Fat is empty calories?

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  • kellyskitties
    kellyskitties Posts: 475 Member
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    Don't have time to read it - but I believe in not going too low fat because some vitamins are fat soluble and should be eaten with fat (thus my salad dressing ARE NOT fat free versions). I believe we need fats. So based on that - no I wouldn't consider them empty calories. I would consider them "vitamin carriers" myself, unless you are eating sticks of butter (aka shame sticks).
  • rejectuf
    rejectuf Posts: 487 Member
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    Fat is essential to the human body.
  • Lexandrei
    Lexandrei Posts: 38
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    Absolutely not. People think of fat as the enemy because it usually contains MORE calories than say, protein. Healthy fats found in foods such as olive oils, cold water fish, nuts and avocado contain many beneficial properties and even aid weight loss due to their satiating properties. You'd be doing yourself a dis-service by cutting them out of your diet. Often times low-fat foods contain just as many, maybe more calories than the full-fat product itself in addition to a ridiculous amount of sugars and additives.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Shame sticks, I like that, haha :-) Butter is truly yummy, though. Need some on my oatmeal. And I love full fat cheese and meat. But I used to think of fat as empty calories too, before, believing the myth that only fibre and starch would make you feel full. Ate low fat versions because I didn't... well... think for myself. But I always wondered how we were supposed to absorb those fat soluble vitamins without fat. What if "too lean" is just as wrong and you starve yourself to death with a diet based on vegetables and skim milk?
  • kellyskitties
    kellyskitties Posts: 475 Member
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    The first time I heard "shame sticks" was on the TV show According to Jim - it's stick of butter rolled in white sugar and then eaten ... I know it's wicked. Makes me think of when you make cookies and you have creamed the butter and sugar together - umhmmm, who's never just tried it at that stage. It's soooo tasty..... I guess that's one to try to fit into your macros LOL
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    If you have look around the site you can also go to the following page which goes into a little more detail

    http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html

    All its really doing is trying to push portion control but is using solid fats and sugar as the examples

    It is not claiming that all fats are bad for you or are empty calories
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    If you have look around the site you can also go to the following page which goes into a little more detail

    http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html

    All its really doing is trying to push portion control but is using solid fats and sugar as the examples

    It is not claiming that all fats are bad for you or are empty calories

    This page is more detailed, yes, but they only admit that "A small amount of empty calories is okay". We have to look at the whole picture, and portion control and variety is essential. But when that is taken care of, there isn't any reason to demonize any food, is it? I think strict rules and no reasoning behind them makes us stupid. And fat.

    And now another question popped into my head (thanks :-) ): Just as added sugar is thought by many to be inferior to sugars in fruit and vegetables, is there a difference between naturally occuring fats and added fats, nutritionally? Regarding micronutrients, I mean?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,021 Member
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    Disappointing, but par for the course. This kind of thinking is what needs to be cleaved.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    If you have look around the site you can also go to the following page which goes into a little more detail

    http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html

    All its really doing is trying to push portion control but is using solid fats and sugar as the examples

    It is not claiming that all fats are bad for you or are empty calories

    This page is more detailed, yes, but they only admit that "A small amount of empty calories is okay". We have to look at the whole picture, and portion control and variety is essential. But when that is taken care of, there isn't any reason to demonize any food, is it? I think strict rules and no reasoning behind them makes us stupid. And fat.

    And now another question popped into my head (thanks :-) ): Just as added sugar is thought by many to be inferior to sugars in fruit and vegetables, is there a difference between naturally occuring fats and added fats, nutritionally? Regarding micronutrients, I mean?

    Don't get me wrong I do not agree with the kind of thinking used in this article its just that further investigation shows it isn't the pure fat hating site that it initially looks to be.

    I also cannot see why there would be any difference between a fat that has been added to a fat that is naturally in the product, providing it is the same kind of fat, I mean you cannot compare added trans fat with naturally occurring Omega 3 fats.

    However I do believe we need to look at the nutrition of the fat source or sugar source as a whole because just concentrating on the fat/sugar alone really doesn't give the whole picture
  • judychicken
    judychicken Posts: 937 Member
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    The right kind of fat will keep you full.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    fat is delicious and an in way empty.

    helps mai brain run gud.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    There is no such thing as an empty calorie. A calorie is a unit of energy the body can use that no matter the food source so it's not empty
  • Sinisterly
    Sinisterly Posts: 10,913 Member
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    Haha, silly article. :flowerforyou:
    I also love it when I buy seasoned salts and it reads "0 calorie" <-- Yeah, okay. Because nothing has calories.
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
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    Empty calories are foods that supply calories but little or no nutritional benefits beyond that.

    The biggest single category of empty calories are simple starches and sugars. They may supply glucose, but usually not much of anything else.

    Fats (with the exception of trans-fats) are definitely not empty calories in any way. Fats are essential nutrients and what your body doesn't use for nutrients are burned as fuel. They also are the main way your body can get the fat soluble nutrients it needs. They're called essential fatty acids for a reason.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    LMFAO "* Calories from alcohol are not from solid fats or added sugars, but they count against your limit for empty
    calories ― calories from solid fats and added sugars."

    the only thing that IS empty calories got an asterisk... thats irony
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    There is no such thing as an empty calorie. A calorie is a unit of energy the body can use that no matter the food source so it's not empty

    azeotrope ethanol?
  • zivasak
    zivasak Posts: 88
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    Fat is essential in hormone production, vitamins absorption, organs protection and keeping us warm. Fat is the other source of energy (the one I prefer personally)

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