coconut and staurated fats in re-feeding

hey i was wondering what some of your thoughts were on satuarated fats in weight restoration for an anorexic...i for one, try to eat as much healthy fats and including alot of staurated fats a day mostly from coconut and the occasional dark chcolate and whole milk yogurt etc. a good /healthy amount .. but i have heard it is really good for brain functions and helping with mal-nourishment etc..once was told tat an anorexic needs over 20 grams? idk?

also so good for hair and skin! i just have always seen coconut/saturated fat=bad! and i avoded it and was so scared for a while,..but alot of good role models in healthy eating girls, i know eat loads of it and are so healthy and beautiful!

but i think the pros out weight the cons especially if its from pure foods and YUMMY too ;)

i just had coconut butter!(yes ;) so good!) in my oat meal. yumm. with nana and dates!

okay random post. but does anyone try to include saturated fats regularly? and what does anyone know about the benefits of it...i have heard that it is great for tyroid functions, not relevent in my life...but quite interesting?

xo

I was also very interested and confused about saturated fat intake when I started refeeding, I was worried that it was damaging to me.

I posted a thread about this, so it will be on the weight gain forum, people responded with really helpful links to articles about the positives which I now think really do outweigh the 'negatives'.

I usually eat about 25-30g saturated fat a day, my dietition said it wouldn;t matter even if I ate more.

The thing to remember is that in recovery, we are not normal people who need normal diets, we need more calories therefore we need more of everything else.

I too had the same worry. In reality, they're not bad in moderate amounts, whether you're recovering from an ED, losing weight, maintaining, etc. Keep this in mind, anything in excess is bad for you. So if you have say... 60g of saturated fat on a 2500 calorie diet, that might be a problem.. ~30g sounds pretty reasonable, as Emma said. As hard as it might be, try not to focus now on the macronutrients. The most important thing now is getting calories into your body and gaining some weight. When the time comes, you can mess around with the ratios all you want, that is, if your body doesn't already regulate them on its own by then! :) Good luck!

Saturated fats were always a no-go area for me for years.  I used to eat all those horrible chemically-produced spreads with emulsifiers (think: emulsion paint) in them just make them spreadable.

That was until my mum and husband made me wake up and smell the coffee and realise that synthetically produced veg-oil based spreads are not what our bodies were built to eat, digest and convert into fuel.  We are designed to digest saturated fats in their natural form, like cheese, butter, milk, cream, etc.....

That's not to say I don't still have problems with sat fats.  I do, but I also realise now that they are an essential part of anyone's diet, even more so for someone recovering from an ED.

Original Post by emmabrody:

I was also very interested and confused about saturated fat intake when I started refeeding, I was worried that it was damaging to me.

I posted a thread about this, so it will be on the weight gain forum, people responded with really helpful links to articles about the positives which I now think really do outweigh the 'negatives'.

I usually eat about 25-30g saturated fat a day, my dietition said it wouldn;t matter even if I ate more.

The thing to remember is that in recovery, we are not normal people who need normal diets, we need more calories therefore we need more of everything else.

YES that is so true and always need to keep in mind that we are not normal in the sense of our diet criteria, we need more of everything to restore all our organs and everything when re-feeding! its vital.

and its so difficult to see the stupid FDA and whatever saying no more than 20 mg a day or w/e ? ..and i latch on to these #'s and forget i am eating over 2000 and i forget that i am in dyer need of weight restoration. stupid articles saying this an that is  not good.  we just must eat to live and nourish ourselves and try to forget about the silly numbers and focus on #1 getting healthy!! :)

thank you all :)

Saturated fat found in coconut oil and butter is distinct from saturated fats in meat and vegetables. It is 92% medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) and chemically distinct from the long chain fatty acids (LCFA) in meat and vegetable oils. It is good for anybody -- those gaining or maintaining.

This is because there are very few other sources of MCFA in our diet (everything else whether mono or poly unsaturated or saturated are LCFA).

And the OP is right -- there are numerous health benefits assigned to coconut oil. It is known to be very high in antioxidants (virgin coconut oil); it has antimicrobial capability; its lauric acid is heart-protective; and in clinical trials with HIV positive patients show it improves immune function.

As researchers learn more about monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated oils they have discovered that all three are not as damaging to human systems as the fatty acid chains we create through our industrial foods processes: hydrogenated oils and transfat (long name: unsaturated fat with trans-isomer fatty acids).

So enjoy!

Personally I am a big believer that saturated fats are good for the body in moderation - including saturated fats from animal sources.

Here are a couple of websites that advocate the benefits of saturated fats:

http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/inde x.html

http://www.health-report.co.uk/saturated_fats _health_benefits.htm

The following excerpt is from the second website:

The benefits of saturated fats

The much-maligned saturated fat - which Americans are trying to avoid - are not the cause of our modern diseases. In fact, they play many important roles in the body chemistry:

1. Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what gives our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.
   
   
2. They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.
   
   
3. They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease. They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol.
   
   
4. They enhance the immune system.
   
   
5. They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
   Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats.
   
   
6. Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated. The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.
   
   
7. Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.

The scientific evidence, honestly evaluated, does not support the assertion that "artery-clogging" saturated fats cause heart disease. Actually, evaluation of the fat in artery clogs reveals that only about 26% is saturated...

Great links meryl - very useful indeed.

I recomend everyone to bookmark them to keep referring back to.

I try not to look at the little numbers anymore (during ED I'd freak if I ate more than 2g), but I looked at some of my recent food logs and I rarely exceed 10/11g a day...(I eat lots of nuts/nut butters and fish).Sorry to kinda hijack this thread but should I be eating more sat fats than this in my recovery??

Original Post by izzyy23:

I try not to look at the little numbers anymore (during ED I'd freak if I ate more than 2g), but I looked at some of my recent food logs and I rarely exceed 10/11g a day...

I don't think I eat even that much izzyy.

The trouble with me is I don't calorie count enough or pay enough attention to what is in the food I eat.  I just steer clear of "danger" foods, although I mst give myself a bit of credit in that I'm not as bad as I was.

It's all part of the long road to recovery I guess!

great links! thanks for sharing!