Was that line click bait for you? I hope so, that was the point.

Dietary fats get SUCH a bad rap. There’s a lot of misconceptions out there, demonizing fats, and a lot of “low fat” diets to help you lose weight. While, yes, fats have a higher calorie concentration than other macronutrients, they are not the sole reason you may be gaining weight or having difficulty losing weight. So, let’s dive into what fats are, why they’re important, and how to calculate how much fat should be in your diet.

What are fats, anyway?

There are many types of fat. The most well known are cholesterol, saturated fats, unsaturated fats, and trans fats. Those are the four we typically see on nutrition labels of food we buy and hear the most about. 

Cholesterol is a massive molecule that actually plays many important roles in our body. It is a precursor to our sex hormones (testosterone, estrogen, progesterone) and provides support of our cell walls. Without cholesterol, our cells would literally fall into a mush and our sex hormones wouldn’t exist.

You’ve probably heard of “bad” cholesterol and “good” cholesterol, otherwise known as “LDL cholesterol” and “HDL cholesterol”. We need to debunk some information around these two molecules because they aren’t what you think they are. “LDL” and “HDL” stand for “low density lipoprotein” and “high density lipoprotein”. These two molecules are not exactly a type of cholesterol. They are transporters for cholesterol (think of a truck with cholesterol hanging out in the back).

The difference is that LDL carries cholesterol toward our body tissues and HDL carries excess cholesterol away from our body tissues toward areas of excretion (like the liver or kidneys). When LDL carries cholesterol toward our tissues, it is more likely that some cholesterol molecules will “fall off” the transporter and stick to artery walls. Because of this increased likelihood, LDL is considered “bad”, as it puts us at higher risk for clogged arteries..

In short, the molecule of cholesterol does not have a dark alter ego by the name of LDL cholesterol. Cholesterol is cholesterol is cholesterol. What we should be concerned about is the RATIO of LDL to HDL, looking to make sure there is a higher ratio of HDL to LDL (more HDL than LDL) when we look at total cholesterol levels.

Nonetheless, cholesterol is not inherently bad, and it does, indeed, play important roles in our body.

Saturated and unsaturated fats both belong under the umbrella term “triglycerides”. To make it simple, a triglyceride is a glycerol (carbon) molecule with 3 “tails”, otherwise known as fatty acid chains. In saturated fats, every single carbon molecule on each chain is completely full of hydrogens. In unsaturated fats, there are some hydrogens missing (holes in the tails). Since there are some hydrogens missing, the triglycerides cannot stack on top of each other neatly, which is why they exist in a liquid form, like oils. Saturated fats, on the other hand, can stack neatly on top of each other (like bricks), so they exist in a solid form (animal fat, butter, etc.).

Again, similar to cholesterol, these fats are not “good” or “bad”.

“But, Sarah, everyone says that saturated fats will cause you to have a heart attack and red meat is bad for your heart”.

Well, actually, the jury is still out on this one. While, yes, research has found that saturated fat intake increases LDL in the bloodstream, there is research to suggest  it ALSO increases HDL in the bloodstream. So, if the ratio of LDL to HDL remains the same, there won’t be an increase in risk of clogged arteries or heart attacks.

However, nutrition is complex, as well as our bodies. There are people who go on carnivore diets and eat only red meat, and have perfect cholesterol levels, LDL to HDL ratios, and are in good health. On the other hand, there are people who are sedentary, never work out, who eat butter on their steak every other day with a giant bread roll and never drink water, and they probably have increased risks of heart attack and stroke. See where I’m going with this?

It's all very nuanced and we must consider everything with context and on an individual level.

Trans fats are synthetically made, meaning they are made in a lab by a human. They should be consumed very minimally and the only one out of all the fats that I would tell people to be careful about and limit as much as possible.

We just went over a bit of biochemistry at a very superficial level. This stuff is a bit more complex than this, but if we can get at least a fundamental understanding of what all of these terms mean, then they become less scary. Knowledge is power and we typically fear what we don’t know.

