The Myth Of The Fattening Food

A few days ago, my wife was lamenting about her desire to lose “…that last five pounds…”  Not a common lament among those of us trying to shed a few pounds, but she followed it with a comment about needing to cut out the fattening food.

I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking her what constitutes a “fattening food?”

There’s a myth that abounds in weight loss circles that suggests fat is evil.  It’s known as the low-fat craze, and it took the U.S. by storm in the early 1990’s, and hasn’t really given up its stranglehold on weight loss, fitness, or health circles in general.

We need to drag this beast out of the shadows and expose it for the lie it is.

The myth of fattening foods has its roots in that fact that fat has more calories per gram than either carbohydrates or protein.  More than twice as many calories/gram of food, to be exact.  So, the rationale goes that if people simply replaced the same quantity of fat with an equal mass of protein or carbs, we would inevitably lose weight.  And, purely from a mass basis, they’re right.

But…

The math doesn’t take into account the fact that fats are essential to good maintaining good health.  Fats (and their good friend cholesterol) are essential elements in many processes in the body.  For instance, vitamins A, D, E, and K are all fat-soluble – meaning they are not soluble in water, and fat facilitates their absorbance in the body.  Not only that, well chosen dietary fats can contribute to the removal of plaques from arterial walls, contribute to feelings of satiety (or fullness), and slow digestion, which improves the odds of sustainable weight loss.

Now.

Am I suggesting that you abandon your lunchtime salad in favor of a slab of bacon and some greasy sausage?  Absolutely not.

But what I am saying is that with that salad, you may be better off to toss the “fat-free” salad dressing in favor of a small serving of vinegar and oil.

The truth about fats and weight loss is that there’s no correlation.  In fact, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, most Americans are now getting fewer of their calories from fat than we did a few decades ago, yet our collective waistlines are expanding.  Why?

Because weight loss (or gain) is about calories – regardless of source.  Americans have tried to give up fat, yet our bodies continue to crave this nutrient, so we’ve replaced it with larger quantities of carbohydrates and refined sugars, yielding weight gain.

And if you’re wondering – “Well, how much fat you should I eat per day?”  The number, according the American Heart Association is about 30% of total calories should come from fats.  That’s one-third of your calories!  Not pinching there – and that’s from the AHA.

I may not change your mind overnight, but just consider it.  Fat is not inherently evil, and there is no such thing as a “fattening” food.  Foods simply contribute calories, and how we distribute those calories has a dramatic impact on our health.

This guest post was written by Greg Hayes. To read more of his ramblings about learning to live fit as a middle aged man, while balancing the everyday demands of life, wife, kids, job, and home, check him out at Live Fit Blog.