How Nutritious Is Animal FAT Really?

[julcreutz]

In the paleo, keto and especially carnivore communities, people usually praise animal fat, also for it's "high nutrient-density". But all sources I've looked at show that there aren't a lot of nutrients at all.

I usually use Nährwertrechner, an incredibly detailed german food database.
Here's pure beef fat: Nährwerte Rind Fett
Besides fat macronutrient calories, the rest is insignificant (and it's not because they're not measured, they all are). I'm especially disappointed by the retinol content.
Not to mention the total amount of fat in the table. Nobody is going to eat 500g of pure beef fat, but 500g of lean muscle is far from impossible to consume on a daily basis.

The lean muscle and organ parts are actually where all the nutrients are.

So where does this misinformation come from?

 

[SOMO]

Butter and egg yolks contain a decent amount of nutrients. Egg yolks are the "best" if we're talking about animal fats that also contain nutrients.

Grain fed cows produce butter with less Vitamin A/D/K than grass-fed cows.

Otherwise, animal (and plant) fats are devoid of nutrients. I have read that Lard CAN be a source of Vitamin D, but obviously a few minutes of sunlight is superior.

They do, however, contain some cholesterol (or phytosterols) and perhaps some GAGs (glycosaminoglycans) which sometimes occupy the same areas on the animal as the adipose tissue. However, cooking the animal fat may render the cholesterol less beneficial.

 

[Epik]

I think this is a good resource to answer your question (skip to slide 42):
https://379p6v3kqsqc1oz8or2u449e-wp...p-content/uploads/TheFatSolubleActivators.pdf

I think there may be fat soluable metabolites that are not being measured which could be nutritious.

 

[lampofred]

Animal fat is not at all good for you. I think mainstream gov guidelines has this right.

 

[julcreutz]

Animal fat is not at all good for you. I think mainstream gov guidelines has this right.

I think there's some merit to that. Especially in terms of cardiovascular health.
I always noticed on carnivore when eating large amounts of fat that my heart started beating really heavily.
Even now, eating a lot of fat really bogs me down. Decreases my physical performance a lot.

 

[MitchMitchell]

High doses of (Animal) fat cause the same problems that high doses of junk food, grains, pure sugar cause. Excess of calories compared to the limited amounts of nutrients.

I’ve always liked the idea of Lalonde’s nutrient density. He also has good hair.

Mat Lalonde: Why Nutrient Density Matters | Fat-Burning Man

 

[Epik]

I think there's some merit to that. Especially in terms of cardiovascular health.
I always noticed on carnivore when eating large amounts of fat that my heart started beating really heavily.
Even now, eating a lot of fat really bogs me down. Decreases my physical performance a lot.

I've had a similar response on a meat only meal back when I would carb cycle. Have you ever tried the same experiment but also adding carbs? I don't notice it when I eat carbs, even in a hight fat meal.

 

[julcreutz]

I've had a similar response on a meat only meal back when I would carb cycle. Have you ever tried the same experiment but also adding carbs? I don't notice it when I eat carbs, even in a hight fat meal.

The fat content I would consume in one meal was incredibly high, it was 100g+. And no, I have not tested it with carbs, because I don't want to consume so much fat again.
But an interesting observation! A leaner meat only meal doesn't do this for me.

 

[Epik]

The fat content I would consume in one meal was incredibly high, it was 100g+. And no, I have not tested it with carbs, because I don't want to consume so much fat again.
But an interesting observation! A leaner meat only meal doesn't do this for me.

lol 100g+ in one meal is crazy, maybe like 80-90g of fat in one meal is considered a high fat meal for me. Maybe it has to do with the randel cycle? Idk

 

[julcreutz]

lol 100g+ in one meal is crazy, maybe like 80-90g of fat in one meal is considered a high fat meal for me. Maybe it has to do with the randel cycle? Idk

It is high, but I was eating 2 meals a day and you gotta get your calories from somewhere.
I believe even 80-90g in one meal is bad cardiovascularly speaking.