Does anyone think there is a place for bad fats in their diet today? I mean, do we really need to be explicit there?
I'll give you carbs, but fats? If you are reading this and it is unclear...do not eat bad fats. Good fats are fine.
So to be explicit on carbs (if someone is unclear): There is actually a place for all carbs. If you are lifting heavy weights, post workout you can eat simple carbs. I personally put dextrose in my shake.
And then, depending on my goals, I'll either eat complex or simple carbs until I go to bed. Like I said, depends on my goals at the time. Same goes for my general advise to others....all depends on their goals and how they react to the carbs.
> Does anyone think there is a place for bad fats in their diet today? I mean, do we really need to be explicit there?
You probably do really need to be explicit there. From Taubes' article that started it all:
"Foods considered more or less deadly under the low-fat dogma turn out to be comparatively benign if you actually look at their fat content. More than two-thirds of the fat in a porterhouse steak, for instance, will definitively improve your cholesterol profile (at least in comparison with the baked potato next to it); it's true that the remainder will raise your L.D.L., the bad stuff, but it will also boost your H.D.L. The same is true for lard. If you work out the numbers, you come to the surreal conclusion that you can eat lard straight from the can and conceivably reduce your risk of heart disease."
Bad fats still do good things for you. It's weird, but you actually need some saturated fats in your diet. But more of the 'good' fats is safer. The only fat you should never eat is trans fats [anything listing 'hydrogenated' or 'shortening'] because they negatively affect both HDL and LDL.
Bad fats aren't saturated fats. Milk is saturated fat. Milk is pretty awesome for you, especially if you are trying to gain muscle.
Trans fats, as you mention, are the real bad fats. The whole '80s and '90s in terms of diet really, really screwed us up. I wish I knew then what I know now.
Almost every article you find from Googling "good and bad fats" show all saturated fats as bad, because of a increase in risk of cardiovascular problems in some studies. Completely ignoring the wealth of positive[1] effects[2] from saturated fats. They even lump in trans fats as if they have exactly the same risk factors.
This is why nobody should be taking fitness advice from random non-professionals on the internet