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| Get Dr. Eades advice on dietary fats: What type of fat is best and how much you should eat |
A ketogenic diet is any diet that puts you into the state of Nutritional Ketosis, sometimes referred to as a low-carb high-fat diet (LCHF).
The amount of carbs it takes to do that varies greatly from person to person. With the average carbohydrate intake being 300 to 400 carbs a day, even 120 to 150 can be considered low carb when you compare it to what a typical person eats.
Within the low-carb community, however, a kegogenic diet is defined as eating less than 50 carbs a day because at 50 carbs, or above, you probably won't spill ketones into your urine.
You'll be in the state of ketosis at 60 carbs, because the brain needs more glucose than what's in 60 carbs, but you won't have a way to measure ketosis.
Fifty to 60 carbs is just a generalization.
Most people doing Nutritional Ketosis eat way fewer carbs than 50.
Since Keto, when done correctly, is based on your personal carbohydrate tolerance level, many dieters find they need to eat closer to 20 carbs a day, or even less.
This is because a large number of you have been doing low carb for a long time and now need to move to fewer carbs and calories in order to reach and maintain your weight-loss goals.
At 20 carbs a day, the fat content of your diet is going to be quite high.
When you eliminate carbs, you have to replace those calories with something, and since protein is limited to your amino acid needs, the only macro left that you can use to adjust your calorie deficit is the fat content of your diet.
So how much fat should you eat on Keto?
This seems to be the ultimate question that has produced a lot of controversy ever since Dr. Phinney created what low carbers call Nutritional Ketosis for endurance athletes.
Since he called Keto a high-fat diet, there has been a huge misunderstanding within the low-carb community regarding how much dietary fat is appropriate for those trying to shed their excess body fat.
However, Dr. Phinney wasn't the first person to come out and actually talk about protein and calories in connection with low carb.
Nope.
He was not the first to reveal the truth about low-carb diets at all.
It was actually Dr. Michael Eades who came forth and tried to correct a lot of the misunderstandings that ketogenic dieters have, so in this post, I'm going to share some quotes by Dr. Eades.
Quotes that are still useful and appropriate today!
Years ago, when I first started this blog, the Protein Power Life Plan was the only alternative to the Atkins Diet. Created by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, it took a very different approach to low-carb diets than Atkins did.
The Eades set an appropriate amount of protein, based on your current weight, didn't demand that you spend most of your carbohydrate allowance on vegetables, and took a very different stand on dietary fats.
Since Dr. Micheal Eades lost his weight by consuming homemade low-fat weight-loss shakes that contained a total of 50 carbs a day, rather than a very low-carb high-fat diet like Dr. Atkins did, the two low-carb plans were extremely different in nature.
[For the diet that Dr. Eades actually used, check out our article on my first protein-sparing modified-fast experience.]
The Eades have actually written 14 books in the field of health, fitness, and nutrition, with their Protein Power and The Protein Power LifePlan being their top sellers. The last I heard, they were in the process of revamping their diet plan, but I don't think they've published their new book yet.
The information for this post is coming from The Protein Power LifePlan book that they published back in the year 2000. Although, it's quite old by today's standards, the information is still relevant and useful for those trying to do Keto in today's high-fat environment.
The section I'm going to take excepts from is on page 318: How Much Fat Should You Eat?
And while this is in connection with the Protein Power's nutritional approach, it aligns with what Dr. Phinney has said in public in his books and You Tube videos.
One of the common misconceptions that I use to run into at the Low Carb Friends forum was that increasing your dietary fat intake would solve most of your health problems, as well as keep the pounds coming off.
But Dr. Eades has a very different viewpoint.
In his perspective:
"The better question would be what kind of fat should you eat, since the quality of fat more clearly determines good health than the quantity does."
The type of fat you eat is much more important than the overall amount. This is because the kind of fat you eat relates to your general health status.
Fat quantity does not determine your health.
What's known as good fats within the low-carb community are actually metabolically neutral. They don't raise insulin or blood sugar. What they do is provide the raw materials for the fat-dependent structures in the body.
This includes the physical structure of the brain, immune system, and every other cell membrane in your body.
Every single cell!
This is why bad fats can have devastating effects on your health. If you don't provide your body with the type of fat it needs to rebuild its cells and physical structures correctly, your health can collapse like a worn-out bridge.
Poor-quality materials won't hold up under day-to-day stress.
On this point, both Drs. Eades and Dr. Atkins were in complete agreement.
In fact, both Dr. Atkins and Dr. Eades recommend not being afraid of fat. They also agree that cold-pressed oils are best, but Dr. Eades limited that recommendation to just monosaturated fats, rather than including polyunsaturated oils like Dr. Atkins did.
According to Dr. Eades, the following good fats promote health:
The reason why Dr. Eades doesn't recommend polyunsaturated oils, even cold-pressed ones, is because he feels that you need to limit the amount of omega-6 oils that you consume.
