Fat intake
 

I started induction on February 1. I am wondering what happens if I don't eat enough fat. I eat bacon some mornings and have salad dressing some days, but not much other fat that that. Will it slow down or mess up weight loss if I don't eat enough fat?
Jennifer

A very low carb diet, combined with a very low fat diet, can be dangerous, it can result in a particular kind of malnutrition called rabbit starvation, and in fact it may cause severe illness, organ damage, and even death - perhaps even before starvation from fasting (not eating at all) would.

If you search rabbit starvation on this site, you'll find several threads in which it's discussed more thoroughly.

Absolutely what kaplods said. :yes: When you severely cut carbs, you must replace them with fat. I choose mono-unsaturated and saturated fats, which I believe to be healthy, and I steer clear of poly-unsaturated and trans fats.

I am not purposely cutting fat. How much fat should I be consuming? I eat bacon 4 -6 times a week and cook in bacon grease. I eat my full fat salad dressing 4-6 times a week. I eat some sort of eggs almost every day cooked in bacon grease. I also eat some sort of cheese almost every day. Does this work or is this not enough?

i want to add something, not to undermine anyone, but POLY-unsaturated fats are good too. the only differance between mono, and poly, is that on a moleculer level, mono has one opening for the enzyme to attach and break down. POLY has more than one. ( so, in essence, poly is actually better for you than mono) they are latin words.. Mono meaning singular, and poly meaning more than one.

:) just thought i would add that

I'm all for healthy disagreement! :)

I do consume some polyunsaturated fat, but only in the form of whole foods: nuts, veggies, fish, etc. I'm not saying that poly fats are bad for us, per se, But I firmly believe that the bottles of processed corn and soy oils found on supermarket shelves are.

Poly oils are easily oxidised and turn into nasty compounds when heated or processed. Mono, on the other hand, is highly stable. I also think the balance of omega-3 and omega-6 oils is too out of whack in commercial polyunsaturated oil.

I absolutely disagree that poly fats are better for the body than mono fats. YMMV, of course. No offence intended or taken. :)

I'm not a doctor or nutritionist, but would think you'll be okay as long as you don't consciously try to eat a diet low in fat and carbs.

As an aside, if I were you I'd check your bacon to make sure it's free from nitrates. Nitrates are reputed to be cancer-causing, so it's generally thought to be wise that we limit them. I don't know how easy it is find nitrate-free bacon in the store, but I get mine from the farmers' market.

That is interesting. Thanks for posting the link.

This is an old thread but I'm responding in the hopes that someone will have some suggestions to offer me. I'm on day four right now of an extended induction and feel great. Food is right on target for 19/20 g carbs a day. Protein is good. Obviously getting the veggies in. What I am struggling with is the fat intake. I live in Chongqing, China so things that I could easily go to the store and purchase are just not available here. There is only one kind of bacon I have found and its a Canadian one that the taste is so awful it made me sick the first time I tried to eat it. The mayonaisse I use is a Chinese brand but I had someone translate the ingredients to make sure it had no sugar and the right carb count. I haven't been able to find any salad dressing that tastes half way decent. Any suggestions for how else I could try to get my fat intake increased? I'm loving my tuna salad with mayonaisse and pepper. Even had it for breakfast today. Before Atkins, I could barely stand tuna but maybe once a year. For the past four days I've been craving it. No cravings at all for sugar or carbs like bread, pasta, etc. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks

You don't really need to add a lot of fat (or even any, really) if you're eating foods that are naturally fatty or less lean. Eggs, pork, duck, goose, fatty fishes like mackeral and tuna (in and out of the can), any red meat with visible marbling, avocado (if available).

If you want to add fat: coconut oil, unsweetened coconut milk or cream, peanut oil (or other salad and cooking fats), lard, schmaltz (rendered poultry fat - which I many know asian americans cook with but don't know what the asian name is), nuts, pork fat/skin, beef tallow...

Chinese have a lot of fatty meats like pork neck and pork belly, which taste amazing. Duck as well. So go for the fatty meats is my suggestion as well as eggs. Butter if you can find it as well. Try things like nuts and avocado (if they are allowed on induction i do lchf not atkins).

I know chongqing is very local, but if you ever get to guangzhou, shenzhen, shanghai or beijing you can load up at more western supermarkets for things. Even better HK has everything you'd ever want.

Good luck!

I agree that there is no sense in pushing fat to high levels. Fattier cuts of meat are fine, as are salad oils (I'd recommend just making your own dressing, so much easier to control carbs that way, and it's easy and tastes much better).

I know it's very common to read about "fat bombs" and bulletproof coffee and people eating butter by the spoonful these days, but if you simply keep carbs low, eat protein to satisfaction, and eat fat as it comes naturally with foods and as sauces/add ons to foods, your body will reach into your own fat stores for the rest of the energy it needs - so you'll lose fat much faster than if you load up on dietary fat.