Fat is a Macronutrient

Beyond biochemistry, let’s talk about fat as a macronutrient. There are 3 macronutrients (“macros” for short): 1) fat, 2) carbohydrate, 3) protein. They are considered “macro” nutrients because they are calorie-dense and provide us energy. However, our body really only likes to use carbohydrates for energy because it's what our body is most efficient at breaking down and using.

Carbohydrates and protein contain 4 kcal per gram. So, if a nutrition label says that something has 25 g of carbs, then we know 100 calories came from carbohydrates (25 x 4 = 100).

Fat has 9 kcal per gram. Much more dense in calorie content than the other two macronutrients. So, yes, it is easier to over consume calories with a high-fat diet. And, our body doesn’t prefer to use fat as an energy source. Our body prefers to store excess fat, instead of breaking it down for energy.

However, if we cut fat out of our diet, we can still gain weight if we over consume carbohydrates and protein. Fat is not the end all, be all for weight gain.

So, how much fat do we need?

Well, that is sort of a difficult question to answer outright and the answer (as always) is “it depends”.

But to make things simple, let’s say we are wanting to maintain our weight and just looking to live a healthy lifestyle. The general recommendation is 20-35% of our calories need to come from fat. This is a huge range, and hard to decide which end of the spectrum we need to be on. There has been research to suggest that 20% is too low, as it will lead to a decrease in sex hormone production.

I don’t like the recommendation of 20-35%, because its too big a range and could potentially lead to a 300 calorie difference.

My recommendation (and that of others) is 0.8-1.0 g/kg of body weight. Yes, kilograms, not pounds. If you weigh 150 pounds, you weigh 68 kilograms (150/2.2 = 68.18). If we go off that number, your fat intake would be anywhere from 54 g - 68 g of fat. From there, you can adjust it based on your dietary preferences, lifestyle, menstrual cycle status, hormone health, thyroid health, etc.

To make matters simple, I always start with 1.0 g/kg of body weight because its easy and likely what you would need for optimal hormone health, among other things.

What we DON’T want to do is dip our fats too low. Dipping our fat intake too low can lead to a host of issues, including loss of period, infertility issues, reproductive problems, low libido, thyroid issues, vitamin deficiencies, low energy, low concentration, and trouble sleeping.

Anything below 50 g of fat for just about anyone is going to be too low. Unless, of course, you weigh 110 pounds, then that number would make sense, since you’d weigh in at 50 kilograms.

In general, when I’m working with people on losing weight and changing their body composition, I keep their fats at a 0.8-1.0 range and adjust their carbohydrate intake to fit a calorie deficit. Eventually, fats will be lowered slightly to help with the calorie deficit, but my approach is always to consider hormone health above all.

Signs that your fat intake is too low:

• Loss of period

• Reduced period or changes in menstrual cycle

• Loss of or reduced libido

• Low energy

• Agitation 

• Difficulty concentrating

• Difficulty sleeping

• Reduced athletic performance

• Loss of hair

• Dry skin

Fat plays so many roles in our body. From supporting cell structure to producing sex hormones to vitamin absorption, fat is essential and we must consume enough of it.

I’ve hinted throughout this excerpt some of the benefits of fat, but I also wanted to provide a quick and easy list of all the benefits.

Benefits of Fats:

• Sex hormone production

• Nervous system health

• Vitamin absorption (namely vitamin D, but also vitamins A, E, K)

• Energy production

• Storage (body warmth, organ protection)

• Support of cell structure

• Immune system support

In summary, fats are not bad. They get a bad rap in the “diet” industry and “fitness influencer” world, but they are not bad and are not the sole reason you may be gaining weight or struggling to lose weight. If we over consume fatty foods (like any other food), then we over consume calories, and that can lead to increased fat storage, and subsequently weight gain. Aside from that, we need to stop putting “good” and “bad” labels on everything.

Flip the narrative. Think about food fueling you, providing your body with what it needs, keeping you healthy, and maintaining a quality of life. Then, plan to eat in a way that supports you, your goals, and your lifestyle.

If you want more help in figuring out how to eat in a way that supports YOU, email me at sarah@doanability.com or go to my services page to learn more about how I can help you!