Does Eating Fat Make You Fat?
Does Eating Fat Make You… Fat?
The simple answer to this question is: you will not gain weight if you do not consume large quantities of excess calories on a regular basis.
Following this line of reasoning, we may conclude that it makes no difference which macronutrient causes the surplus: if you eat too much protein, carbs, or fat, you will gain weight.
Remember the energy balance rule: you can gain weight if you eat more calories than your body needs to maintain its weight.
Conversely, if you eat fewer calories than it needs, you will lose weight.
Although there are other reasons for gaining weight, in particular fat weight, this is the underlying foundation for all weight loss and weight gain protocols.
The 4 Types of Fat
Now, not all fats were made the same, meaning that consuming certain types of fat can be very harmful for the body.
When it comes to fats from food, there are a couple of types consider.
Those are: Trans fats, saturated fats, monounsaturated fats & polyunsaturated fats.
Let’s go over each one separately!
Trans fats
Fats are inherently unstable compounds, and when exposed to a variety of environmental factors (light, moisture, heat), they spoil and lose their properties quickly.
Of course, industries that use a lot of fat during production have devised a method to address this issue.
That method for refining fats is known as “hydrogenation.”
Hydrogen atoms are applied to the molecular structure of liquid fats using this method until they enter a solid or semi-solid state.
Foods made with hydrogenated fats have a longer shelf life as a result of this process. This means big money for the big food companies and big problems for your health.
Trans fats are fatty acids with a chemically modified structure found in hydrogenated fats. This fats are 100%artificially made and do not exist naturally in nature.
When it comes to food, trans fats are one of the most harmful substances you can eat.
Trans fat consumption raises the risk of heart disease, miscarriage, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and certain cancers significantly.
Trans fats are, without a doubt, one of the worst nutrients we have in modern-day food products.
However, given the abundance of such foods nowadays, it really is hard to get trans-fat consumption down to 0.
Nevertheless, all you have to do is avoid these foods:
- Baked goods, such as cakes, cookies and pies
- Shortening
- Microwave popcorn
- Frozen pizza
- Refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls
- Fried foods, including french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken
- Nondairy coffee creamer
- Stick margarine.
If you see any of these, or it is a processed food then you may be certain that the product contains trans fats.
The simple solution, avoid these fats like the plague to dramatically improve your overall health.
Saturated fats
At room temperature, saturated fats are typically solid or semi-solid.
Long, medium and short-chained triglycerides are the three forms of saturated fats that can be distinguished.
Animal products, such as dairy products and beef, pork, and veal meat, include the first type (long-chained triglycerides).
Saturated fats are contained in smaller amounts in other foods, such as chicken and turkey.
Palm, cocoa, and coconut oil all contain medium-chained triglycerides.
Now, for the longest time, saturated fats have been thought to be bad because they are thought to raise cholesterol levels. However, a major study involving nearly half a million people was published in 2010 in the American Journal of clinical nutrition.
According to the findings, there is insufficient evidence to support the argument that saturated fats are the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and strokes.
And though that is true, your best bet is to not go overboard with any type of fat, including this one.
It is recommend that you consume no more than 10% of your daily calories from saturated fats.
Monounsaturated fats
Avocados, nuts, and certain plant oils, such as olive oil, are rich in monounsaturated fats.
Since this form of fat is one of the cleanest and least processed, it is a good idea to put it at the core of your fat intake.
Some studies suggest that monounsaturated fats can be useful for the cardiovascular system, improving its function and lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.
“Monounsaturated fat is a type of dietary fat. It is one of the healthy fats, along with polyunsaturated fat. Monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, but start to harden when chilled. Medlineplus.gov
- Polyunsaturated fats
Last but not least, we have polyunsaturated fats, that are just as essential as monounsaturated fats.
In reality, Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are the only ESSENTIAL types of fats.
Essential means that the body cannot produce them on its own and that we must obtain them by diet or supplementation.
This is not true of the other three categories of fats, including monounsaturated fats.
Now, though omega-6 fatty acids are essential, they are found in abundance in our modern-day nutrition.
Plant oils, such as sunflower oil, corn oil, soy, and hemp oil, vegetable oil as well as nuts and seeds, contain a significant amount of short-chained omega-6 fatty acids.
Oppositely, we have arachidonic acid (AA), which is a long-chained form of omega-6 fatty acids.
This is involved in the structure of cell membranes and is used by the body to fight infection and regulate inflammation.
AA can be found in livers, eggs, yolks and seafood products.
Now, unlike omega-6 fatty acids, omega-3 cannot be found much in our modern-day nutrition and is actually deficit for most people.
The bad thing about this deficiency is that omega-3 fatty acids are actually a preventative nutrient.
We can call them that because these fatty acids regulate inflammation and immune processes, along with many other processes in the body.
Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in some animal products, such as fatty fish and crustaceans, but also in linseed oil, chia and hemp seeds and nuts.
Another great source of Omega-3s is supplementing your diet with a high quality fish oil supplement to assure that you are consuming enough of this very important nutrient.
Final Thoughts
Dietary fat is one of the most essential nutrients for the body next to protein and as such, it needs to be carefully selected.
The selection of fat-containing products is important, mainly because many foods contain highly-processed fats, which are terrible for the body.
For this reason, the first step is to learn how to differentiate between the 4 different types of fat.
In my upcoming post , I am going to give you more insight on the functions of dietary fat, as well as the best sources for you to derive these fats from!
See you next time.
Yours in health,
Kevin
