Understanding the difference between fat eaten and body fat

douglasmobbs

If my food diary for a day is as follows

Breakfast
3 egg white omelet with 300g of spinach and a roasted red pepper.

Lunch
Chicken, salad and LF cottage cheese sandwich on brown bread.

Dinner
Tuna, poached egg and broccoli with wild rice

My total carbs will be just over 100g, fat over 20g and protein around 100g but calories under 1,200.

I have had loads of fresh veg and enough, on the low side, carbs and fat, and plenty of protein for a non-bodybuilder, my calories are on the low side.

What is the difference between my body getting the extra calories from my plentiful supply of fat around my body and me adding lard on my sandwich?

ericgAU

Hi Douglas

I'm currently reading a book called "Sweet Poison" by David Gillespie. The central message in the book is that SUGAR and in particular fructose is the single biggest culprit in our obesity crisis. The author goes into great details with extensive research into the topic.

One of the chapters actually touches on your subject matter; `Fat makes you fat.....or does it?' The author says that fat does not necessarily contribute to body fat.

To answer your question, your body will tap into its fat reserves when you are on, for example a low carb diet. Fat that you eat like all foods is broken down into glucose & fatty acids in the case of milk or dairy products.

yaddayaddayadda

There was something on 60 Minutes last night about sugar. The doctor on might have been David Gillespie... I don't remember. After watching, I am going to do some research and start watching my sugar intake...

EricgAU... I have questions... How much sugar is OK? I eat lots of fruit... Is sugar from fruit OK?

cranberrycat

Excellent question!

Basically, all will get stored if it is in excess. So, even if you eat low-fat, you can still convert everything else to fat. Carbs actually stores very easily!

The object is to eat enough to meet your needs, and not in excess. Eat fat, but choose healthier monounsaturated fats. Going low-fat is not going to help, and it may make you more hungry. Our bodies get a feeling of satiation from fat intake.

ewells2420

Using common sense and what I know about the body I reckon sugar is bad because it will convert sugar FIRST before anything else to usable energy. If it doesnt need to, the body wont convert/burn fat.

Di3012

If my food diary for a day is as follows

Breakfast
3 egg white omelet with 300g of spinach and a roasted red pepper.

Lunch
Chicken, salad and LF cottage cheese sandwich on brown bread.

Dinner
Tuna, poached egg and broccoli with wild rice

My total carbs will be just over 100g, fat over 20g and protein around 100g but calories under 1,200.

I have had loads of fresh veg and enough, on the low side, carbs and fat, and plenty of protein for a non-bodybuilder, my calories are on the low side.

What is the difference between my body getting the extra calories from my plentiful supply of fat around my body and me adding lard on my sandwich?

If you were to add lard on your sandwich, the calories go up, you store the excess as fat in your body, add that to the fat you say already possess......

However, if you eat your excellent choices of foods in your posting, your calorie deficit means your body HAS to take energy from somewhere, in that somewhere will be the fat on your body that you have NOT added to, because your diet was so good.

x

StrongGwen

the difference is biochemistry! I sometimes think I should just take a gooey sweet treat and stick it directly onto my belly, since it will end up there anyway! and how come eating a pound of candy can = more than a pound gained? Here's some "Food 101":

Calories you take in from protein, fast carbs, slow carbs, and fats are all fuel for the body. Just like putting gas into the tank. The fuel has to be converted into a useable form. Non-useable components are separated out and eliminated from your body like exhaust from your engine. The nutrients--amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc--are sorted out and delivered to the body cells where they are used for maintenance. The food calories are converted to glucose to fuel the activities of your body. Everything you eat to provide energy gets converted to glucose so it can get into your blood stream and be delivered to all your cells.

Unlike your car, your body can make extra "fuel tanks" (fat cells) when you put in too much to be used by your activity [I wish my truck could do this when I find cheap gasoline!] Since fast carbs like simple sugars and white flour are so close to glucose anyway, it takes very little energy to change them into a usable form. If you meet all your fuel needs with these types of foods, your tank gets full in a hurry and the extra calories are stored in your fat cells for later. Fats take longer to digest and break down, but just like oil in your engine you have to have healthy fats to run smoothly. The thing about fat is they are compact little fuel packets, with 17 calories per TBS, so it is easy to get more than you need and--you guessed it--the unused portion is stored for later. The vital nutrients your body has to have for health and repair and such come from sources that have been alive: meats, poultry, fish, plants, eggs, etc. Of course you can take vitamins and other supplements, but most research says it works much better for your body to get them from food sources.

