{"id":18332,"date":"2020-04-06T20:23:39","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T20:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humnutrition.com\/blog\/?p=18332"},"modified":"2020-04-07T22:57:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T22:57:58","slug":"why-eating-fat-doesnt-make-you-gain-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humnutrition.com\/blog\/why-eating-fat-doesnt-make-you-gain-weight\/","title":{"rendered":"An RD Explains Why Eating Fat Doesn’t Make You Gain Weight"},"content":{"rendered":"Registered dietitian Jessica Bippen, MS, RD<\/a> explains once and for all why eating healthy fat won’t make you gain weight. Read on to learn why your body needs fat, the different types of healthy fats<\/a>, and one unhealthy type of fat you <\/em>should avoid.<\/em>\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s time to bust this myth once and for all: Eating fat doesn\u2019t make you gain weight. Yes, you heard that right. Dietary fat doesn\u2019t make you gain weight!\r\n\r\nThis outdated idea started in the 1960-70s, then became the craze of the 1990s when low-fat foods were worshiped. From low-fat ice cream and crackers to low-fat peanut butter, these foods shaped the way people ate and thought about food for years to come.\r\n\r\nWhile more people are embracing healthy fats in their diet, for some there\u2019s still fear and confusion around this essential macronutrient.\r\n\r\n\"Man\r\n

Why your body needs healthy fats<\/h2>\r\nFats are one of the essential macronutrients along with carbohydrates and protein<\/a>. You need a certain amount of each of these macronutrients daily in order for your body to function optimally. Again, your body needs<\/em> fat. Fat is your friend! It helps promote cell growth, hormone production, and protects your vital organs.\r\n\r\nHere are four more important benefits of dietary fat:\r\n

Energy<\/h3>\r\nDietary fat contains nine calories per gram<\/a>, making it more calorie-dense than protein and carbs. However, it’s not a bad thing! Fat provides your body with energy without spiking insulin production.\r\n

Metabolism<\/h3>\r\nContrary to the common belief that fat makes you fat, it\u2019s actually the opposite! The truth is that eating healthy fat can help you burn fat by boosting your metabolism<\/a> and helping break down stored fat.\r\n

Satiation<\/h3>\r\nHealthy fats also keep you feeling satisfied<\/a>. Why? They take more time to digest than carbohydrates. This increases your satiety and keeps you feeling fuller for longer. Think about eating a bag of pretzels versus a handful of nuts. The pretzels will leave you hungry an hour later, while the nuts hold you over. In addition, fats also make food taste better.\r\n

vitamin absorption<\/h3>\r\nAnother main role of dietary fat is to help your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. For instance, a big bowl of salad greens is full of vitamin K. However, in order to absorb the vitamin K, you need to include a healthy fat like avocado, nuts, seeds, or an oil-based salad dressing.\r\n

The science behind weight and healthy fats<\/h2>\r\nWe can\u2019t talk about healthy fats without their connection to weight. Despite all the popular low-fat diets\u2014and on the other extreme, the high-fat diets like keto<\/a>\u2014you need roughly 30 percent of your calories to come from healthy fats to promote health.\r\n\r\nIn regards to weight loss<\/a>, there’s still much debate over what diet is best for weight loss. This is because laboratory studies cannot account for many of the internal and external factors that determine weight. However, there’s more compelling research<\/a> showing that high-fat Mediterranean-style diets<\/a> lead to a greater reduction in body weight and abdominal fat compared to traditional diets.\r\n\r\nStill, most people don’t weight because they eat too much healthy fat. The problem occurs when you have too much of any<\/em> kind of energy, meaning you’re over-consuming calories.\r\n\r\nThe same is true when you eat too much fat coupled with sugars and processed carbs. It\u2019s not the fat itself that causes weight gain but rather the combination of fat and sugar in ultra-processed foods<\/a>\u00a0that influences your metabolism in a negative way.\r\n\r\n\"Avocado\r\n

Types of Healthy Fats<\/h2>\r\nWith all this talk about fat, it\u2019s important to mention that not all fats are created equal. The type of fat you eat matters. When choosing healthy fats, it\u2019s best to focus on monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (especially omega-3s<\/a>) from whole-food sources.\r\n

Healthy Sources of Monounsaturated Fat<\/h3>\r\n