The Truth About Fats

Yesterday's post talked about one of the primary benefits of protein is that it helps slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, so there's less of an affect on insulin (blood sugar) levels. Well, dietary fat helps this too.

If you eat carbs by themselves, they will cause spikes in your insulin, but like protein, if you combine some healthy fat with your carbs, such as peanut butter or sunflower seeds or almonds with your fruit, the fat will help minimize this adverse affect.

What's more, fat is a vital component for building body tissue and cells, and it aids in the absorption of important vitamins and other nutrients. So we all need some fat in our diet.

BUT... the problem occurs when we eat too much of it. Fat is very calorie-dense. In fact, it has more than twice the number calories than protein or carbs. Carbs and protein have 4 calories per gram, whereas fat has 9 calories. So, you consume a lot more calories per volume of food with foods that are high in fat.

For example, a tablespoon of peanut butter has almost 100 calories, whereas a tablespoon of lowfat cottage cheese, which is also a great source of protein, has just 12 calories.

Don't get me wrong. Nuts and peanut butter are healthy foods and great sources of good fat. But as you now know, you must burn more calories than you consume to lose fat. And if you're eating lots of foods that are high in fat, it'll be tough to create this "caloric deficit."

So, while fat does help slow down the insulin response when combined with carbs, like protein does, it needs to be eaten in moderation so you can continue to burn more calories than you consume so you can lose fat.

Key point to remember:

Healthy sources of fat are beneficial, but because they're calorie-dense, be sure to eat them in moderation or it will be tough to create the necessary "caloric deficit" for fat loss.