The Truth About Fat-Free Food

“Fat” is a word that most of us frown upon because of how our society conditioned us to believe that fat is bad. Since we 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. Now days fat-free food is everywhere and is a popular snack for boosting our energy. Unfortunately, many of us do not know how differentiate the bad fat from the good fat and are blinded by the concept that fat equals weight gain.

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 levels of 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. Remember 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, most of the time the excessive energy does not get used up and ends up being converted to fat. In certain ways, 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 sizes which can alter the amounts 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 4 calories per gram each.
• 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 processed and trans fat. Trans fat is actually invented by scientist to prolong shelf life of commercial food. Most of us have a misconception that all saturated fat is bad. This is simply not true. The saturated fat that is good for you is free of synthetic chemicals and most environmental toxins. This saturated fat is usually found in animals that are raised on pasture farms or their natural environment.
• 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 cannot 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, draining you of energy.

For more information about fat-free products and how to avoid them to prevent weight gain, please check out my book Natural Weight Loss Secrets: A Quick Guide to Losing Weight Permanently. To learn more about my book or to purchase it, please visit my bookstore. For instant access, my book is available for purchase as a downloadable ebook through Amazon. Another place you can buy my book is at Barnes&Noble.

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