Several studies have already shown that fat is important and healthy – if you eat the right thing. FITBOOK wanted to know exactly and has compiled scientific findings on fat and its influence on body weight. Does fat make you fat or not?
The food industry has brought more and more low-fat light products onto the market over the past few decades and sold them to consumers as healthy slimming products. No wonder people have been taught for decades that too much fat in food is unhealthy – and above all that it makes you fat.
The diet industry was able to use this connection for itself and sell it to people who wanted to lose weight in an easy-to-understand way: fat makes you fat, so you should eat as little as possible. And because this seems so simple and coherent, it still lingers in our minds – even though it’s wrong.
Differentiation between unsaturated and saturated fats
It has long been known that fats are not inherently bad. In general, a distinction is made between unsaturated and saturated fats, which used to be labeled «healthy» or «unhealthy» – a distinction that is now considered obsolete. Humans need both types of fat every day for metabolic processes in the body. They are necessary for absorbing the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, ensure a natural feeling of satiety, are required for the functioning of hormones and enzymes and reduce fluctuations in blood sugar levels.
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Why reduced-fat products are problematic
Anyone who has set out to lose weight with a low-fat diet will most likely fail – at least in the long term. Because low-fat light products are less filling. Possible consequence: a constant feeling of hunger. Would you like an example? While a yoghurt with 3.5 percent fat can fill you up, a yoghurt with only 0.1 percent fat will definitely not fill you up. And that’s very common with reduced-fat products.
“Anyone who eats a lot of fat will notice that the fat intake is limited by the onset of nausea. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, do not cause nausea when consumed in large quantities and, in contrast to fat, are less satiating. Fat lengthens the time food stays in the stomach and thus keeps you full for longer,” says der diabetologist and internist dr Matthias Riedl on FITBOOK.
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Better to lose weight «low carb» instead of «low fat»
A study from 2018 by Tulane University in New Orleans also confirms that it is better to focus on reducing carbohydrates than fat when dieting. The researchers recruited 148 overweight men and women under the age of 50 with a BMI of just over 35 and weighing around 100 kilograms. Previous illnesses, such as diabetes or cardiovascular problems, were not present.
Half of the participants followed the low-carb diet and reduced their carbohydrate intake to a maximum of 40 grams per day. The other half, on the other hand, opted for low-fat and consumed no more than 30 percent of their daily calories in the form of fat. Otherwise, there were no further rules on the part of the researchers, such as no restriction on the number of calories.
The two groups were observed by the scientists for a year (approx. 20 percent dropout rate per group). In the end, the researchers found that the group that had greatly reduced their carbohydrate intake (low carb) was significantly more successful in losing weight than the low-fat group. They lost an average of 5.3 kilograms – the participants in the low-fat group, on the other hand, only 1.8 kilograms.
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It’s not fat that makes you fat – it’s sugar
An evaluation of over 50 nutritional studies published in the medical journal «Food and Nutrition Research» showed where the problem of weight gain actually lies. Only studies that were carried out from the year 2000 were used. Analyzing the data, the researchers found that increased consumption of fiber and nuts hardly leads to weight gain, while high meat consumption favors weight gain. Evidence was also found that whole grain products, oatmeal and fatty milk products protect against weight gain. In addition, fiber and fruit prevent an increase in the waist.
On the other hand, a connection was found between heavy consumption of white flour products, sweets and desserts and weight gain paired with a larger waist circumference. The problem obviously isn’t fat, it’s sugar and simple carbohydrates from white flour. According to the authors, increasing fiber-rich foods and dairy products and decreasing white flour, meat and sugar provide long-term protection against obesity.
«In Germany people don’t eat too much fat, but too many carbohydrates. Germany has become fatter and fatter as a result of the increase in carbohydrates,» says nutrition expert Dr. Riedl. Sugar is the “premier class of fatteners”. And further: “It goes quickly into the blood and causes the insulin level to rise. High insulin levels, in turn, prevent fat loss.”
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Healthy, high-fat foods
The Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health writes that it’s not the amount of fat that matters, but the type of fat we eat. Fatty fish (e.g. salmon), avocados, nuts and cold-pressed vegetable oils (e.g. olive oil) are healthy fats. Refined vegetable fats/oils or hidden fats in ready meals and heavily processed foods are particularly unhealthy. Since we take them in unconsciously and usually in combination with sugar and white flour, they mutate into calorie bombs, fattening and disease-causing.