Omega-6 oils are found in:
Above all costs, the Eades also recommend that you avoid the trans fats found in:
The process alters the structure of the oil molecule, leaving them bent or rigid.
However, keep in mind that food companies are in the process of eliminating trans fats from their recipes, which Crisco did a long time ago.
The important thing to remember is that:
"The fats you eat become a part of each and every cell membrane within your body -- the normally shaped "healthy" ones as well as the misshapen trans ones. The difference, however, is that the trans ones interfere with the functioning of the cell membranes and consequently of the organs and tissues those cells make up."
To reclaim and preserve your health and fitness, you have to eat mostly good fats and avoid trans fats as much as possible.
Overheating fats with a low smoking point damages them, so some oils are best for salads, while high-smoking point oils are the best for deep frying.
The following chart can help you sort out what's safe to do and what's not:
Of special note here is that the greatest offender of these recommendations is:
You don't see mayonnaise on the above list even though mayonnaise is used in abundance within the low-carb community.
And I'm as much to blame here as anyone.
Mayonnaise is generally made from soybean oil, which is high in omega-6 fats. Often, that soybean oil is partially-hydrogenated, which means it contains some degree of trans fats. This makes the mayonnaise less likely to provoke food poisoning, but also can interfere with cell function if you eat too much.
Some brands use canola oil instead of soybean oil, but most canola today is genetically-altered.
Mayonnaise can be made at home with a safe oil, but the process is a bit tedious, and it won't keep outside of the refrigerator since it won't contain any preservatives to enable safety. You have to be extremely careful with homemade mayonnaise.
If you're on maintenance or doing Keto for health reasons, then you can eat as much good quality fat as it takes to satisfy you and maintain your weight. This is also true if you're trying to use Keto to help your physical endurance. Essentially, you can munch on:
The more active you are, the more fat calories you can consume throughout the day, but the idea is to still stay in energy balance, even at maintenance. You can't overeat fats, but at maintenance, you'll be able to eat a bit more than you can if you're trying to lose body fat.
Since your carbohydrate content is dialed in to fit your carbohydrate tolerance, that won't change much at maintenance, so when you are within 5 or 10 pounds from goal weight, that's when you begin to up the fat content of your diet so you kind of coast into maintenance.
This is where the controversy comes in.
And why Dr. Eades considers the answer to be both simple and complex:
"If you're carrying too much fat weight, although you must still stick to only good-quality fat for your health, during your period of weight loss, you'll want to keep a rein on the amount of it you eat in order to create a calorie deficit to lose."
Dr. Eades stated this way back in the year 2000, and yet, keto bloggers even today are still recommending unlimited fat intakes to their readers.
So why did Dr. Eades consider calories important when Dr. Atkins was more concerned with carb intake than calories?
"That way you'll burn your own body fat stores for energy, not the fat you're eating."
Sound familiar?
This is the same thing Dr. Phinney has been trying to tell the low-carb community for a very long time, probably just as long as Dr. Eades has.
The amount of fat you eat during the weight-loss phase MATTERS!
"So, in a nutshell," Dr. Eades said, "if you're trying to lose weight and you're stuck -- even though you're keeping your carbohydrate intake within the recommended intervention level guidelines and being sure to get the important vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients necessary for good health -- you're probably eating too much fat (that is, too many calories) for you to be able to lose."
I am not the only one who has been saying this!
Dr. Phinney is not the only one who has been saying this!
And Dr. Eades isn't the only one either!
If you're stalled and don't seem to be going anywhere, cut back on the calorie-dense foods in your diet, and your weight loss should begin again because those high-fat, calorie-dense foods like nuts, cheese, and heavy cream can wipe out your calorie deficit very quickly.
One ounce of mixed nuts is 160 calories, even though they only contain a few carbs. And a one-ounce portion of nuts is very, very small. It's something like a quarter of a cup. Most people eat far more than just a one-ounce portion at a time.
I used to eat two ounces, which comes to 320 calories just for a single snack!
Go back for seconds, or a second snack during the day, and you can blow your entire calorie budget for the whole day or week.
Same goes for full-fat cheese.
Are you actually measuring and weighing out the amount of cheese you eat for that snack?
Or are you just guessing at how many carbs and calories you're eating?
It's easy to stop losing weight once you stop measuring and begin guessing instead.
It's also easy to stop losing weight if you begin to listen to the advice of upping the fat content of your diet, thinking that fat grams are as magic as the state of ketosis is.
Neither are magic at all!
In fact, according to Dr. Eades:
"If you're not losing well, either watch the portions of nuts, seeds, nut butters, butter, cheeses, and oils or increase your calorie output with more exercise and you should begin to lose."
This would also include cooking with lots of almond flour, overloading your recipes with cheese, or eating other high-calorie treats too often.
