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2004/10/31, 04:34 PM
Why? Because it's a common misconception that fat makes you, well, fat. And to the uninformed, it seems pretty logical. Most of the fat-phobia in today's diets stems from the late 80's/90's low-fat fad diet. You know, the one where as long as it was low in fat it was good to eat (snackwells, anyone?) Problem is, the fat was often replaced by carbohydrates (sugar usually), keeping the caloric value the same and adding insulin spikes to boot.
Fat's extremely important for well-being since it's used in everything from cell composition to vitamin absorption. But it's calorically dense (9 calories per gram), and has a very low thermogenic effect (doesn't take much effort from your body to utilize ingested fat.) Plus it's oh so tasty and something as small as a handful of nuts can have over 200 calories. In other words, it's easy to overdo it with fats.
Most people should aim for around 20% of their total calories from fat, with women getting a slightly higher amount. Saturated fats should be kept to a minimum, while trans fats should be avoided 100% all-together. Look for food that's got mostly mono and poly unsaturated fats.
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