A misconception of the Paleo Diet is that it’s just another meat-based high protein diet requiring the follower to load up on fatty meats like bacon or rib eye. Yes, you do eat plenty of meat when you follow the Paleo Diet, but it’s the type of meat and fat consumed which makes the difference.
In the 1950’s scientists discovered that saturated fat in red meat caused total blood cholesterol and LDL levels to increase, and since that time, Western society has been on the fight against saturated fats.[i] Fifty years later, science has started to believe that we don’t completely understand the role saturated fat plays in increasing cholesterol.[ii] In his article The Soft Science of Dietary Fat Gary Taubes states that the data remains ambiguous as to whether low-fat diets will benefit healthy Americans. Worse, the admonishments to reduce total fat intake have encouraged a shift to high-carbohydrate diets, which may be no better--and may even be worse--than high-fat diets.
So what does this have to do with the role fat plays in the Paleo Diet? Simply put, there is no point in further discussion about fat until a person can see past the dogma from the past 50 years that fat is evil and that it is unhealthy to consume it.
When you follow the Paleo Diet, approximately 55% of calories consumed will be from lean animal protein. Lean animal protein can range anywhere from 55% protein in mussels to 94% protein in skinless turkey breast. Other protein sources like eggs have 34% protein and whole milk only 21% protein. Sticking to lean protein means that you consume a low saturated fat to protein ratio.
One fat that the Paleo Diet is rich in is monounsaturated fat. Monounsaturated fats lower blood cholesterol and help to prevent atherosclerosis. It’s found in olive oil, avocados and nuts. Wild game is high in these fats and very low in saturated fat.
Polyunsaturated fat rich in Omega 3 is also very prevalent in the Paleo Diet. Many Omega 3s come from cold water fish oils like salmon or even flax seed oil. Don’t be fooled by polyunsaturated oils. Not all of them are alike. Most processed vegetable oils are polyunsaturated by they have a large imbalance of Omega 6 to Omega 3. For optimal nutrition, these two Omegas need to be in better balance. Eating too many Omega 6 fats instead of Omega3 fats can increase the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer. The ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 for the Paleo Diet is about 2 to 1. The same ratio for the typical American diet is 10 to 1. [iii]
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Article comments
1 - Brad
You completely missed the point of the Paleo Diet. Go back and re-educate yourself. Fat is the PREFERRED energy source in a Paleo/Primal diet. When your body switches to fat metabolism, protein and carbohydrate become less important.
2 - David Brown
The idea that saturated fat is a health hazard has always been controversial [1]. Where heart disease is concerned, the latest research findings suggest that saturated fats are benign over a wide range of intakes as long as one consumes adequate supportive nutrition [2]. In fact, there may even be some benefit associated with higher LDL cholesterol levels [3].
References
1. Controversial Saturated Fat
2. Eureka Alert 1
3. Eureka Alert 2
3 - Mike Paleo Village
Two points here...
1. Flax seed oil is NOT a good omega 3 source for humans. You want EPA and DHA not ALA that comes with the flax seed oil
2. Majority trans-fats are really bad, except CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) which is awesome... U find CLA in beef, egg yolks, milk, etc