One reason many dieters curb their fat intake — besides the lingering influence of the low-fat dieting trend of the 1990s — is that it's an easy way to cut calories. Fat is high in calories. Trim the fat, trim the calories.
But research is beginning to reveal that eating fat does not necessarily lead us to put on pounds. Instead, it may help people lose weight, perhaps by making us feel full and curbing our sugar consumption. This appears to be especially true for fats from sources like nuts, olive oil, avocados, and fish.
"There is one thing we know about fats. Fat consumption does not cause weight gain. To the contrary, it might actually help us shed a few pounds," Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, wrote in his book, "The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully."
Here's what that means for people who are counting their calories: fatty foods are higher in calories than their low-fat equivalents, so to account for that and cut back on carbs and sugar instead.