http://www.westonaprice.org/Saturated-Fats-and-the-Kidneys.html

It can be argued that they’re not a neutral source but Mary Enig, PhD has been studying this stuff since at least the 1950s and was sounding the alarm against trans fats back then, so maybe people should listen to her. She’s written books on the subject of dietary fats.

Always love the blog! Thanks again!

And yes, nuts can be harsh on the digestion unless you soak them first. More about that here

JD, lots of people find that more meat = better functioning. I think as long as people stick to unprocessed foods, they tend to find the right amount of meat, green leafies, fruit, etc without having to worry about counting carbs, fat grams or calories.

Cheers
Scott

What about walnuts’ omega3 content? I’ve read it’s in ALA. What do you think?

It’s a bit offtopic here, but I would like to take your advice about something. I’ve started olympic weightlifting and I’d like to increase my overall calorie intake, mostly from fat sources. It would be convenient to drink couple shots of oil a day for this but I’m not sure which source would I choose. 60-80 ml of olive oil would be too much? Should I worry about too much PUFA and wrong o6-o3 ratio? I eat lots of (fatty) meat, eggs, veggies and fruits for carbohydrate ( about 150 gramm cho), but it’s hard to reach to the point I’m starting to gain weight especially without nuts. So far I’ve eaten about 5-8 ounce of almonds for the calories but I think my digestion can’t take this amount of nuts.
I would appreciate your answer, thanks!

Cheers
Scott

This is simply not true, I can’t imagine where you read or heard this. Animal fat, transfat and excessive omega 6 fatty acids inhibits the conversion of ALA into DHA and EPA. Being deficient in certain vitamins and minerals also inhbits conversion of ALA into DHA and EPA. Healthy bodies, contrary to popular belief, convert ALA into DHA and EPA. Some researchers even believe that conversion in many people is as inefficient as it is because the body will not convert more than is needed…

In any event, vegans can still acquire their DHA and EPA from algae. Fish/marine animals themselves do not produce their own DHA/EPA, they acquire it from blue-green algae…

Cheers
Scott

Great blog; good post,

A few more ideas on flax to stir things up: Whether your idea of healthy eating is primal (as in Mark Sisson’s awesome blog), evolutionary, or paleo, I doubt that flax seeds, much less flax oil have ever played much of a role in the diet of humans (same with canola, soy, corn, peanut, and most other vegetable oils). Fish on the other hand has. Something to also consider is that super unsaturated oils (Omega 3′s) are only found in abundance in the northern latitudes, and cold water, hence look at where flax grows and where the best sources of Omega 3′s from fish come from (reason: their double bonds both remain fluid at cold temperatures for the sake of stability at warm ones). Compare this to the latitudes where coconut and palm grow (sources of saturated coconut and palm oil which are both saturated and very resistant to oxidation; they’re also heat/light stable). The reason that omega 3′s are not found in in any quantity in the tropics is because of how easily these highly unsaturated oils oxidize, both in nature, and once consumed,–this is very important! Oxidation happens in the presence of light, oxygen, and extended exposure to heat or just high heat. Imagine what happens, for example, when humans living at middle latitudes supplement with lots of omega 3′s, and have 9-12 months of intense UVA/UVB sunlight. Compare this to people living in northern latitudes which receive much lower intensity and duration of light (on an annual basis)–same thing as the polyunsaturates (Omega 6′s), but these are super polyunsaturates–therefore even more reactive–they turn rancid, unless there are lots of antioxidants present. Just on example of this are the ever visible lipofusion (age spots), in the skin.

From an evolutionary perspective, I think that only species (including humans) living in the northern latitudes (again, compare to species living in the middle latitudes and tropics) should eat/supplement with higher quantities of omega 3′s (and even then limit the amounts–more isn’t always better–especially in the case of super unsaturates), and these should come from cold water fish, or from the fat of mammals that get them from their diet–the same way that our ancestors did–which wouldn’t include the flax oil.