Is It Good To Eliminate Fat From Your Diet?

A common mistake when trying to lose weight is to eliminate all sources of fat from your diet. This belief is becoming more common and is even considered acceptable by some strict regimens aimed at detoxifying your body.

The belief has always been that overweight and obesity stem from including fat in your diet. That’s why in this article we’re going to talk about the dreaded fats, their role in your body and whether or not you should eliminate fat from your diet. Keep reading to learn more!

Why are fats important?

For starters, you should know that fats are macronutrients that provide us with 9 kcal/g. And indeed, they have twice as many calories as carbohydrates and proteins, providing only 4 kcal/g.

They are essential to our lives as they perform vital functions. For example, think of:

• They are the main source of energy reserves in your body.
• Fats provide protection and consistency to certain organs.
• They are part of cellular structures.
• Fats are hormone regulators.
• They contribute to the absorption and mobilization of vitamins (A, D, E, K).
• They make food tasty.

This means that fats play an important role in everyone’s body. Therefore, eliminating them can have a negative impact on your health.

So, should you cut fat from your diet or not?

Fat is essential for your body. This nutrient is necessary for your body because it participates in multiple bodily functions.

“Lipids are necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous, skin and cardiovascular system,” says Ingrid Bravo, a nutritionist at the University of San Sebastián. This is why you should never eliminate all fat sources from your diet.

What Happens To Your Body When You Remove Fat From Your Diet?

Fats have been demonized for so long and are the first thing people think of when they want to lose weight. However, you should never lose sight of the fact that they are a very important component that you should not remove from any diet.

And as ironic as it may sound, if you don’t eat enough fat, it can actually make it harder to lose weight and lose belly fat. But those are not the most serious consequences of a fat deficiency. It can even be harmful to your physical and mental health.

So if you thought giving up fat was the key to losing weight successfully, all of these statements will show you the opposite:

1. Removing fat from your diet actually makes you more hungry

If you don’t eat enough of a certain macronutrient, you’ll look elsewhere for calories. In general, people who don’t eat the recommended amount of fat make up for it by eating more carbohydrates.

According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , fat causes a slower absorption of food. In this way, it helps you feel full longer and prevents you from overeating.

2. You’re not protecting your heart if you remove fat from your diet

A study from the New England Journal of Medicine found that a Mediterranean diet, with moderate consumption of fats, has greater benefits for heart and nervous system health than a diet with little or no fat consumption.

Monounsaturated fats increase the levels of “good” cholesterol in your body and lower the risk of heart disease and other degenerative conditions.

3. It can lead to a vitamin deficiency

Vitamins A, D, E and K are absorbed by fat. This means that your body cannot assimilate them until they are dissolved in it. After spreading through your body, the vitamins are stored in the liver and adipose tissue for long-term use.

However, if you do not eat enough fat, they cannot be absorbed and the level of these vitamins in your body is low.

4. It’s Bad For Your Mental Health To Eliminate Fat

Many neurological studies have shown that a Mediterranean diet with healthy fats such as olive oil, nuts and fish can help preserve memory and reduce the risk of cognitive diseases (Spanish link).

This is because fat is the main component of the neuron membranes and myelin, a layer that covers the nerves and allows the synapse to take place.

For all of these reasons, eliminating fats from your diet can put your overall health at risk. The most important point we can get from the studies is not the consumption of fats, but what fats you eat. Therefore, you should always choose the healthiest fats and stay away from trans fats that harm your health.