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Fat makes a great energy substrate, and it's delicious. Just wanted to say that so no one thought I was hating on the cream or lard. The question is how much do we need. Let's pretend you were meeting your energy requirements another way and just needed fat for it's non-caloric uses. For instance moving fat soluble vitamins past the gut lining. What's the healthy/happy rock bottom amount we NEED for health?

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rock bottom is probably 10% of calories. I think anywhere from 10-30% is great, anything beyond 40% seems absolutely ridiculously high to me. – foreveryoung Apr 16 2012 at 12:40
the kitavans eat roughly 10% of cals from fat, around 4% of which comes from fish oil. – foreveryoung Apr 16 2012 at 12:41
You need to meet your EFA requirements, which is very easy. – foreveryoung Apr 16 2012 at 12:42

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This is a very difficult question since

  • We will need to agree on a definition of necessity. Maybe 4g/day of EPA/DHA is better than 1g/day in that it lowers risk of CHD by 5% in 90% of subjects, but does that mean we NEED 4g/day? I don't know.
  • All fats are not created equal, so when you're at the threshold of "necessary" fat, the proportion and amount of each fatty acid type is going to be of great importance.
  • Nutrition from other foods could greatly vary the fat needed for absorption. If X amount of fat/day yields an efficiency that 10% of all ingested vitamin Z is absorbed, you can either eat more fat or more of vitamin Z to meet needs.

Here's one paper on low fat diets; I'm sure there are others. Unfortunately, the only answer I can give is "it depends."

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Very reasonable, and I suspect you are right. I appreciate the link. What's your personal philosophy regarding fat intake, if I can ask? – mike Feb 8 2012 at 20:00
Sure - my instinct would be to say 10%. You'll need to be really careful about getting enough EFAs at that level though. 20% is plenty safe - I believe that's actually the proportion the Kitivans typically eat (from fish and coconuts). Any variations between 20% and 80% affect lots of hormones and may or may not improve longevity. Talk to Rosedale and he says high fat, low protein, low carb = long life. Talk to Kurt Harris and he'll likely say that anywhere in that range is likely fine as long as you avoid the neolithic agents of disease. – Silverspeed Feb 9 2012 at 2:13
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I think that aiming for about 1-2 tbsp of healthy fats per meal is a good place to start for most people, provided that it allows you to maintain a healthy weight. Less than that, it could be difficult to properly absorb fat-soluble nutrients and feel satiated.

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You don't need any fat, plenty of studies showing that people can thrive on completely fat free diets.

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Fat IS essential, just like protein. Carbohydrates is the only non-essential macronutrient. – Aglaee the Paleo RD Apr 16 2012 at 13:05
aren't a lot of vitamins and minerals fat soluble? – legup Apr 16 2012 at 13:52
Every food contains a little bit of fat. Some vitamins are fat soluble but you don't need fat to absorb them, you can search on google scholar and you will get some hits. – cliff Apr 16 2012 at 14:12

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