So if you balance your nutrition, you can get the important nutrients you need without an excess of calories to be stored as fat. By eating less calories than your body needs for daily activities, you can trigger the release of your stored fuel from you fat cells. But you have to balance the deficit so it's not too big. If your body thinks there is a famine going on, it will switch to using up more of your muscle tissue as fuel along with some of your stored fat. It makes sense for long-term survival, because muscle tissue requires more calories to be maintained--fat just sits there waiting--so burning off some of your muscle means your body needs less fuel every day and can get by on less food, just in case. This is what is called "starvation mode" but there is no concensus on how long it takes to kick in. Your body is hanging on to the stored fat for later, and you have to convince it that the "famine" is over and there's plenty of food again. It is skeptical but can be persuaded over time.

Didn't realize I was going to go into this much detail, but take what's worth something and good luck!

grinch031

I don't think there is much difference. If you eat dietary fat and don't use it immediately, it will be stored as body fat. In the end its the net effect of fat stored vs. burned that determines whether weight increases or decreases. Of course its complicated because hormones can influence whether your body will tend to store or burn more fat (the net effect that is), which is manifested through changes in hunger and expenditure in subtle and not so subtle ways.

twinmom01

Eating fat does not = body fat....

eating in excess = body fat and there have been recent studies showing that things like sugars (fructose) and an EXCESS of carbs (I am not saying carbs are bad - simply saying a lot of people consume a lot more carbs than what their body needs in an actual day) can actually trigger reactions within the body which can lead to excess body fat - even if someone is eating in a calorie minded way.

There are a ton of articles/books/blogs out there about eating fat...some people shy away from eating full fat items because more fat = more calories....however a lot of low fat items have extra ingrediantes (man made chemicals and flavorings and such) in order to have the Low Fat version taste good - Personally I would rather choose the full fat version of something and adjust calories elsewhere. Over the holidays I asked my dad to pick me up some tub butter - I asked for Land O Lakes butter with Olive Oil....he came back with the Canola Oil light version...I told him to look at the ingrediate list...regular version - cream, olive oil (or if you have the Canola oil one just has Canola oil) and salt....low fat version - water, butter, salt and 13 other ingrediantes - for me because I don't use butter all that often - I would rather have the extra 50 calories a serving and not have the chemicals

Back when I was going by pretty much a calories count and let MFP give me the macros (lower fat and protien % and higher carb%) - while I lost weight it was slow, slow going....after reading a bunch about how our body uses all the different nutrients I switched to a higher fat, higher protien lower carb and sugar and have seen a much better result...(1st way - 10 lbs in a year, 2nd way 10 lbs in 3 months...) Worked for me - may not work for you....

But in a nutshell - eating dietary fat won't cause body fat unless you are eating in an excess...and it has been debunked through various studies that increase in fat = heart disease

StrongGwen explains the reactions to carbs vs dietary fats really well...

ST99000722

bump - thanks for this , i have a problem with my sugar intake and after reading this i'm definitely going to find a way of reducing it.

ericgAU

There was something on 60 Minutes last night about sugar. The doctor on might have been David Gillespie... I don't remember. After watching, I am going to do some research and start watching my sugar intake...

EricgAU... I have questions... How much sugar is OK? I eat lots of fruit... Is sugar from fruit OK?

Thats the guy. After watching that story I went out and bought the book on iTunes. Fructose is the problem. Problem with it is the metabolism doesnt `see' fructose so basically turns it into fat straight away. The sugar in fruit which is a combination of fructose and fibre is ok. The author does say though to not have more than a couple of pieces of fruit per day. I'm not so sure about this because like you I love my fruit and eat heaps of it....well you know 3-4 per day. I think if you stay away from soft drinks, juices and foods which are obviously loaded with sugar you should be ok. At the end of the day its very difficult to avoid all sugar.

Happy to answer any other questions about this book.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

If my food diary for a day is as follows

Breakfast
3 egg white omelet with 300g of spinach and a roasted red pepper.

Lunch
Chicken, salad and LF cottage cheese sandwich on brown bread.

Dinner
Tuna, poached egg and broccoli with wild rice

My total carbs will be just over 100g, fat over 20g and protein around 100g but calories under 1,200.

I have had loads of fresh veg and enough, on the low side, carbs and fat, and plenty of protein for a non-bodybuilder, my calories are on the low side.

