Fat Facts Video Transcript

Participants

Samantha L. Heller MS, RD, CD, Martha McKittrick RD, CDE, Cheryl Wills , Deanna Conte MS, RD, LD

Summary

In our weight-conscious culture, fat is usually viewed as the enemy. But fat is an essential part of every healthy diet. The key is keeping it under control -- and distinguishing good fat from bad fat. Join our panel of nutrition experts as they discuss how fat can -- and should -- be a part of a healthy lifestyle.

Webcast Transcript

CHERYL WILLS: Thank you for tuning into our webcast. I'm Cheryl Wills. For people who are trying to lose weight, fat is often viewed as the enemy. But we do need fat in order to survive, and there are good fats and bad fats. In this webcast, we'll distinguish between the two and talk about how you can make sure you're getting the right kind.

Joining me to discuss this issue is Samantha Heller. She's a registered dietitian and Senior Clinical Nutritionist at New York University Medical Center. Thanks for joining us Samantha.

Also here, Martha McKittrick. She's a registered dietitian at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Thank you for joining us.

Let me start with you, Martha. How important is fat?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE: Fat is an essential nutrient. We need fat in order to live. Fat provides fat-soluble vitamins. It helps cushion our organs. It also provides satiety value to foods. It holds us longer. I think a lot of us are fat phobic.

Fat is a "dirty" word, but we need fat. We shouldn't be afraid of fat, but the thing is to find out how much fat we should eat a day.

CHERYL WILLS: How much fat should we eat a day?

SAMANTHA HELLER: Well, I can say that we're all eating too much. We're eating way too much fat. How much we eat really depends on your body size and how much you exercise and that kind of thing. I think if people think about the foods that they're eating, and there are a lot of hidden fats, you can cut out a lot of those fat calories. It's a very concentrated source of energy.

CHERYL WILLS: Martha, when we see people who are obese, how does that happen?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE: That's a very complex situation. Chances are they consume too many calories and don't exercise enough. There are also possible genetic components. But, I think the main reason people are overweight is because basically they are eating too much and exercising too little. They are possibly also eating too much fat. Most snack foods tend to be very high in fat. Fast foods. Most of our foods are very high in fat. Restaurant foods. I think the bottom line is too many calories and not enough exercise.

CHERYL WILLS: And the calories are not converted into energy. They are converted into fat.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE: Fat is very easily converted into fat. When you eat a food that's high fat, it gets into your digestive system, into your blood, and very efficiently is put into fat cells, versus when you eat something with carbohydrate or protein, in order for that to be converted into fat, it's a very inefficient process. It gets broken down into sugar. The carbohydrates then repackage as a fat molecule. In doing that, you lose a lot of the calories. So, when you eat fat, it goes into fat stores. When you eat carbohydrates, sugar, repackaged into fat stores. So it's much more efficient. It's easy to get fat eating a lot of fat.

CHERYL WILLS: Martha, thank you. Samantha, thank you as well. Of course, as our two registered dietitians just suggested, fat does not have to be a dirty word. There are good fats and bad fats. It's up to you to make the right decision.

Thanks for joining our webcast today. I'm Cheryl Wills.

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