Dietary Fats

People picture fat as a cube of butter or a slab of lard – something that will instantly clog your arteries and add inches to your waist.

The truth is that dietary fat is one of the essential nutrients that fuel the body. Not only does it give you energy, it provides many important benefits to the body. Simply cutting fat out of your diet will not give you a perfect body.

The biggest misconception surrounding this particular nutrient is that eating fat will make you fat. Fat does not make you fat – too many calories do.

Carbs and protein give the body 4 calories per gram, but fat is more than twice as energy dense, giving the body with 9 calories per gram. In addition to providing energy, it aids in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins and in the production of hormones.

Saturated and Unsaturated Fats

The two main types of fat are saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are usually referred to as the bad or unhealthy fats while unsaturated fats are the good or healthy type. The difference between the two fats is their chemical makeup which results in different behaviors inside the body.

Saturated fats are found in animal products and are unhealthy because they generally raise the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body. Sources include dairy products (like milk, cheese, butter, and ice cream), meats and eggs.

Unsaturated fats are found mostly in vegetable products. They are healthy because they lower the bad cholesterols (LDL) while raising levels of good cholesterols (HDL). They are found in vegetable oils (olive & canola oil), nuts, seeds and seafood (salmon, tuna, shrimp).

Trans Fat. Some products or fast-food companies claim that their food has “No Trans Fat!” Is this really a good thing? Trans fat is designed to improve the flavor of food and extend its shelf life.

They are similar to saturated fats in the sense that they increase levels of bad cholesterols (LDL) while decreasing levels of good cholesterols (HDL). Trans fat is found in pastries, peanut butter (the non-natural kind), vegetable shortening, margarine and any food that contains fully or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Is Fat Bad for You?

To most people, the word “fat” is synonymous with weight gain. Though eating excessive amounts of fat can lead to weight gain, it’s not the fat that’s to blame. The real culprit is the calories. Cutting calories can be challenging, but the best diet pills will usually have appetite suppressants that will help you reduce the number of calories you consume while you try to burn more.

Eating more calories than you burn will lead to fat storage because the body will reserve that extra energy as fat for later use. It doesn’t matter where that energy comes from. It could be fat, protein, or carbohydrates. All of these will lead to fat storage.

Conclusion

Now that you know a little more about how fat works, you might be wondering how you can get some of those “energy stores” off of your body.

If you are interested in trying a weight loss supplement, the best one that we have found is called LipoFuze. It can help you boost your metabolism, burn fat, and suppress your appetite, helping you to consume fewer calories and lose more weight!