All our lives, we’ve been told that eating foods that are high in fat is not only bad for your health, but also likely to make you gain weight. But what if we told you this isn’t strictly true?
While this may seem far-fetched or difficult to wrap your head around, let’s face it, not everything we were told when we were young turned out to be true!
So let us explain why eating fat doesn’t necessarily make you gain weight and how you’ve been lied to this whole time!
Unfairly Demonised
You see, the relationship between dietary fat and weight gain is more nuanced than many of us were led to believe. While fat is indeed calorie-dense, providing more calories per gram than both protein or carbohydrates, its consumption doesn’t necessarily lead to weight gain on its own.
There are a few reasons for this, one of those being that fat is highly satiating, meaning it helps to keep you feeling full and satisfied for longer periods. This reduces the chances of you overeating and makes you less likely to snack between meals.
In addition to keeping you full, adopting a high-fat, low-sugar dietary approach has shown it can be extremely beneficial for weight management and overall health. By minimising sugar intake and focusing on healthy fats from sources like avocados, nuts, seeds and fatty fish, this can not only promote fat loss but also improve your metabolic health.
By encouraging the body to move away from using sugars as its main source of fuel and instead utilising fats – a state known as ketosis – this can enhance fat burning and support weight loss efforts.
But that’s not all, as reducing processed sugars and refined carbohydrates and increasing your fat intake can also help stabilise blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, improve cardiovascular health and enhance cognitive function.
Goods Fats Vs Bad Fats
Although we’ve debunked the myth that fat will always make you gain weight, it’s important to make the distinction between the different types of fat. That’s because some can help promote good health and fight disease, while others are extremely taxing on your body.
Healthy fats found in the sources listed above contain essential nutrients and play vital roles in supporting various bodily functions. These fats are rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are beneficial for heart health, brain function and reducing inflammation.
On the other side of the fat spectrum are unhealthy fats, such as trans fats. These are found in processed and fried foods and they’ve been linked to numerous health issues, including heart disease, inflammation, insulin resistance and even cancer.
Unlike healthy fats, trans fats raise “bad” LDL cholesterol levels while lowering “good” HDL cholesterol, which increases the risk of cardiovascular problems.
So while the notion that eating foods high in fat and consuming a high-fat diet will always result in weight gain is untrue, keep in mind that a lot depends on the quality of the fats you’re consuming.
Origin Of The Fat Myth
So where did this belief stem from, and why have we been told for decades that consuming foods that are high in fat is the quickest way to pile on the pounds? Part of it is down to the fact that fat is more calorie-dense, but there’s also been some trickery at play.
In the mid-20th century, the sugar industry concocted a deceptive campaign to shift blame for weight gain and health issues away from sugar. Led by influential figures like Ancel Keys, the industry falsely promoted the idea that dietary fat, particularly saturated fat, was the primary driver of heart disease and obesity.
This misinformation led to the demonisation of fat with health advisors and doctors devising low-fat dietary guidelines that encouraged the consumption of high-sugar, processed foods. This manipulation of research, along with the funding of biased studies, obscured the truth about the harmful effects of excessive sugar.
The scale of the harm this has done to society over the last six or seven decades is unimaginable, but thankfully the truth has finally begun to emerge in recent years. That said, it’ll likely take a long time to educate the public, and the sugar industry to this day is doing all it can to distance itself from the truth.
Meal Prep Services
So now we’ve gone over the benefits of good-quality fats, how do you go about ensuring you get that crucial balanced diet? These days, some of us are simply too tied up with other commitments to cook with fresh ingredients so it can be tempting to reach for something quick and easy.
However, these are very often really bad for us, so if you want to follow a crucial duet but have limited time, this can be a real struggle.
Fear not as there’s a simple solution to this: meal prep services! These provide carefully portioned meals, which ensure you consume the right food and the correct number of calories to hit your goals.
Furthermore, our meals are designed to offer the correct balance of macronutrient and micronutrient balance, with a focus on adequate protein, healthy fats and controlled carbs.
So that’s how eating good-quality fats can actually help you lose weight. As well as being satiating, sources of healthy fats are also packed full of nutrients and can put your body into ketosis, meaning you’ll use fat as your primary food source rather than sugar, which, as we’ve seen, is the true bad guy in this tale!