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Why Eating Excessive
Amounts of Fat Makes us Fat
By Chad Tackett
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While most of us know that consuming excessive amounts
of fat will make us fat, we don't all understand exactly
why this is true. To implement a successful weight management
program, you need a good understanding of fat and why this
nutrient makes us fat.
The amount of energy a particular food has depends on the
quantity of fat, carbohydrates, and protein it contains.
Food energy, both in its consumption and expenditure, is
measured in terms of calories. Foods are either made up
of fats, protein, carbohydrates, or a combination. A food
that contains mostly fat will contain more than twice the
calories than a food containing mostly carbohydrates and/or
protein.
For example, compare a serving of low-fat yogurt to a
serving of nonfat yogurt--the low-fat yogurt has quite a
few more calories than the nonfat variety because every
gram of fat has more than twice the calories of a gram of
protein or carbohydrate. Fat contains 9 calories per gram;
protein and carbohydrates yield only four calories per gram.
Therefore, it is important that you move towards replacing
foods high in fat with foods higher in protein and complex
carbohydrates.
No more than 25 percent of your total calories should come
from fat, fewer than 10 percent from saturated fat, the
most damaging form. A recent study of 23 lean men and 23
obese men found little difference in the total number of
calories each group consumed. But the obese men consumed,
on average, more than 33 percent of their total calories
from fat, compared with 29 percent for the lean men. Because
the body converts dietary fat into body fat more easily
than it converts protein and carbohydrates into body fat,
the obese men were storing more fat even though both groups
consumed the same total number of calories. During the process of converting protein and carbohydrates
to fat, your body uses them as energy and burns more than
a quarter of their calories; it takes more energy (calories
"burned") to convert carbohydrates and protein
into body fat than it does to convert dietary fat into body
fat. Thus, more carbohydrate and protein calories are used
and fewer are stored as fat.
Dietary fat, on the other hand, goes straight into storage,
with very few calories being used. For example, John consumes
2,000 calories a day of which 40 percent come from fat.
If John replaces half of the fat calories (20 percent of
total calories) with calories coming from complex carbohydrates,
less food will be converted to body fat even though the
total number of calories consumed has not changed.
It is important to note that when that 20 percent of the
2,000 calories from fat now comes from carbohydrates (or
protein), you consume a lot more food, since each gram of
carbohydrate or protein contains less than half as many
calories per gram. Therefore, when you begin to decrease
the amount of fat in your diet and replace it with carbohydrates
and protein, even if you still consume the same amount of
food as before, you will be consuming a lot fewer calories.
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If dietary fat were easy to control, most "diets"
would probably succeed. Even with the recent explosion of
low-fat and nonfat products, people generally still eat
too much fat. The reason is simple: We have grown up loving
fat, and we are accustomed to its taste and texture. Although
most people do not usually crave fat as they do sugar or
salty foods, we do have a strong taste preference for fat.
Fat is responsible for the flavor and texture of many of
our favorite foods: meats, cheese, dressings, sauces, creams,
desserts, etc.
Because a high-fat diet increases fat storage and yields
more than twice the amount of calories, the most effective
way to reduce body fat is to concentrate on reducing your
daily fat intake. Even if you do not consciously lower your
total caloric intake, making the switch to a low-fat diet
will most likely result in fat loss. However, attempts to
suddenly restrict high-fat foods when you still have a strong
preference for them causes feelings of deprivation which
may, in turn, cause a higher intake of fat than normal.
Deprivation is part of the "diet" process, and
one of the main reasons it is doomed to fail. It is very
important to make gradual, healthier changes to the foods
you enjoy. Drastic changes backfire. When people base their
food choices on the number of calories consumed and a "foods
allowed/not allowed" list, the focus is on numbers
rather than satiety and enjoyment of the foods' taste and
texture. This often negates any positive effect the original
focus on choosing low-fat foods may have had. Simply counting
calories and grams of fat does not make for a permanent
healthy lifestyle change. If tastes do not shift to enjoying
foods lower in fat, this quickly becomes too restrictive
and normal eating habits resume.
I'm not saying that you should avoid counting grams of
fat altogether. The way to lower fat in your diet is to
become a fat-conscious eater--and this requires that you
know the amount of fat in each food. However, instead of
counting fat grams and deciding if it is a "good food"
or a "bad food," try to balance the foods you
are eating so that you average 25 percent or less of your
total calories from fat each day. It's okay to have a piece
or two of high-fat pizza (pizza can be low-fat) if you are
truly hungry and craving it, as long as you balance that
out with low-fat foods at other meals soon after. What's
crucial is to learn how to make small healthier changes.
Consume fat in moderation by balancing higher fat foods
with lower fat foods.
You should now have a better understanding of fat and why
excess consumption of this nutrient makes us fat. Your greatest
challenge, however, is not learning new low-fat shopping
or cooking techniques. Nor is it remembering how to calculate
fat percentages or what to say to the waiter to reduce the
fat in your restaurant meal. The greatest challenge facing
you at this moment is deciding whether you are willing to
make a change--to make small, gradual changes to the foods
you love.
Sure, there is plenty of work to be done, but it really
doesn't matter how long this new process takes. If you allow
changes to take place over several years, your body will
adjust comfortably, and you will be more likely to maintain
the healthy lifestyle permanently. When you begin achieving
improvements in energy and physical and psychological performance,
the fun and excitement you experience will make the change
well worth the effort. Action creates motivation! Good luck:
I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a healthy,
active lifestyle.
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