I recently had a discussion with a friend who had watched a show on either the ABC or SBS. The documentary I was told, said it takes more energy to convert fat than sugar, so sugar is more of a problem than fat.
From what I've read this is not the case. The body is able to more easily convert fat to stored fat than sugar. From what I've read it takes around a tenth of the energy to convert fat to stored fat then sugar and other foods. Thus to me more energy is used from the food you eat that isn't fat and thus there is less energy that can be stored as fat.
According to the article for each 100 calories of fat it takes just 2.5 calories of energy to convert fat you eat to stored fat. Whereas it takes 23 calories of energy to convert glucose floating around in your bloodstream to stored fat. Sugar is converted to glucose as are carbohydrates. Thus the body uses around a tenth of the energy to store consumed fat to stored fat than it does glucose from sugar and other foods.
I can't say the ABC or SBS documentary was necessarily wrong because often what we hear we can interpret incorrectly. But I would suggest no matter whether you hear information from a commercial station or public station that you consider researching the information for confirmation. I hear so much misinformation the only way to know if the information is correct is to do your own independent research. I tend to trust .gov and .edu sites more than commercial domains, but I've also seen information on edu sites which could be much better. Simply gather information from a range of sites until you feel there is a consistent message. I saw one site which was reportedly by a doctor which was contrary to every other site I had read. When I then checked what the site was about I could see the site because of their agenda appeared to be deliberately promoting information to support their point of view, which wasn't backed by any other sites or research. Those sites become obvious sites you can dismiss. Many commercial sites have little desire other than to sell you something mixing half truths with good information only to promote their product.
From what I've learnt the main thing to consider is the energy content of the food it you wish to lose weight. Fat is more energy dense then non fat foods but this will be taken into account with the energy content of the food.
Knowing the body can convert fat nearly ten times more easily into stored fat than other foods is interesting. To put this into context consider what proportion of your daily intake is fat as compare to non-fat food. According to this article from the Heart Foundation , it is recommended that energy from the daily energy requirement be limited to around 20 to 35% and around 7% from saturated and trans fat. That means you shouldn't aim to eliminate fat, but to keep the fat intake at a reasonable level and of the fats known to be better for you.
This blog is about the maths behind weight loss and I don't claim any medical or nutritional focus. In essence, the higher your fat consumption the less energy the body uses to convert the excess fat to stored fat. If your body is receiving sufficient energy the excess fat you consume could potentially be stored as body fat more easily.
Now as I was writing this article a thought occurred to me. Perhaps there is some merit in what my friend was saying. Until now I've only read about the energy required to convert consumed fat or other foods into stored fat. But that is only half the story. If you eat fat and it is stored, to use the energy in that fat, it needs to be converted to glucose by the liver at a later time when needed and that would require energy. How much energy this requires I've not ascertained.
In keeping with Weight Loss Maths strategy you should focus your efforts where you get the greatest return for your efforts. One article I read indicates the energy required in converting excess energy to fat only amounts to around 5 per cent of your daily intake. To put that in context about the same as a chocolate biscuit. Whilst the complex processes in the body are interesting, when it comes to weight loss it is important to keep your focus on efforts which give you the best weight loss return. Not having a single biscuit a day is much easier than trying to work out the complex relationships in the chemical reactions occurring in the body.
A low energy diet will result in your losing weight. Reducing the energy which comes from undesirable fats could assist, but the difference won't be that great.
All we can however do easily is to ensure we keep our fat intake at the appropriate level and also consume the appropriate level of saturated and trans fat.
Kelvin Eldridge
From what I've read this is not the case. The body is able to more easily convert fat to stored fat than sugar. From what I've read it takes around a tenth of the energy to convert fat to stored fat then sugar and other foods. Thus to me more energy is used from the food you eat that isn't fat and thus there is less energy that can be stored as fat.
According to the article for each 100 calories of fat it takes just 2.5 calories of energy to convert fat you eat to stored fat. Whereas it takes 23 calories of energy to convert glucose floating around in your bloodstream to stored fat. Sugar is converted to glucose as are carbohydrates. Thus the body uses around a tenth of the energy to store consumed fat to stored fat than it does glucose from sugar and other foods.
I can't say the ABC or SBS documentary was necessarily wrong because often what we hear we can interpret incorrectly. But I would suggest no matter whether you hear information from a commercial station or public station that you consider researching the information for confirmation. I hear so much misinformation the only way to know if the information is correct is to do your own independent research. I tend to trust .gov and .edu sites more than commercial domains, but I've also seen information on edu sites which could be much better. Simply gather information from a range of sites until you feel there is a consistent message. I saw one site which was reportedly by a doctor which was contrary to every other site I had read. When I then checked what the site was about I could see the site because of their agenda appeared to be deliberately promoting information to support their point of view, which wasn't backed by any other sites or research. Those sites become obvious sites you can dismiss. Many commercial sites have little desire other than to sell you something mixing half truths with good information only to promote their product.
From what I've learnt the main thing to consider is the energy content of the food it you wish to lose weight. Fat is more energy dense then non fat foods but this will be taken into account with the energy content of the food.
Knowing the body can convert fat nearly ten times more easily into stored fat than other foods is interesting. To put this into context consider what proportion of your daily intake is fat as compare to non-fat food. According to this article from the Heart Foundation , it is recommended that energy from the daily energy requirement be limited to around 20 to 35% and around 7% from saturated and trans fat. That means you shouldn't aim to eliminate fat, but to keep the fat intake at a reasonable level and of the fats known to be better for you.
This blog is about the maths behind weight loss and I don't claim any medical or nutritional focus. In essence, the higher your fat consumption the less energy the body uses to convert the excess fat to stored fat. If your body is receiving sufficient energy the excess fat you consume could potentially be stored as body fat more easily.
Now as I was writing this article a thought occurred to me. Perhaps there is some merit in what my friend was saying. Until now I've only read about the energy required to convert consumed fat or other foods into stored fat. But that is only half the story. If you eat fat and it is stored, to use the energy in that fat, it needs to be converted to glucose by the liver at a later time when needed and that would require energy. How much energy this requires I've not ascertained.
In keeping with Weight Loss Maths strategy you should focus your efforts where you get the greatest return for your efforts. One article I read indicates the energy required in converting excess energy to fat only amounts to around 5 per cent of your daily intake. To put that in context about the same as a chocolate biscuit. Whilst the complex processes in the body are interesting, when it comes to weight loss it is important to keep your focus on efforts which give you the best weight loss return. Not having a single biscuit a day is much easier than trying to work out the complex relationships in the chemical reactions occurring in the body.
A low energy diet will result in your losing weight. Reducing the energy which comes from undesirable fats could assist, but the difference won't be that great.
All we can however do easily is to ensure we keep our fat intake at the appropriate level and also consume the appropriate level of saturated and trans fat.
Kelvin Eldridge
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