On the other hand, you also don't want to go too low in fat because that can also cause the body to slam on the breaks. Everyone has their own individual sweet spot for fat intake.
The key is to experiment on yourself, so you know exactly how much dietary fat is right for you!
So how much fat should you eat on Keto?
This seems to be the ultimate question that has produced a lot of controversy ever since Dr. Phinney created what low carbers call Nutritional Ketosis for endurance athletes.
Since he called Keto a high-fat diet, there has been a huge misunderstanding within the low-carb community regarding how much dietary fat is appropriate for those trying to shed their excess body fat.
However, Dr. Phinney wasn't the first person to come out and actually talk about protein and calories in connection with low carb.
Nope.
He was not the first to reveal the truth about low-carb diets at all.
It was actually Dr. Michael Eades who came forth and tried to correct a lot of the misunderstandings that ketogenic dieters have, so in this post, I'm going to share some quotes by Dr. Eades.
Quotes that are still useful and appropriate today!
Dr. Michael and Mary Dan Eaders - Protein Power LifePlan
Years ago, when I first started this blog, the Protein Power Life Plan was the only alternative to the Atkins Diet. Created by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, it took a very different approach to low-carb diets than Atkins did.
The Eades set an appropriate amount of protein, based on your current weight, didn't demand that you spend most of your carbohydrate allowance on vegetables, and took a very different stand on dietary fats.
Since Dr. Micheal Eades lost his weight by consuming homemade low-fat weight-loss shakes that contained a total of 50 carbs a day, rather than a very low-carb high-fat diet like Dr. Atkins did, the two low-carb plans were extremely different in nature.
[For the diet that Dr. Eades actually used, check out our article on my first protein-sparing modified-fast experience.]
The Eades have actually written 14 books in the field of health, fitness, and nutrition, with their Protein Power and The Protein Power LifePlan being their top sellers. The last I heard, they were in the process of revamping their diet plan, but I don't think they've published their new book yet.
The information for this post is coming from The Protein Power LifePlan book that they published back in the year 2000. Although, it's quite old by today's standards, the information is still relevant and useful for those trying to do Keto in today's high-fat environment.
The section I'm going to take excepts from is on page 318: How Much Fat Should You Eat?
And while this is in connection with the Protein Power's nutritional approach, it aligns with what Dr. Phinney has said in public in his books and You Tube videos.
What Type of Fat Should You Eat?
One of the common misconceptions that I use to run into at the Low Carb Friends forum was that increasing your dietary fat intake would solve most of your health problems, as well as keep the pounds coming off.
But Dr. Eades has a very different viewpoint.
In his perspective:
"The better question would be what kind of fat should you eat, since the quality of fat more clearly determines good health than the quantity does."
The type of fat you eat is much more important than the overall amount. This is because the kind of fat you eat relates to your general health status.
Fat quantity does not determine your health.
What's known as good fats within the low-carb community are actually metabolically neutral. They don't raise insulin or blood sugar. What they do is provide the raw materials for the fat-dependent structures in the body.
This includes the physical structure of the brain, immune system, and every other cell membrane in your body.
Every single cell!
This is why bad fats can have devastating effects on your health. If you don't provide your body with the type of fat it needs to rebuild its cells and physical structures correctly, your health can collapse like a worn-out bridge.
 |
| You need to eat enough good fats that the body can easily do structural repairs |
Poor-quality materials won't hold up under day-to-day stress.
On this point, both Drs. Eades and Dr. Atkins were in complete agreement.
In fact, both Dr. Atkins and Dr. Eades recommend not being afraid of fat. They also agree that cold-pressed oils are best, but Dr. Eades limited that recommendation to just monosaturated fats, rather than including polyunsaturated oils like Dr. Atkins did.
According to Dr. Eades, the following good fats promote health:
- Omega-3 Fats: cold-water fish, wild game, flax seed oil
- Monosaturated Fats: nuts, seeds, olives, avacados, and their cold-pressed oils
- Naturally Saturated Fats: eggs, meats, poultry, dairy products
The reason why Dr. Eades doesn't recommend polyunsaturated oils, even cold-pressed ones, is because he feels that you need to limit the amount of omega-6 oils that you consume.
Omega-6 oils are found in:
- vegetables
- grains
- corn oil
- vegetable oils
Above all costs, the Eades also recommend that you avoid the trans fats found in:
- margarine
- vegetable shortening
- vegetable oils
- corn oil
- anything labeled "partially-hydrogenated" oil
The process alters the structure of the oil molecule, leaving them bent or rigid.
However, keep in mind that food companies are in the process of eliminating trans fats from their recipes, which Crisco did a long time ago.
The important thing to remember is that:
"The fats you eat become a part of each and every cell membrane within your body -- the normally shaped "healthy" ones as well as the misshapen trans ones. The difference, however, is that the trans ones interfere with the functioning of the cell membranes and consequently of the organs and tissues those cells make up."
