recreating natural food by using processed ingredients (oils), and that confuses me a bit. Isn't it easier to just by wild game meat? – Korion Jun 9 at 16:25

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Firestorm · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-09 14:49:31Z UTC

I don't know, dear... it seems to me that you're making this far more difficult than it needs to be. Here's my opinion on the whole 'fat selection and optimization issue' broken down into simple, attainable steps.

Use a variety of fat sources -- grass fed animal fat from meat or grass-fed ghee or butter; coconut oil; red palm oil occasionally; olive oil for cold-use (salad dressings, etc.); macadamia nut oil the same way.

Use animal fats, coconut, or red palm oil for cooking -- they're the most heat-stable.

Mix things up, change them up, and don't get all hung up on one fat for all purposes -- learn to enjoy both the different flavor profiles and the different favored uses to get the most out of the fat you eat.

choose lean meats and use healthy fats like coconut oil to cook in if you have to purchase feedlot meats, but choose fatty meats and cook in their own fat if you're buying grass-fed meats.

Choose things like wild-caught small fish and wild-caught salmon to round out your fat profile.

It's entirely possible to eat 45-55% of your day's calories from fat and not add a single drop of added oil, so in my mind, the important thing is a well-rounded diet with a healthy amount of variety over the course of a day/week/month/year... and that doesn't mean you can't eat the same repeating meals... it just means that if you're going to do that, you need to cover a broad spectrum of foods in those meals (lots of colors, textures, and flavors).

Use spices -- they'll balance and bring joy, and those two features make them worth learning to use them and the cost of maintaining an expansive spice cabinet.

IMO, you don't need a perfect balance at every meal, or even every day -- but over TIME, you'll find that if you choose broadly from healthy foods, your overall ratios will reflect the changes you've made in healthy ways.

pbo · Answer 2 · 2012-06-09 16:01:40Z UTC

This is why we try to eat a well balanced clean diet. Don't worry so much about finding the perfect/magic food item. This thinking is what leads us down the rabbit hole of nutritionism reductionist thinking. Instead of focusing so much on the individual nutrients that make a food good for you, worry about eating whole foods.

That's not to say we dont care about nutrients, but in this case, eat food that contians healthy fats. Some of these will have more saturated fat (beef, butter, most animal fats), others mono (avocado, olives), and then fish for omega 3 (poly's).

Eat a good balance of these and you will be fine.

anand srivastava · Answer 3 · 2012-06-09 17:28:42Z UTC

The problem with PUFA is that it is tough to use as energy. It is mostly used as signalling, due to its unstable nature. Also you need plenty of Vit E along with PUFA to keep it safe. Ideally you should not have it more than 4% by energy. Occasionally it may be ok to go above. Humans would not have had a lot of birds for food. And most coastal people eat very little fish, and eat a lot of coconuts. Inuits being an exception, but they had trouble with their high O3 consumption.

MUFA and SFA are interchangeable, and both can be used for energy. There is some benefit to having more SFA as short chain and Medium Chain Fatty acids, as these help in other ways, besides providing energy.

Animals fats are useful because they provide Vit A and K2. Plant fats provide Vit E.

The best is to have a mix of Coconut oil and Butter, as both are high in short and medium chain fatty acids, and provide a mix of plant and animal vitamins. Generally fats from Ruminants are preferred because they are low in PUFA.

I am not sure where you got the idea that all 3 of them should be in equal proportion, because that recommendation is not grounded in science. Paleo is not a re-enactment. It is trying to use science (from biochemistry, archaeology, history, experimentation) to determine the best diet for humans.

Whats a pure fat that has balanced sat/mono/poly ratios (1/3, 1/3, 1/3 is ideal)?

3 Answers