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Nov
7
Fat is bad! Fact or Myth?
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Nutrition
I’ve had a few comments over the past few weeks that make me wonder if people understand what fat really is, not to mention what my opinion of it is. For example, a few days ago, someone commented on my cancer prevention post. The commenter said that reducing fat is a bad idea, to which I say, maybe…
What is fat?
First of all, let’s understand a bit more about fat. A quick trip to wikipedia gives us this definition:
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are generally triesters of glycerol and fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at normal room temperature, depending on their structure and composition. Although the words “oils“, “fats” and “lipids” are all used to refer to fats, “oils” is usually used to refer to fats that are liquids at normal room temperature, while “fats” is usually used to refer to fats that are solids at normal room temperature. “Lipids” is used to refer to both liquid and solid fats. The word “oil” is used for any substance that does not mix with water and has a greasy feel, such as petroleum (or crude oil) and heating oil, regardless of its chemical structure.
Not a bad definition overall. There’s more over at Wiki if you want to read about fat’s chemical makeup. You can find the entire entry here, but this is enough for our purposes.
Can fat be good?
Are there benefits to fat? You bet! Here’s quick list, again from Wikipedia.
- Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats. Fats are sources of essential fatty acids, an important dietary requirement.
- Fats play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function. They also serve as energy stores for the body. Fats are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy.
- Fat also serves as a useful buffer towards a host of diseases. When a particular substance, whether chemical or biotic — reaches unsafe levels in the bloodstream, the body can effectively dilute — or at least maintain equilibrium of — the offending substances by storing it in new fat tissue. This helps to protect vital organs, until such time as the offending substances can be metabolized and/or removed from the body by such means as excretion, urination, accidental or intentional bloodletting, sebum excretion, and hair growth.
Yes, fat is absolutely a vital part of your diet. Furthermore, fat is a good thing to have in your body, within reason. Many people obsess about weight loss and their body fat level. They think that removing as much fat as possible from their bodies is good. However, fat not only serves a number of important nutrition roles, it’s also your body’s store of emergency energy.
Remember, we evolved in an environment in which food was scarce. Sometimes our ancestors had plenty of food and sometimes they had none. So fat is our body’s way of taking the excess from times of plenty and storing it for times of famine. If you reduce your body’s fat level by too much, your systems will start shutting down. This is your body’s way of protecting itself from spending too much energy and running out. The first few systems it will shut down are relatively nonessential. For example, reproductive systems are the first to go. Your body will also reduce your overall energy levels in an attempt to conserve energy for when you really need it. This in turn leads to a lower number of calories burned per day which is counter to what you’re probably trying to achieve. So yes, fat is absolutely necessary as a part of your diet and as a part of your body.
So why does fat have such a bad reputation?
Even though fat does have a whole host of important functions, we’ve come to see it as our enemy in matters of fitness and nutrition. Why is that? Well, there are two reasons that I can see.
First, we eat and store too much of it. Our ancestors may have evolved in an environment of scarce resources, but most people in developed countries live in an environment where food is plentiful. That means we no longer live in times where famine is just a day away. So we eat too much food in general and too much fat specifically. Remember, our bodies evolved to see fat as good. It was a source of easy and useful calories. They’re still thinking like it’s a few hundred years ago and they’re telling our brains “mm… fat is tasty! Eat more of it so I can store some more in case of an emergency.” So we overindulge and we overeat and we gain weight. This leads us to store too much fat.
The second problem is our source of fat. We get most of our fat these days from processed meats, candy bars and other such junk food. All fat is not in fact created equal and fat from these sources is not as good as fat from healthier sources like lean meats, nuts, fish and such.
So how much fat is right?
There’s a wide variety of opinions out there, but for adult men who are fit and healthy, the right amount is probably around 13% to 18%. For adult women who are fit and healthy, that number is somewhere between 20% and 25%. That number will vary according to your athletic level, body type and a few other variables. If you want to know where you should aim for, go and see a doctor or a professional dietitian. They can work with you to determine what’s the right amount of fat for your body.
What are good sources of fat?
I already mentioned a few, but here’s a quick list:
- Lean, unprocessed meats like fish, venison and others.
- Nuts
- Unprocessed vegetable oils like olive oil
By the way, about 20% to 30% of your daily calories should come from fat.
Summary
I do not and will not advocate removing all fat from your diet. I am not a fan of the low fat diet and don’t think people should follow it. Fat is a vital part of a healthy diet. I just think people are eating too much of it from too many bad sources. Fix those issues and fat can once again be your body’s ally instead of an enemy.
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Comments
2 Responses to “Fat is bad! Fact or Myth?”
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Hi, what the confusion could be is the fact that there are healthy fats and unhealthy fats. I agree with you that you do need to have healthy fats in your daily diet, but trans fats, fat from greasy, fast food, fat-filled processed food…..those aren’t healthy fats. People could use the excuse that they “need fat” in their diet and justify it by eating fatty, greasy food.
Also, those processed foods that say “low fat” aren’t healthy at all, and often contain high fructose corn syrup, a corn sugar that causes all sorts of health and weight issues.
I don’t include the unhealthy fats in my diet, but I do get fat from the chicken breast I eat the and flax seed oil supplements that I include in my daily diet. I can always throw in some salmon if needed, but it doesn’t help in weight loss because it is higher in fat, even though it’s “healthy” fat.
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