What is the difference between my body getting the extra calories from my plentiful supply of fat around my body and me adding lard on my sandwich?

Eating fat makes it easier for your body to burn fat.

Sally Fallon and Dr Mary Enig wrote this book. Eat Fat, Lose Fat.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_7?url=search-alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=eat+fat+lose+fat&sprefix=eat+fat,aps,178

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Eating fat does not = body fat....

eating in excess = body fat and there have been recent studies showing that things like sugars (fructose) and an EXCESS of carbs (I am not saying carbs are bad - simply saying a lot of people consume a lot more carbs than what their body needs in an actual day) can actually trigger reactions within the body which can lead to excess body fat - even if someone is eating in a calorie minded way.

There are a ton of articles/books/blogs out there about eating fat...some people shy away from eating full fat items because more fat = more calories....however a lot of low fat items have extra ingrediantes (man made chemicals and flavorings and such) in order to have the Low Fat version taste good - Personally I would rather choose the full fat version of something and adjust calories elsewhere. Over the holidays I asked my dad to pick me up some tub butter - I asked for Land O Lakes butter with Olive Oil....he came back with the Canola Oil light version...I told him to look at the ingrediate list...regular version - cream, olive oil (or if you have the Canola oil one just has Canola oil) and salt....low fat version - water, butter, salt and 13 other ingrediantes - for me because I don't use butter all that often - I would rather have the extra 50 calories a serving and not have the chemicals

Back when I was going by pretty much a calories count and let MFP give me the macros (lower fat and protien % and higher carb%) - while I lost weight it was slow, slow going....after reading a bunch about how our body uses all the different nutrients I switched to a higher fat, higher protien lower carb and sugar and have seen a much better result...(1st way - 10 lbs in a year, 2nd way 10 lbs in 3 months...) Worked for me - may not work for you....

But in a nutshell - eating dietary fat won't cause body fat unless you are eating in an excess...and it has been debunked through various studies that increase in fat = heart disease

StrongGwen explains the reactions to carbs vs dietary fats really well...

Fat is NOT the enemy. Sugar and refined carbs are the enemy. Getting carbs from fruits, veggies and "safe starches" is what is natural.

Safe starches would include some rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes........eating these foods with a bit of fat, such as butter will keep the blood sugar from spiking.

In most peoples terms I eat FAT in excess and I lose weight better this way.

Extremely high fat, moderate protein and lower carbs. My blood sugar is even, no more mood swings, sugar crashes, etc.

erickirb

As a man you should be aiming for a minimum of 1500 calories/day, the 1200 limit is more aimed at women.

FYI: there is no link between dietary fat and body fat.

Dietary fat =/= body fat, eating more than maintenance = more body fat. You should be aiming for 20-30% of total calories from fat, as fat is essential and is needed. So if you go for the 1500 cals your fat should not be lower than 33grams, and as high as 50 grams, and even more on days you workout.

tigersword

There was something on 60 Minutes last night about sugar. The doctor on might have been David Gillespie... I don't remember. After watching, I am going to do some research and start watching my sugar intake...

EricgAU... I have questions... How much sugar is OK? I eat lots of fruit... Is sugar from fruit OK?

Thats the guy. After watching that story I went out and bought the book on iTunes. Fructose is the problem. Problem with it is the metabolism doesnt `see' fructose so basically turns it into fat straight away. The sugar in fruit which is a combination of fructose and fibre is ok. The author does say though to not have more than a couple of pieces of fruit per day. I'm not so sure about this because like you I love my fruit and eat heaps of it....well you know 3-4 per day. I think if you stay away from soft drinks, juices and foods which are obviously loaded with sugar you should be ok. At the end of the day its very difficult to avoid all sugar.

Happy to answer any other questions about this book.

This actually isn't true, and most of the "fructose is evil" claims have been debunked by science. Here's a recap, with plenty of citations. (This is specifically referring to Dr. Lustig's "Bitter Truth about Sugar" lecture, but it covers a lot of the same material.
http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/

Not that I have any idea why sugar got brought up, when the OP was clearly asking about FAT, but to answer the original question, the amount of dietary fat you eat has no bearing on how much body fat you have. The only thing that matters is total calories. Eat more than you burn, and you have a net gain of fat over a 24 hour period. Eat less than you burn, and you have a net loss of fat over a 24 hour period. Temporary fat storage is a silly thing to worry about, because you will NEVER use every calorie you eat right away, the majority of food you eat is almost always stashed away as fat temporarily. The only thing that matters are the overall totals, and if you eat less than you burn, your body will have no choice but to burn fat to survive.

