Get Smart about Fats

Losing weight: It’s about total calories and not necessarily fat content

Over the past several decades nutritional recommendations were made to reduce fat content as a public health strategy to lose weight.  While much emphasis has been placed on the fat content of food the real determinate of weight gain is total calories.  As we learned in the energy density section, since we eat the same amount of food a day it is energy density (calories per gram of food) which determines calorie intake and not necessarily fat content.

Many “low fat” products have the same energy densities and consequently the same number of calories as high fat foods.  For instance, crackers are as energy dense as many types of “high fat” cheese.  Dry foods have high energy densities while high fat cheese has a higher water content which lowers its’ overall energy density.  In fact it has been postulated that this emphasis on low-fat but energy dense foods has lead Americans to consume more calories leading to rising levels of overweight and obesity despite a drop in overall fat consumption.1

That being said individuals highly successful at weight loss (National Weight Control Registry) report consuming a calorie restricted, low fat diet consisting of 24% fat.2  These individuals also report higher intakes of vegetables and fruits which lowers the overall energy density and calorie content of their diet.  Just remember it is total calories that are important and lowering the fat content can be an effective strategy to cut calories as long as you are not substituting for high energy dense foods such as found with many refined carbohydrates.

1.    Too much of a good thing?  J Am Dietetic Assoc 1995;95:417-18
2.    Persons successful at long-term weight loss and maintenance continue to consume a low-energy, low-fat diet.  J Am Diet Assoc 1998;98:408-13