Why You Need Some Fat In Your Diet?

When it comes to health, dietary fat has some virtues. Remember that you need fat in your body even when dieting. It is only when you consume too much or too little fat that ill health occurs.

Some types of fat can ward off heart disease and cancer and some others can ease the symptoms of depression, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

There is no doubt that eating too much fat can pack on the pounds. Fat calories add up fast and delivers calories double than either protein or carbohydrate.

However you need fat in your diet because body fat provides an important source of energy for daily activity. In fact about half of your daily requirements are provided by stored fat, for activities such as walking or climbing the stairs. The danger is when you consume too much fat, your fat cells can increase in size because our ability to store is unlimited.

Body fat also serves another important purpose. It protects your major organs by acting as a layer of insulation. But you do not need to store excess fat because that will increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.

Dietary fat is necessary too because it supplies your body with fat-soluble vitamins A,D, E and K, which are key nutrients for your body. Consuming fat in your meals is the only way that you can get the two essential fatty acids that help to form cell membranes, immune function and vision, without which we will not be able to maintain good health.

Having said that, the challenge here is to look for low-fat food. A typical side dish of french fries has 350 calories and 17 grams of fat. You can eat four apples, five slices of whole-wheat bread for the same amount of calories. By so doing you can get a lot more volume for the same calories when you eat low-fat foods. And that is why cutting back on fat help people lose weight because you can save on calories. If you skip the fries and have a baked potato with salsa instead, you can save 130 calories.

It is recommended that you consume no more than 30 percent fat calories, limit your intake of added fats and oils to a total of 4 to 8 servings per day. For dieters, you need to stick to 4 servings per day.

Eating too much fat is not the only reason that we put on weight, but if you are trying to lose weight, eliminating excess fat is one of the effective ways to lose it.