Fat intake, what does it do?

H

Holly1975

New member
I hope this question has a simple answer but I just don't know. We all know that excessive calories causes us to gain body fat, but what does too many fat grams do to us? Does it cause the weight gain just the same as excessive calories? I'm keeping my fat gram intake at about 20/day, but sometimes even low calorie foods have a high fat contact, especially protein. Is one more important than the other (calorie intake vs fat intake).

My stats:
Age: 31
Height: 5'6"
Female
Start weight 192 , currently 188
I'm consuming about 1700 calories per day with approx. 20 fat grams.
 
Don't worry about fat. Worry about total energy. That is what causes you to gain, maintain, or lose at the end of the day. The difference is, fat is more energy dense.

Where protein and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9.

That does not mean fat is not important or should be avoided.

I can tell you right now that you are under consuming fat. Where are you getting those 20 grams from?

Put it this way, our bodies NEED 2 things, besides the obvious, water. We need essential amino acids (protein) and essential fatty acids (fat). Don't short change your health because you have some fear of getting fat from dietary fat.
 
The "low fat" craze has probably done as much as anything to contribute to obesity. Millions of people were convinced they could pig out on SnackWells, simply because of the zero fat grams.

And, of course, the food industry found this to be a bonanza. The real profit margins in food don't come from natural, real food. They come from chemically altering the food, and charging through the nose for it. The food and pharma industries don't want us to think about "total energy" as Steve describes above. There's no profit in that. They want us to pay for their chemistry. And the more we eat of their crap, the worse off we are.
 
Some good sources of fat: flax oil, walnut oil, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, oily fish such as non-canned tuna, sardines, herring, mackerel, wild salmon etc. A little splash of good oils over salads or vegetables is a nice way of topping up your fats. Calories well spent.
 
I would say that much of my fats come from meats like poultry, beef, and fish. I do use evoo for cooking when oil is called for. Also, cereals have some fat like total raisin bran, life, etc. I also take flax seed oil caplets twice daily.
 
As Steve and others have agreed , it's about total energy consumption although fat contains more calories per gram. You can eat fat in the recommended amounts because they are required by your body. The only exception is trans fats which are, for the most part consumed as, a side effect of partial hydrogenation of plant oils and are unhealthy and not required by the human body.

Granted low and nonfat products aren't diet miracle foods, but substituted for some products in your diet it can be a step in the right direction for weight loss and weight management. Also applesauce is sometimes used as a substitute for fat or oils in recipes.
 
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