Is classic peanut butter (jif etc) bad for you?

[Darsithis]

Just eat it in moderation. The only time these oils are going to kill you is if you're eating a pound of them a day. If you have a single sandwich with 2 tablespoons (already a generous amount for a sandwich) of peanut butter you're not going to be taking in much of anything to worry about.

I've eaten peanut butter... not a fan of peanut butter myself but... I can't say it's really disgusting either. It's not that bad.

And don't let a frickin' yahoo article decide what you can, or can't eat. Just eat whatever you like and stop listening to narrow-minded people. People claim everything is bad for you these days...

Peanut Butter = best food

[Voodoou]

There is no such thing as good and bad fat because it is all bad. It is more of a scale of bad.
More and more studies are showing that people who go overboard on reduction of LDL cholesterol/ increase of HDL cholesterol can actually weaken their cardiovascular system.
Especially those people that are completely healthy, have no cardiovascular or cholesterol problem, mostly eat mono-unsatured fats and on top of that also use products with Phytosterol.
Note that these are people that go overboard (though more and more people are like this) and it effected their CVS after only a few years already. We don't have a good view of what this type of diet will do over the course of a lifetime yet.

The soundest advice (though I am no doctor neither) is to simply be moderate with all fats, preferably use unsaturated fats. Try to cut all transfats for sure because that stuff is just bad all around. And don't forget that diet is only 1 part of the equation, exercise is the second.

Like always, moderation is the key to things.

I think you need to read that wiki page... we NEED fat in out diets. You must be a very unhealthy individual if you think you can survive without fat.

[l33t]

Eat what you want, just don't go to extremes. And read less "science" articles in Internet, they are almost every time being falses spread to ad some "healthy" alternatives.

[Adryal]

I personally use the natural peanut butter. Ive been on the ketogenic diet for about 6 months, generally all i eat is 60% fats 30% proteins and 10% carbs. Since I lift weights I have a "carb up" day every 2 weeks to restore glycogen levels. Fats are by far not bad for you at all. After about a week on the diet you will have greater energy levels and my work in the gym has extended about 30 more minutes. My personal opinion i function better with more fats in my diet. My lipids are normal and cholesterol is normal too. Having the mindset that all fats are bad for you and that eating fats leads to health problems is wrong. Its the combination of a high amount of carbs AND fats that gets people in trouble with their health.

[Klutzington]

There is no such thing as good and bad fat because it is all bad. It is more of a scale of bad.
More and more studies are showing that people who go overboard on reduction of LDL cholesterol/ increase of HDL cholesterol can actually weaken their cardiovascular system.
Especially those people that are completely healthy, have no cardiovascular or cholesterol problem, mostly eat mono-unsatured fats and on top of that also use products with Phytosterol.
Note that these are people that go overboard (though more and more people are like this) and it effected their CVS after only a few years already. We don't have a good view of what this type of diet will do over the course of a lifetime yet.

The soundest advice (though I am no doctor neither) is to simply be moderate with all fats, preferably use unsaturated fats. Try to cut all transfats for sure because that stuff is just bad all around. And don't forget that diet is only 1 part of the equation, exercise is the second.

Like always, moderation is the key to things.

Umm... yeah. I really don't think I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain you can't eat LDLs or HDLs. LDLs are exactly the same as HDLs, but HDLs are just smaller and thus have much less cholesterol. The only way you have HDLs in your body is through conversion of LDLs to HDLs through aerobic excerise (primarily). Certain fats can lead to an increase in either of these types of cholesterols, but you can't just be like "these are HDL fats and these are LDL fats." The liver (and to a lesser extent the small intestine) is the organ that actually manufactures HDL and LDL from the fats (lipids) you consume.

Also, I don't think people who go on diets to try to reduce their LDL count is such a bad thing. Obviously if they don't eat food that has the ONLY essential fatty acids (linoleic linolenic and arachidonic acid) they need, then obviously they're idiots. You need these essential fatty acids everyday, hence essential. I think the diet you're referring to has more to do with not getting enough fat necessary for the body to function properly, rather than a reduction of overall LDLs. However, even if they did reduce LDL levels, and increased HDL levels, I don't think it would affect a person too drastically (or even in a negative way at all), unless they went overboard and just (pretty much) stopped consuming foods with fat. HDLs are very good for the body because they supply a LOT of apolipoproteins (APOs) that a) bind to cholesterol to inhibit the formation of cholesteryl esters and b) act as marker, so that the liver can absorb this cholesterol to convert it to bile (which the body needs for the breakdown of foods in the small intestine and large intestine to reabsorb nutrients/ions).

