OK, sure if you are eating processed fatty foods like McDonald’s, potato chips, hot dogs, Snickers bars, and the like, then yes, that can make you fat.
But, check this out - here is a VERY interesting article I found on the internet about eating fat:
This is about a horse owner - a Gold-medal equestrienne who has ridden high-performance horses for years. Recently, after reading a story about horses running "cooler" with more fat in their diet, she conducted an experiment with two of her world-class horses - brothers with very similar physical characteristics. The results were interesting, to say the least; but one thing was certain - a high-fat diet does not cause weight-gain. Food, in fact, doesn't cause or make us do anything; it is simply an experience that provides nutrients that we can use in any number of ways.
A horse's natural diet does not include fat; horses eat grass just like cows. But high-performance horses are often fed high-performance diets - often including fat. In our friend's experiment, she fed two horses the same high-fat diet and put them both through the same exercise regimen. After one-month, one of the horses was absolutely "glowing" and in excellent health; but the other horse on the high-fat diet had lost 150-pounds. That kind of weight-loss is unheard of in an otherwise healthy horse - and certainly not what one would expect after adding fat to his diet.
The interesting thing here is that these two horses responded differently to identical diets, living conditions, and exercise routines; but it isn't so surprising that the fat in the diet would stimulate weight-loss. There are many diets that "trick" the body into burning fat by providing it with more fat than it needs; but the different responses to identical conditions adds to the evidence that diet alone doesn't cause weight-gain. Food is used by the body to produce fat; but it takes something more than fat in the diet to cause weight-gain - or even the production and storage of excess fat.
Whether the differentiating factors were physiological or psychological was beyond the scope of this particular experiment; but there was no difference in the diet of these two horses. Both horses were given the same food with the same fat content; but the food didn't do the same thing to their bodies. The food, in fact, didn't do anything to the horses' bodies; their bodies did something different with the food. This is an important observation; because, based on conventional beliefs about food, fat, and diet, most people would have expected the added fat in the horse's diets to make both of the horses fatter. The reality, however, was that the added dietary fat apparently made one horse healthier, while making the other horse lose a significant percentage of his body-weight; NEITHER PUT ON WEIGHT, but the fat was, in fact, not the active factor in either case.
Fat is a natural and necessary thing for the body to produce; and, when you have more than you need, a healthy body will naturally find a way to get rid of the excess - unless it has a reason to hold on to it (i.e. not exercising, during pregnancy, during puberty, etc). Fat and muscle are not made from fat and muscle; they are made primarily from Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen - and these elements are readily available in any diet. The truth is that your body will find a way to make whatever it believes it needs - no matter what you eat - and then eliminate what it doesn't need. Fat is indeed made from elements in the food we eat; but food does not make us eat, it does not make us convert the food we eat, store it, or eliminate it, and it definitely does not make us fat.
BUT - For a variety of reasons, you are afraid of fat. You’ve been taught to think and feel this way. You’ve been taught that eating fat will give you high cholesterol and heart disease. You’ve been taught that eating fat will make your body fat.
It’s logical. It makes sense. Why shouldn’t you think this way? If you put fat in your body then you’re going to get fat, right?
The truth is your body actually needs fat. In fact, approximately 20 – 40% of your total caloric intake should come from healthy fats. That’s why it occurs naturally in almost everything we eat. That’s right up to 40%!
Healthy Fat? What’s That?
You’ve probably heard different “experts” talking about polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, saturated, and trans fats and which ones to eat and which ones to avoid. Unfortunately, the advice you get varies from one expert to the next and it’s all too much to remember. It makes trying to shop for healthy food extremely difficult and confusing.
Fortunately, you don’t really need to worry about that. The answer to which fats are healthy and which fats are not is really quite simple. It’s actually not even so much a matter of what kinds of fat as it is the history of the fat.
Confused? Let me explain.
Generally speaking, any fat that occurs naturally and is consumed in is original and natural state is a healthy fat. On the other hand, fats that have been through any sort of processing (meaning humans have messed with it) are generally unhealthy.
It’s a pretty clear and simple rule and it makes food selection much simpler. To say it even more simply:
Natural Fat = Good; Processed Fat = Bad
Now that you’ve got the rule down, let’s look at some examples. Everything you eat should come from either a plant or an animal, so we’ll look at examples from those two categories.
Animal Fats – The Good And The Bad
For the most part, if you’re eating something from an animal then it is probably either meat or some form of dairy product, so let’s focus our attention there.
Unless you hunt and fish for all your meat, the meat you consume was raised in one of two ways:
1. Fed by humans with some combination of synthetic and natural food sources
2. In a natural environment on completely natural food sources
Can you guess which one is healthier for you? The correct answer is of course number two.
In many mass production farms that raise animals for consumption, the animals are not fed their natural diet. Instead, they are given antibiotics, hormones, and other things that are intended to make the farms production more efficient and cost effective. Unfortunately, these things have a trickle down effect on you.
Your other option is to eat meats that come from animals that were raised in their natural environment and allowed to eat their natural diet. It is more expensive and less efficient to raise animals this way, but the end result is much better for you.
The same thing goes for dairy products, they either come from animals on a natural diet or from animals on a synthetic diet. Again, the natural diet produces the healthiest food for you. On top of that, most dairy products go through a few processes that make them less healthy for you (i.e. pasteurization, homogenization). Milk fat is actually quite good for you if you can find milk that hasn’t been processed.
Plant Fats – The Good And The Bad
Just like animal based food products, you have two options when it comes to plant based food products:
1. Chemically altered and/or heavily processed
2. Naturally occurring with little to no processing
As before, number two is the better choice.
When it comes to plant based foods, most of the fat is in nuts and oils. These fats can actually be quite good for you if they are not heavily processed.
What you want to look for here is the words “organic” or “natural.” For example, when you buy your peanut butter, look for a bottle that says it is organic. You should be able to notice a difference in the ingredients list of the organic peanut butter versus the regular peanut butter.
In fact, the ingredients list can be a good guide for you when selecting plant based foods. If the ingredients list contains things that you don’t immediately recognize as coming from a farm or garden, then it’s probably not the best choice for you.
Some Sources Of Good Fats
Here are a few examples of foods that will give your body the healthy fats it needs:
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Avocados
• Organic nut butters
• Coconut milk
• Olive oil, flax seed oil
• Fish such as Salmon
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