Before I get started I need to give credit where credit is due: most of this comes from Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health, who among others (like Ray Peat) completely changed the way I think about fats.
The mainstream view on fat: is that saturated-fat comes from animals and is harmful to your health, while unsaturated-fat comes from plants and is beneficial to your health. Yet, the most saturated-fat on the planet comes from a plant; coconut, which is 90% saturated, while bacon-grease is only 40% saturated.
The most unsaturated-fat possible doesn't come from a plant, but rather an animal; fish-oil, which is high in the highly-unsaturated-fatty-acids EPA and DHA. Sardine-oil is 26% polyunsaturated-fat, while avocado-oil is only 13% polyunsaturated-fat.
But perhaps the amount of saturated-fat doesn't really matter for health all that much, maybe it is the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio that really matters, well if that is so, you would be better off getting your fat from cream and beef rather than peanuts or almonds:
Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio
Cream:1 to 1.5
Beef-fat: 1 to 5
Almonds: 1 to 2097
Peanuts: 1 to 5487
And if all that wasn't confusing enough, there is another type of fat called mead-acid, which has very unique beneficial properties that protect against oxidative-stress and inflammation, this type of fat isn't found in any food whatsoever, but rather made inside the body. However it is only made if ALL polyunsaturated-fats are kept very low in the diet.
Things from a distance look very simple, yet when you put things under a microscope, you see a whole new world you never knew existed. Hope you found this post entertaining.
Edited by misterE, 12 February 2016 - 04:30 AM.