Alex K Chen Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 Are there any actual illnesses associated with it? How long can you go without eating fat? And what are the consequences of going completely without fat for several days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholson Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Hi Alex: I cannot provide you with links to the data, but it seems generally to be agreed that 10% of calories from appropriate fats is adeqate ('CRAN'). And people who have experimented with very low fat diets, such as Pritikin/Barnard and Ornish, claim to have data to prove it. Back about 25 years ago my (pre-CR) diet was appreciably below 10% of calories from fat. My lipids data were very good on this diet - to the extent my GP asked how I did it - but not as good as many people here on 'extremely low calorie/very low BMI' diets with a higher fat intake percentage. In particular my HDL was too low. I experienced no noticeable *health* problems of any kind during this period. But there was a glaring symptom it took me quite some time to realize was caused by insufficient dietary fat. The symptom was that when I got out of the shower my skin was intensely itchy from head to toe. Sometimes the itching was so severe I could not tolerate it, and had to get back into the shower to relieve it! That did completely relieve the itching. But it returned as soon as I got out again! And since I was unable to find a way to arrange things so that I could spend my entire life in the shower, when I finally came out I would have to tolerate about 20 minutes of torture! There were no other symptoms/signs/problems of any kind. So - but anecdotally of course - if you are on a low fat diet and notice itchy skin when you get out of the shower, raise your dietary fat intake at least to the itch threshold. However, since pretty much everyone can agree that consuming modest to moderate quantities of fish and nuts is healthy, I know of no good reason to drop fat intake anywhere close to the itch threshold. But apart from the fish and nuts, go for it (IMO). This has been my strategy for several decades, and (FWIMBW) my Ubble age, mental test results and many other medical test indications [ that I am too modest to write about here ;;; ^ ))) ] are decades better than my chronological age. I am not saying it is this diet that has caused these seemingly good results, but it certainly does seem this strategy has not been harmful to me. Of course, who knows what may happen tomorrow? Rodney. ============ "The unverified conventional wisdom is almost invariably mistaken." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sthira Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Are there any actual illnesses associated with it? How long can you go without eating fat? And what are the consequences of going completely without fat for several days? Try it and see, man. The world's your oyster. My prediction of the consequences of going completely without fat for several days is nothing. That is, there are no illness consequences and your body probably doesn't give a damn. Doubt me? Try it! Be free of fat for a few days and experience the mystery! Nice parrot, man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholson Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Sorry. I had overlooked your use of the term: fat-***FREE***. Fat is an essential nutrient. You will eventually die from fat deficiency if your fat intake is inadequate. Rodney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sthira Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Ja ^^^ but I think it'll take more than a few days to actually DIE from a world without dietary fat, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Pomerleau Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 To emphasize Rodney's point about the importance of some fat in your diet, not only are some fats essential for (yes Sthira, long-term) survival in and of themselves, but dietary fats are also required for absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. So you'll eventually be in a world of hurt if you go too long (weeks or months) without any (or enough) fat in your diet. BTW, since even vegetables have some fat in them, it would be really difficult to eliminate all fat from one's diet. But it might be possible eating only refined foods, like sugar and protein powder. --Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholson Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Hi Sthira: "Ja ^^^ but I think it'll take more than a few days to actually DIE from a world without dietary fat, no?" That, actually, is a very good question. I have often thought someone with the knowledge ought to put together a table for all the nutrients with the name of the nutrient in the left column and three columns to the right. The first would be how long it would take before zero intake of the nutrient would begin to cause health problems; the second column the time to the emergence of severe health issues; and the third column representing time to death. Presumably oxygen would be at the top of the list, with one minute, three minutes and ten minutes being the data in the columns to the right. For vitamin C it might be something like two months, four months and six months. It would be nice to know these data for every nutrient. But I have no idea what the data would show for fat. Rodney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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