It seems to me that since I decided to let go of the low-fat idea, the addition of fat to my diet has been comprised largely of animal fats like butter, cheese, cream and sour cream. I'd like to shift the balance more toward unsaturated fats, but I find them harder to add in than good ol' butter and cheese.

I was glad to see that mayo is lower in saturated fat than I expected, and I do eat nuts. But I'm finding it a little difficult to cut down on cheese and butter and still fill up. I do make all my breads with olive oil, but that doesn't add up to much when I don't eat so much bread any more. I also saute in it sometimes, but I'm so used to butter on everything from oatmeal to veggies. Maybe I could get used to veggies in olive oil instead. (Probably not the oatmeal, though!)

Maybe the first question is, "How much saturated fat is too much?"

Any thoughts?

Fat with the absence of carbs doesn't make you fat. You burn it.

See this thread .

I try to eat better fats mostly but do a lot of butter and salad dressings. My BP and cholesterol is great so I believe the hype and I have never felt healthier.

Hi Beth:

The answer to that question depends on which SP program you are doing. Are you doing SPI or SPII? If SPII, which program?

Or is your questioned based on the concept of balancing your intake of fat between saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats?

Wanda

LisaK - Thanks. I'm not concerned about saturated fat "making me fat," or about total fat consumption. I'm looking at all-around good health, and am inclined to think, from reading a variety of sources, that a diet high in saturated fat may still be something to be a little cautious about.

Wanda - I've only read SPI, so far, so that, together with what I read here and elsewhere, is basically what I'm working with. I suppose my concerns arise primarily from comments that suggest that Dr. S. did a little backpedaling about saturated fat in book II, and the suggestion that too much saturated fat can stall weight loss. I'm sure I've come across other things here and there that, while agreeing with the body's need for healthy fats, still warn against too much saturated fat. It is hard to know, to a degree, just how to think about it, because there's just no way I'm going to start counting grams of three types of fats and trying to balance those meticulously on top of everything else.

What I really want to do is develop some general principles of healthy eating that I can follow without an overabundance of scrutinizing and tabulating. Where fats are concerned, I'm just looking for ways to include more unsaturated fats because I so naturally gravitate toward saturated ones.

I think I'm going to try mixing up some "better butter," a blend of butter and olive oil, by way of compromise.

Beth

Hi Beth:

I'm not sure if this will appeal to you, but Dr. Wilson, in his book Adrenal Fatigue, mentions mixing flax seed oil and sunflower or safflower oil in a 1:1 ratio and then adding a little soy sauce. He uses this concoction in place of butter and adds it (uncooked, of course) to food just before eating it.

Good luck,
Wanda