• Question: Does cutting back on fats lead to obesity because people eat more carbohydrates instead?

    Asked by DAMN DANIEL to Charlotte, hannahmoir, Majid, Richard, Sam on 7 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Charlotte Green

      Charlotte Green answered on 7 Mar 2016:

      This is a great question.

      You are correct that many people increase consumption of other food stuffs when they reduce or exclude something else. However, that does not necessarily mean they gain weight.

      Carbohydrates can be converted to fats in the body because they contain sugars. What ever you eat you need to remember that to loose weight you have to use up more energy than you consume. You probably know that calories are a measure of energy so for example if you ate 1800 calories a day and burnt off 2000 calories through exercise and just breathing and living everyday you would start to lose weight.

      If you are reducing the amount of fat you eat it might be better to eat a little more protein as this will help you feel fuller for longer.

    • Photo: Sam Smith

      Sam Smith answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Excellent question DAMN DANIEL!

      Not necessarily. Firstly, not everyone will automatically replace fats with carbohydrates – they may eat something with fewer calories like protein. Secondly, if they do eat carbs instead, it depends on how many calories were in the fats and how many were in the carbohydrates. As Charlotte says below, your weight in a result of your ‘energy balance’ i.e. how much energy you consume (eat) vs. how much you burn off (e.g. by exercise, or normal bodily processes). If there is an imbalance here, you will either lose or gain weight.

    • Photo: Hannah Moir

      Hannah Moir answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Great Point Daniel and in a simple point, yes this can be a key issue. We should instead look to balance out carbs fats and proteins. Also the issue is physical activity and increases in activity levels to use the energy is essential to help the balance.

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