And lastly, all fats are not bad. You need fats in your body. There is absolutely no way you could survive (optimally) without fats. Either research on the topic or try it yourself before coming here and spouting nonsense that is a legend that somehow the majority of people want to cling onto to somehow seem like they know what they are talking about.

tl;dr Fats aren't bad.

Source: Biology major

[poser765]

Good fats, yes. But its still a very high calorie food. 2 tbsps is 190 calories. Most people use a lot more than that on a PB&J. People who aren't active should probably just pass on it.

Holy Christ! Who the hell uses MORE than 2 tablespoons of peanut butter on a pb&j???

[Alsierus]

If a single serving of a food contains less than .5g of trans fats, legally they are allowed to round down. Since peanut butter servings are generally quite small, this allows them to say things like "no trans fat." Blatantly false, but that's what lobbying gets you.

This is in the U.S. of course.

[Bolson13]

Umm... yeah. I really don't think I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain you can't eat LDLs or HDLs. LDLs are exactly the same as HDLs, but HDLs are just smaller and thus have much less cholesterol. The only way you have HDLs in your body is through conversion of LDLs to HDLs through aerobic excerise (primarily). Certain fats can lead to an increase in either of these types of cholesterols, but you can't just be like "these are HDL fats and these are LDL fats." The liver (and to a lesser extent the small intestine) is the organ that actually manufactures HDL and LDL from the fats (lipids) you consume.

Where did I say you eat lipoproteins? Also I believe it is actually the LDL (low density lipoproteins) that are smaller which is why they can penetrate the walls of your veins more easily to "drop"(?) there which then leads to an increase in "macrofagen" (I don't know the English word but probably similar). But if those macrofagen have too much LDL on the veinwalls to process, you get a "fatty" substance on the side of the veins.

The HDL cholesterol actually "helps" the macrofagen clean up LDL cholesterol (it's more complicated then that of course but to keep it somewhat simple).

Anyways, regarding the whole good or bad fat. What I was trying to say is that there is no fat that simply good, which you can just safely consume as much as you want. There is actually also a too high HDL cholesterol number of which the side effects are being observed now. Especially with people that use all those new products with phytosterol in them. That is why I am saying that probably in the future both a good LDL count as well as a HDL count will be the most effective.

Also, I don't think people who go on diets to try to reduce their LDL count is such a bad thing. Obviously if they don't eat food that has the ONLY essential fatty acids (linoleic linolenic and arachidonic acid) they need, then obviously they're idiots. You need these essential fatty acids everyday, hence essential. I think the diet you're referring to has more to do with not getting enough fat necessary for the body to function properly, rather than a reduction of overall LDLs. However, even if they did reduce LDL levels, and increased HDL levels, I don't think it would affect a person too drastically (or even in a negative way at all), unless they went overboard and just (pretty much) stopped consuming foods with fat. HDLs are very good for the body because they supply a LOT of apolipoproteins (APOs) that a) bind to cholesterol to inhibit the formation of cholesteryl esters and b) act as marker, so that the liver can absorb this cholesterol to convert it to bile (which the body needs for the breakdown of foods in the small intestine and large intestine to reabsorb nutrients/ions).

And lastly, all fats are not bad. You need fats in your body. There is absolutely no way you could survive (optimally) without fats. Either research on the topic or try it yourself before coming here and spouting nonsense that is a legend that somehow the majority of people want to cling onto to somehow seem like they know what they are talking about.

tl;dr Fats aren't bad.

Source: Biology major

People who have a shit diet need to adjust it, that is always the case.

Also, I advice this: "The soundest advice (though I am no doctor neither) is to simply be moderate with all fats, preferably use unsaturated fats. Try to cut all transfats for sure because that stuff is just bad all around."
Then you reply: "I think the diet you're referring to has more to do with not getting enough fat necessary for the body to function properly, rather than a reduction of overall LDLs. "

I don't see how you saying that my "tip" has more to do with not getting enough fat. I simply said you should be moderate with your fat intake. As far as I know, moderate means not go overboard nor completely skip it. I even mention the fats you should preferably skip and the fats that you should preferably take more of.
So next time I will add to eat more fish then you probably do now because of the high Omega 3 and 6 content.

Anyways, if you google "high level HDL" or "too high HDL" (something like that) you will probably find some research already saying that too high levels of HDL might not be good neither. It is still somewhat new but more and more research regarding this is comming to surface.

TLDR: certain fats are not bad in moderation. Too much is still not good (and there is no food that is only mono unsaturated to begin with so simply, don't eat too much fat).

Edit: Want to make clear that getting high levels of HDL is not that easy but people that DO go healthcrazy and eat only that can reach "unhealthy" levels (unhealthy between "" because long term effects are not know 100% yet, some people even are born with high levels).