Do you care about saturated fat?

[PassTheCordialCordelia]

I know many people who don't give a hoot, and a few that are fairly mindful. A mixed bag really. I am considering starting to eat chicken again after having been veggie for many years then pescatarian for the past decade, and am looking to source some decent quality whole chickens (M&S will do since not close to a butcher).

I noticed that the skin-on birds are very high in sat fat, whilst sliced breast is of course low. Since I haven't thought much about chicken for a few decades, do people generally do this in moderation?
Laugh if you like, I am out of touch with poultry!

I am middle aged and my dad had angina, although he lived a long life and died of something else. I am mindful for this reason, so would love to know if anyone has any current news about sat fats and if any of the old science has altered or changed. I am aware that there is conflicting info on the internet.

No.

Vegetable oils are not being talked about as 'really really bad'.

So the alternative doesn't sound great any.

It comes back to 'dont eat too much of the one thing, vary your diet and exercise'.

I'm middle aged, in fairly good health, slim with low cholesterol and my 93 year old dad also has angina.

No, I'm not bothered about saturated fat and have always eaten everything in moderation.

There seems to be wild and varied opinions about seed oils..it makes me dizzy.

Olive oil and real dairy butter are the best IMO.

I did for a couple of years waiting for my gallbladder surgery. Saturated fat was my biggest trigger. Anything above 0.5% would trigger an attack where as I could tolerate up to 8% non saturated.

I stopped caring once I had the surgery though.

I can’t get too worked up about it. I’d definitely not avoid chicken. Good quality organic chicken is a good source of protein. I’d happily eat a good steak every once in a while. I eat butter instead of heavily processed margarine . I drink full fat milk. Lots of cheese..

Loads of veggies and fruits, fibre…just a balanced diet plus exercise.

Had my cholesterol checked and apparently it’s ’excellent’.

I think UPFs are more concerning in large amounts.

I try to avoid seed oils, I’m back on butter now, but wouldn’t eat chicken skin. I do eat 5% fat yogurt and full fat cheese as I want the protein. I don’t drink full fat milk as I don’t like the taste

Nope. Sugar, UPFs, margarine and seed oils are way worse for you tbh.Our bodies are designed to process animal fat but not most of the crap that masquerades as food these days.

Are people referring to sunflower/rapeseed when they say seed oils?
I thought they were only concerning at a high temp. I could have mixed it up though.

I will eat chicken in moderation. It would kill me to give up cheese. It's my one true love

I care about saturated fat in general.

I use avocado on toast rather than butter (I literally take a small chunk and spread it like butter).

I do eat chicken skin though when I've roasted a chicken. And I ate lamb stew yesterday which was delicious but fatty.

I don't eat full fat dairy usually. I prefer 0% Greek yoghurt. But I do eat full fat kefir.

So I'm contradictory in my own head!

I was diagnosed with high cholesterol in my early 20s despite being skinny and fit. I also have a family history of heart disease. I did not want to start medication so young, so I adjusted my diet and have since mostly eaten a low-fat (saturated and unsaturated) diet for 20 years. It has been fine. I also vicariously enjoy saturated fat through my children and DH 😊.

I aim for minimal processing of whatever fat I may eat, and I try to avoid combining high fat-content foods with high-sugar content foods. Insulin spikes also increase body cholesterol levels.

So I'm not bothered about saturation of fat, as long as it's not saturated because it has been deliberately changed from its natural state. I'll eat chicken skin, but I won't eat margarine.

My attitude to sugar is similar - if I'm going to eat it, I'll eat the real stuff, not some franken-food version.

I don't claim any sort of scientific or medical expertise, but I trust the ZOE scientists here and they are not worried about seed oils. I use blended olive oil or cold pressed rapeseed oil for cooking, mostly. Occasionally I cook with butter and/or cream, but it's rare, as is puff pastry and other sorts of pastry. I have butter on bread or toast, but not every day. Extra virgin olive oil for salads and dipping bread. I don't use EVOO for cooking because it has a low smoke point and it's also incredibly expensive!

I do worry about saturated fat to an extent, but my husband and I are both on statins, which probably helps there. He had a heart attack in his late 50s and had stents fitted (he's been absolutely fine, since, thankfully), so we have to be mindful about cholesterol. He doesn't eat red meat, has chicken maybe once a week, and has very little cheese, butter or cream. We have semi-skimmed milk. The heart attack was a huge shock as he was super fit, very slim and active, never had high blood pressure, cholesterol was OK, he didn't drink much alcohol, had a reasonably good diet and had only smoked a few cigarettes a week for a few years in his late teens and early 20s. Best guess is it was genetic in his case as there's been a fair amount of heart disease in his family.

My cholesterol was slightly raised when last tested, which is why I'm on statins. My diet is very varied, lots of fruit, veg, legumes etc, but I love food and I eat too much, which is why I'm overweight, and I really need to work on that. I don't feel I have a lot of saturated fat in my diet, but there will be some. I do eat red meat occasionally and I love cheese, but try not to have it too often.

I did some googllng a while ago and found a huge graph of countries around the world, rates of various disease, and what their diet consisted of. Apart from a startling amount of early deaths in middle eastern males, I could barely make head nor tail of it.
That said I don't know much about global diets, tbh.

Sorry to hear about your husband @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g . Good to know it is under control. We have quite a varied assortment of heart issues on my dad's side, barely any as a result of lifestyle factors. I do try to be careful though.

I am on the thin side, and I think this can blindside you a bit since the messaging is so often focused on obesity. I can munch through a block of Comte in 5 days just through nibbling. My meals are small but I can graze for Britain. People always sound shocked when they are diagnosed with high cholesterol at a low weight, as if the weight somehow protects them. It kind of won't!

Honestly no I don't. I'm thin, sometimes a little underweight if I am too strict, but 2 years ago despite my weight I was almost prediabetic so I have changed things since then and am all good now. . I used to eat what I wanted. I don't think about saturated fat at all. I just try to follow my guidelines most of the time and not get obsessed which I also think is really unhealthy :-
High protein
High fibre
Brown rice pasta and bread instead of white
Some lean red meat but not tons
Try to limit UPFs and cook from scratch
Limit unhealthy snacks particularly sweet stuff as they were my downfall and I can't control myself
I don't limit Healthy fats such as nut butters, nuts, full fat Greek yoghurt, oily fish
Lots of beans, lentils and pulses
Tons of fruit and veg, more veg than fruit ideally

Then we have a takeaway or meal out with a dessert at the weekend as a treat when I have what I want and don't think about it being healthy at all.

I think once you start looking in to the ins and outs in too much detail you end up down a rabbit hole and more confused and limiting too much stuff. Everything in moderation, just more of the healthy stuff! I don't want what I eat limiting my enjoyment of life, neither do I want my health being impacted by my diet. So it's all a balance for me.

I'm not bothered by it at all but I just can't stomach fat. I always have real butter but not more than 15mls a day and oil makes me sick. I'm vegetarian. I wish I could eat it but chips or anything make me full immediately and I can't eat more than two fat chips.