The Fat Vs. Calories Question

When I was losing weight and exercising in the 1990s, everything I read and heard was about how bad dietary fat was and that fat intake was every bit a concern as colorie intake. But in the last ten years I've been reading the occasional news story that comes up on a study that says colories are what we should be counting. (That and fibre so you feel fuller longer because it digests slowly.)

So the question I now have (and forgot to ask my nutritionist last time but will next appointment) is: If fat doesn't matter so much, isn't it a good idea to eat some fat in your diet because fat satiates you more. In other words, it gives you a feeling of being full or satisfied.

I was getting a delicious McDonald's coffee this morning and read "Slim something or other" Cranberry Orange Muffin on the menu board. My family gets these all the time but the word "Slim" somehow drew me in today. I ate half of it, came home and looked up the nutritional info. It has 360 calories and eight grams of fat.

The bacon and egg McMuffin has 40 fewer calories but almost twice the fat. Yet this greasy sandwich would probably go a longer way to satisfying me (it has the same amount of fibre as the muffin: only 2 grams.) I could order it without cheese and it would be almost 100 calories less than the "Slim" muffin with just a little more fat. (By the way, I've determined that the bacon and egg McMuffin is the least unhealthy sandwich on the McDonald's breakfast menu and I've even seen that fact mentioned in literature.)

I can guess that filling up on saturated fats or trans fats isn't a good idea because of what it can do to your heart health. And I also know from a little reading and my own experience that eating fat leads to wanting to eat more fat. The result of which is probably a higher consumption of calories due to increased cravings as we seek out our next fatty fix. One benefit of fat, however, is that it helps us absorb certain vitamins, but I'm sure we get enough of it even in the lowest fat diets.

One of my eating challenges is to eat less fat in my diet. I crave it and it's habitual with me. I suspect it's best to have a healthy balance, not too much but not necessarily counting every gram either (unless you have special dietary concerns.)

Update: Here's what Dr. Sharma has to say about protein filling you up.