To reclaim and preserve your health and fitness, you have to eat mostly good fats and avoid trans fats as much as possible.
Overheating fats with a low smoking point damages them, so some oils are best for salads, while high-smoking point oils are the best for deep frying.
The following chart can help you sort out what's safe to do and what's not:
Of special note here is that the greatest offender of these recommendations is:
mayonnaise
And I'm as much to blame here as anyone.
Mayonnaise is generally made from soybean oil, which is high in omega-6 fats. Often, that soybean oil is partially-hydrogenated, which means it contains some degree of trans fats. This makes the mayonnaise less likely to provoke food poisoning, but also can interfere with cell function if you eat too much.
Some brands use canola oil instead of soybean oil, but most canola today is genetically-altered.
Mayonnaise can be made at home with a safe oil, but the process is a bit tedious, and it won't keep outside of the refrigerator since it won't contain any preservatives to enable safety. You have to be extremely careful with homemade mayonnaise.
How Much Fat Can You Eat on Maintenance?
If you're on maintenance or doing Keto for health reasons, then you can eat as much good quality fat as it takes to satisfy you and maintain your weight. This is also true if you're trying to use Keto to help your physical endurance. Essentially, you can munch on:
- nuts
- seeds
- nut butter
- cheeses
- jerky
- guacamole
- olives
The more active you are, the more fat calories you can consume throughout the day, but the idea is to still stay in energy balance, even at maintenance. You can't overeat fats, but at maintenance, you'll be able to eat a bit more than you can if you're trying to lose body fat.
Since your carbohydrate content is dialed in to fit your carbohydrate tolerance, that won't change much at maintenance, so when you are within 5 or 10 pounds from goal weight, that's when you begin to up the fat content of your diet so you kind of coast into maintenance.
How Much Fat Can You Eat During the Weight Loss Phase?
This is where the controversy comes in.
And why Dr. Eades considers the answer to be both simple and complex:
"If you're carrying too much fat weight, although you must still stick to only good-quality fat for your health, during your period of weight loss, you'll want to keep a rein on the amount of it you eat in order to create a calorie deficit to lose."
Dr. Eades stated this way back in the year 2000, and yet, keto bloggers even today are still recommending unlimited fat intakes to their readers.
So why did Dr. Eades consider calories important when Dr. Atkins was more concerned with carb intake than calories?
"That way you'll burn your own body fat stores for energy, not the fat you're eating."
Sound familiar?
This is the same thing Dr. Phinney has been trying to tell the low-carb community for a very long time, probably just as long as Dr. Eades has.
The amount of fat you eat during the weight-loss phase MATTERS!
"So, in a nutshell," Dr. Eades said, "if you're trying to lose weight and you're stuck -- even though you're keeping your carbohydrate intake within the recommended intervention level guidelines and being sure to get the important vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients necessary for good health -- you're probably eating too much fat (that is, too many calories) for you to be able to lose."
I am not the only one who has been saying this!
Dr. Phinney is not the only one who has been saying this!
And Dr. Eades isn't the only one either!
My Advice
 |
| It's best to measure out the amount of nuts you eat on Keto; and eliminate them if you are not losing weight at all |
If you're stalled and don't seem to be going anywhere, cut back on the calorie-dense foods in your diet, and your weight loss should begin again because those high-fat, calorie-dense foods like nuts, cheese, and heavy cream can wipe out your calorie deficit very quickly.
One ounce of mixed nuts is 160 calories, even though they only contain a few carbs. And a one-ounce portion of nuts is very, very small. It's something like a quarter of a cup. Most people eat far more than just a one-ounce portion at a time.
I used to eat two ounces, which comes to 320 calories just for a single snack!
Go back for seconds, or a second snack during the day, and you can blow your entire calorie budget for the whole day or week.
Same goes for full-fat cheese.
Are you actually measuring and weighing out the amount of cheese you eat for that snack?
Or are you just guessing at how many carbs and calories you're eating?
It's easy to stop losing weight once you stop measuring and begin guessing instead.
It's also easy to stop losing weight if you begin to listen to the advice of upping the fat content of your diet, thinking that fat grams are as magic as the state of ketosis is.
Neither are magic at all!
In fact, according to Dr. Eades:
"If you're not losing well, either watch the portions of nuts, seeds, nut butters, butter, cheeses, and oils or increase your calorie output with more exercise and you should begin to lose."
This would also include cooking with lots of almond flour, overloading your recipes with cheese, or eating other high-calorie treats too often.
On the other hand, you also don't want to go too low in fat because that can also cause the body to slam on the breaks. Everyone has their own individual sweet spot for fat intake.
The key is to experiment on yourself, so you know exactly how much dietary fat is right for you!
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