Trans fats may be more fattening than other types of fat
Most nutritionists will tell you that controlling calorie intake is the key to losing weight (or avoiding weight gain.) But a new animal study indicates that some calories are far more fattening than others!
A six-year study at Wake Forest University, (just published in the journal Obesity) found that monkeys fed a diet high in trans fats gained more weight, particularly around the belly, than monkeys who ate a diet with the equivalent amount of monounsaturated fat. Note: Both groups of monkeys ate the same number of calories and the same amount of fat. Yet one group got fat and the other didn't.
(Read more details about the study here.)
"The amount of calories they got should only have been enough to maintain their weight, not increase it," one of the researchers points out. "We believed they couldn't get obese because we did not give them enough calories to get fat." Yikes.
(Could this partially explain why some people can't lose weight even when they cut calories?)
What's this mean for waist-watchers? Even if you are counting calories, you are probably better off steering clear of fried foods and other sources of trans fats. The good news? As long as your total calorie intake is appropriate, you can enjoy foods rich in monounsaturated fats (like nuts, avocado, olives, and olive oil) with no worries.
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