Saturday, April 2, 2011

Fat wars

There has been a lot of talking about the effects of different lipids lately in Finland at least. Some say the most important thing is the right balance (1:1) between Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids and others state that we have only been dramatizing the effects of saturated fatty acids. Who should we believe when even the experts of nutrition can't find consensus on these cases? There is only one thing they totally agree on: trans fatty acids are dangerous for your health.

I have been trying to find neutral information about the effects, which ain't easy in the first place, and I think it's important to eat a little bit of everything. Humans are omnivores after all. Versatility is the key word and "everything in moderation" is actually very good advice for life in general because it applies in many different situations.

14 comments:

  1. I agree. Don't eat too much whatever you're eating. You'll die if you drink too much water so moderation indeed.

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  2. Any partially hydrogenated foods = secret trans fat.

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  3. hell, you can die from drinking too much water at once.

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  4. Its an extreme case though guys, you only die from water if you drink enough to actually drown your cells on the inside. You'd need to drink like, gallons upon gallons of it.

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  5. Yeah it's not very likely to happen. Don't know what the limit for water intoxication is but normal kidneys can excrete about 1 liter (0,26 gallons) water in an hour.

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  6. I try and watch what I eat all of the time, it can be difficult especially when you've gotten into the habit of eating things that aren't good for you.

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  7. Ok. Fatty acids are indeed dangerous. But it depends on what fatty acid it's, There's two kind of fats: Those fats which includes HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein). You can gain HDL, which is better fat, from vegetables! Meat includes LDL fats. They're bad. HDL can catch up colesterol and get it to your Liver and so destroy it.
    Everything can kill you in huge amounts. Even oxygen.

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  8. True about LDL and HDL but it's also age, gender, exercising, alcohol and medicines which affect the quantities of different lipoproteins. Fatty acids in general aren't dangerous. The heart uses mainly free fatty acids as its source of energy.

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  9. Not mainly... Everything in human uses mainly Carbohydrates as source of energy (ATP), Fats are usually used to create new tissues and nerves but they're not really used for energy since they've huge cells etc etc!

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  10. No.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid
    "Fatty acids are important sources of fuel because their metabolism yield large quantities of ATP. Many cell types can use either glucose or fatty acids for this purpose. In particular, HEART AND SKELETAL MUSCLE PREFER FATTY ACIDS."

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  11. Yup, I agree! Although the moderation part is sometimes too god damn hard! Really good stuff, keep writing!

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  12. i find that when and you often u eat affects my weight more than what i eat. ive stuck with a 6 mean a day diet for about 6 years now and have had great success.

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