Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Okay, okay. I realise that sat fats are not the demon people make it out to be.

But it occured to me the other day, that we (or me at least) are adding alot of SFAs to the diet via coconut oil, butter (and cheese), lard etc...

And also that some meats are slightly higher in SFAs or MUFA than others. Most meats however have a real good wack of MUFA.

So I started wondering if our anscestral diet would have had a bit more MUFA oriented than what I am currently eating.

Certainly alot of the diet would have been more small game orientated, whereas we tend to eat larger animals these days.

Even just eating a variety of meats, without adding SFA heavy oils/fats would probably change the balance back to more MUFA significantly.

I am considering doing a bit more slow-cooking, so I dont have to add fats/oils. This would also mitigate some of the oxidation issues, and slow cooked foods are easier to digest. Slow cooking would have been quite common I think.

I asked a somewhat related question, back when I first joined. Now that most of my calories are fat, its something I have revisited thinking about.

But i just wanted to know, does anyone eat a paleo diet with less added fats, or one that has more MUFA, rather than being sat fat focused?

Also, what does everyone think of this approach?

How easy is MUFA to oxidize via cooking? (Keeping in mind this would apply equally to the meat itself). Would that generally only happen at high rather than low temperatures?

How much of an issue is this oxidation really for health?

Just as to show what I am talking about heres some examples:

Beef, plate, inside skirt steak, separable lean only, trimmed to 1/4" (28oz): SFA: 14.2 grams, MUFA: 19.1 grams, PUFA 1.6

Pork, fresh, belly, raw (28oz): SFA: 5.4 grams, MUFA: 7.0 grams, PUFA 1.6

Chicken, broilers or fryers, meat and skin, raw (28oz): SFA: 11 grams, MUFA: 17 grams, PUFA: 8.9 grams

Duck, wild, meat and skin, raw (8.4oz): SFA 12 grams, MUFA 16 grams, PUFA 4.8 grams

Game meat, rabbit, wild, raw (1oz): SFA: 0.19 grams, MUFA: 0.17 grams, PUFA: 0.12 grams

Game meat, caribou, raw(1oz): SFA: 0.37, MUFA: 0.28, PUFA: 0.23

Bear, game (1oz): SFA: 1g, MUFA: 1.6g, PUFA: 0.7g

You can see, even with these few examples, saturated fat isnt always the dominant fat in meats. Just as often its MUFA (perhaps even more often), and sometimes theres some more significant amounts of the dreaded PUFA there too.

flag	asked Jul 29 at 0:20 Jamie 5,887●1●3●17

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I just wanted to THANK YOU for pointing out what most people here should know, but very few seem to: that all meats, fats, and oils are combinations of different fatty acids. I love to blow CW people's minds when I tell them that lard and beef tallow are loaded with oleic acid, same as olive oil, or that their beloved olive oil is about 14% saturated. I want to buy everyone a copy of Mary Enig's Know Your Fats. Should be a prerequisite for posting on PH. – Amy B. Jul 29 at 2:04

foreveryoung · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-29 00:41:32Z UTC

Yes, me- definitely more MUFA than SFA. Like you've stated, virtually all meat has MUFA > SFA. I add some coconut oil/coconut milk to foods, but it's a small amount. Most of my fats come from MUFA becasuse in addition to eating animals, I consume nuts, avocado, olives, etc. So my diet is likely as follows MUFA > SFA > PUFA

For a while, after doing some reading from the Guru's, I got a little obsessed with minimizing all nuts and plant fats (trace omega 6, OMG!), and switched over to using coconut oil as my only extra fat source, but I didn't notice any changes other than it messed up the kinds of meals I like to eat, so I stopped and feel fine. Actually, I feel like a God most of the time- which is better than "fine." I figure our ancestors were fairly well adapted to consuming MUFA/o-6 in the context of tree nuts, so I don't worry about it anymore. Lesson: eat real food, don't eat gluten cereals or grains (with the exception of rice in some contexts), don't eat sugar, don't over eat, don't eat any industrialized foods in general.

ROB · Answer 2 · 2012-07-29 01:51:19Z UTC

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I consume a lot more MUFA than SFA because I eat a lot of macadamias and avocados. I personally feel better on more MUFA than SFA.

answered Jul 29 at 1:51

ROB
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ben61820 · Answer 3 · 2012-07-29 01:59:27Z UTC

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I don't know if I get more MUFA or SF but I'm chiming in to answer that I do not use much added fat.

If I add fat it is indeed coconut oil, which is highly saturated I believe.

Most of my meals however have no added fat whatsoever. I just eat the fat that is part of the meat, nuts, etc I eat.

I prefer to get my calories from protein and carbohydrate.

answered Jul 29 at 1:59

ben61820
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Coconut is about half SF and half MCT, but the MCTs behave very differently, turning into ketones very quickly and don't involve bile salts, so it's a great thing to eat, but not a great thing to compare MUFA vs SF. :) And I'm a total coconut fiend. That said, I've felt really good after eating lamb, vs just normal eating beef or bison. Coconut for me is like rocket fuel, especially when paired with coffee - butter/ghee doesn't have the same effect at all. – raydawg Jul 29 at 13:00

MUFA versus saturated fat in the diet: Does anyone eat a more MUFA in their diet? Or not use added fats?

3 Answers