The Truth About Fat Free Food

“Fat” is a word that most people frown upon because of how their society conditioned them to believe that fat is bad. Since most people see fat as a bad thing, food industries could not wait to slap fat free logos on their food packages so they can make more money by misleading consumers. Now days fat-free food is everywhere and is one of the favorite snacks for boosting consumer’s energy. Unfortunately, many consumers do not realize how important fat is and are blind by the concept that fat equals weight gain and health problems.

Fat has more stored energy (calories) but that does not necessarily mean that you will get fat from eating fat. The secret of weight gain comes down to the calories and your metabolism. If you eat more calories than your body needs, regardless of fat or non-fat food, you will gain weight. The amount of weight depends on your metabolism and other factors. Simple carbohydrates (junk food, processed food) give you quick energy boost but is more likely to get stored as fat since your body does not need all that energy at once. The energy from simple carbohydrates do not last long and you may end up eating more due to the increase of hunger. Remember that it is the calories that will cause you to gain weight, not the fat itself.

Fat free products look healthier but are usually added with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients to make up for the tasty fat flavor. Sugar is one of the body favorite things to convert into fat. Sugar gives the body quick energy but most of the time the excessive energy does not get used up and ends up being converted to fat. In a sense, sugar is worst than fat when it comes to weight gain. Many fat-free products have labels, such as “zero trans fat” or “trans fat free”. This does not mean that the food is totally free of trans fat. According to FDA regulation, food that is labeled “trans fat free” can contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Keep in mind that the “serving” part can be any size which can alter the amount of trans fat in the food.

What is fat

• Fat is a macronutrient, meaning that we need large amounts of it for normal body function. Other macronutrients are protein and carbohydrate. Out of these three macronutrients, fat is the one with the most stored energy. Fat provides 9 calories per gram, protein and carbohydrate provides about the same which is 4 calories per gram.
• There are 3 main types of fat - trans fat (found in snack foods, fried food and processed food), unsaturated fat (found in nuts, olive oil and avocados) and saturated fat (found in meat, butter, dairy products, eggs, coconut oil and chocolate). The bad fats are the saturated and trans fat, these fats are known to raise the bad (LDL) cholesterol. Trans fat is actually invented by scientist to prolong shelf life of commercial food.
• Another type of fat that is very important for normal body function is essential fatty acids. These fatty acids are important for brain and nerve function, hormone production and regulation of blood pressure. Essential fatty acids can not be produce by the body which is why it is important to add them to your diet.

Fat benefits

• Helps nerve transmission and nutrients absorption.
• Keep the body from losing heat (energy).
• Proper hormone function and cell health.
• Help absorb and store vitamins, especially vitamin D.

The recommended amount of body fat percentage level in men is about 12% and the recommended amount in women is about 22%. These percentages may vary depending on how tall or active you are. Having low or high body fat percentage levels may lead to certain health problems and your energy health will suffer dramatically.

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