Low Fat, No Fat, Bad Fat, Good Fat
A common sense view on fats in your diet
- by Ed Main and the Adora Calcium team
Fats are, well, fattening. Gram for gram, fat contains more than twice as many calories as carbohydrates and protein. Fewer calories mean less weight, according to the calorie-counting devotees, and therefore reducing fat intake can result in weight loss.
The low carbohydrate ideology takes on a very different point of view regarding fats. The thinking for this group is that fat’s fundamental purpose is to store energy within your body for later use. When your body is deprived of an immediate source of energy (e.g. sugars, starches, carbohydrates, etc.), it draws on its energy stores (i.e. fat). Similarly, when your body has too much energy, it will convert some of that energy into fat.
Low carbohydrate diets such as Atkins, South Beach, and Zone seek to exploit these processes. These diets deny your body of its immediate energy source so it will not have the raw material to make new fat. Further thinking is that your body will then fuel itself by burning existing fat. Because of this, low carb diets promote consumption of proteins and fats.
While these diets may have their benefits, they are certainly not a cure-all. They often require tight restrictions around any and all carbohydrate consumption for this fat burn process to work properly. Even a small amount of carbohydrates added to the diet can cause the highly efficient energy plant within our bodies to no longer trigger the fat burn and therefore cause the diet to fail. When that happens, the added calories intake often associated with these diets results in weight gain (and added frustration to the dieter).
All Fats Are Not Equal
Fats are not created equal, some are good and others are bad. While saturated fats and trans fat are associated with elevated levels of coronary heart disease (CHD), monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats may help lower the risk of CHD. Ingesting Omega 3 fatty acids have also been shown to play a role reducing CHD risks.
Overall, fats and properly balancing them in your diet can be a pretty complicated process. Here are some common sense recommendations to a good diet and healthy lifestyle:
- Calories do count and the key to a healthy diet through your lifetime is careful management of the calories you consume. Fats have more calories so limit your total fat intake to 30% or less of your daily diet. Most importantly, know how many calories YOU need.
- Extreme low fat diets may be unhealthy for you. Some women reduce their fat intake so drastically that they cannot maintain healthy body functions such as menstruation. Know the difference between the myths and truths. Further, certain vitamins, such as vitamin D (important for bone health), are stored in body fat. Highly restricted fat diets may therefore elevate the risk of osteoporosis or vitamin deficiencies
- Remember that all fats are not equal. Educating yourself on the roles of each type of fat and how to properly manage it for your body is important to healthier eating.
Additional References:
Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Key Recommendations from Dept of Health and Human Services/USDA
How to Read Nutrition Labels from the US FDA
Top of Page
|