The problem comes when you eat far too little, which it sounds like you are doing, because then the body will store the food you eat as fat, but burn muscle for energy instead, as a survival mechanism. You can survive much longer with more fat and less muscle, than you can with more muscle and less fat.

lambertj

Healthy fats are actually good for you. Since adding 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds daily to my diet, I've actually been losing weight. Sugar is the enemy

JoHola

the difference is biochemistry! I sometimes think I should just take a gooey sweet treat and stick it directly onto my belly, since it will end up there anyway! and how come eating a pound of candy can = more than a pound gained? Here's some "Food 101":

Calories you take in from protein, fast carbs, slow carbs, and fats are all fuel for the body. Just like putting gas into the tank. The fuel has to be converted into a useable form. Non-useable components are separated out and eliminated from your body like exhaust from your engine. The nutrients--amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc--are sorted out and delivered to the body cells where they are used for maintenance. The food calories are converted to glucose to fuel the activities of your body. Everything you eat to provide energy gets converted to glucose so it can get into your blood stream and be delivered to all your cells.

Unlike your car, your body can make extra "fuel tanks" (fat cells) when you put in too much to be used by your activity [I wish my truck could do this when I find cheap gasoline!] Since fast carbs like simple sugars and white flour are so close to glucose anyway, it takes very little energy to change them into a usable form. If you meet all your fuel needs with these types of foods, your tank gets full in a hurry and the extra calories are stored in your fat cells for later. Fats take longer to digest and break down, but just like oil in your engine you have to have healthy fats to run smoothly. The thing about fat is they are compact little fuel packets, with 17 calories per TBS, so it is easy to get more than you need and--you guessed it--the unused portion is stored for later. The vital nutrients your body has to have for health and repair and such come from sources that have been alive: meats, poultry, fish, plants, eggs, etc. Of course you can take vitamins and other supplements, but most research says it works much better for your body to get them from food sources.

So if you balance your nutrition, you can get the important nutrients you need without an excess of calories to be stored as fat. By eating less calories than your body needs for daily activities, you can trigger the release of your stored fuel from you fat cells. But you have to balance the deficit so it's not too big. If your body thinks there is a famine going on, it will switch to using up more of your muscle tissue as fuel along with some of your stored fat. It makes sense for long-term survival, because muscle tissue requires more calories to be maintained--fat just sits there waiting--so burning off some of your muscle means your body needs less fuel every day and can get by on less food, just in case. This is what is called "starvation mode" but there is no concensus on how long it takes to kick in. Your body is hanging on to the stored fat for later, and you have to convince it that the "famine" is over and there's plenty of food again. It is skeptical but can be persuaded over time.

Didn't realize I was going to go into this much detail, but take what's worth something and good luck!

Thanks for this ^

bharris78

HOW DO YOU CONTINUE TO LOOSE WEIGHT IF YOU BLOOD SUGAR DROPS DURING THE NIGHT AND YOUR LIVER STARTS PUTTING OUT GLUCOSE RAISING YOU AM FASTING GLUCOSE...ESPECIALLY IF YOU ALREADY TAKE METFORMIN??? THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO ME SINCE I STARTED RUNNING INTERVALS. I HAVE BEEN AT 2000CAL PER DAY. I AM 6FT TALL. 270 POUNDS. AND I HAVE LOST NOTHING. ANY ADVICE??

secretlobster

Fat, like anything you put into your body, is fuel. Fat on your body is stored energy (you can measure it in calories) that was never used at the time it was consumed. The fat on your body could have come from any macronutrient source - carbs, fat, sugar, protein - The reason it sticks around is because it was never used.

lambertj

HOW DO YOU CONTINUE TO LOOSE WEIGHT IF YOU BLOOD SUGAR DROPS DURING THE NIGHT AND YOUR LIVER STARTS PUTTING OUT GLUCOSE RAISING YOU AM FASTING GLUCOSE...ESPECIALLY IF YOU ALREADY TAKE METFORMIN??? THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO ME SINCE I STARTED RUNNING INTERVALS. I HAVE BEEN AT 2000CAL PER DAY. I AM 6FT TALL. 270 POUNDS. AND I HAVE LOST NOTHING. ANY ADVICE??

Doesn't sound like you are eating enough:

Activity Level Daily Calories
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1945
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2229
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2513
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2796
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3080

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/