Fat v calories

We get most of our calories from carbohydrate, protein and fat as well as consuming empty calories from alcohol. All of these food sources provide us with energy. Any energy that is not used immediately by the body is stored as fat for future use. So, people will gain fat when they eat more calories than they burn. It really is as simple as that.

A person who eats junk food all day and another who eats only good quality organic produce can consume the same amount of calories. In fact person eating the junk food may even loose weight if they eat less. But this person will also be far less healthy and will suffer long-term health problems.

Good quality fat and poor fat have a different effect on our bodies. The good quality fats, poly unsaturated fat, are found fish, nuts, seeds and avocado and are essential for maintaining good health. Saturated or trans fats are ‘bad’ fats and are present in foods such as cakes, biscuits, butter etc and can have detrimental effects on our health if eaten in excess.

Good quality fat helps even out our blood sugar levels and gives us a greater sense of satiety so we’re actually less likely to consume excess calories. If you are to consume low fat products which generally contain added sugar and are poor in food quality, you are more likely to over consume in calories due to the nutritional deficit in the food and the increase in blood sugar levels.

But in the end it comes down to calories. If you consume more calories than you burn whether they come from fat or sugars you will gain weight. But if you stick to eating good quality poly unsaturated fats in combination with other fresh food produce, you are unlikely to over eat and crave the high calorie poor quality foods, such as junk food.