Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I once asked this question to my professor in a nutrition class in college, and she gave me a surprised 'Gee, I never thought about that' look:

Why is "fat," the macronutrient, and "fat," the physical stuff on our bodies (adipose, viceral, etc.) called by the same name?!?!

Do you think THIS one of the main reasons for the typical modern-day person's fat-phobia (in reference to the whole 'eating fat will make me fat' deal)?? Or is there actually a REASON that I'm missing for calling the two by the same name?

Why didn't we name the 3 macronutrients Carbohydrates, Proteins, and (Insert-some-other-name-for-fat-here)?

Always curious about this one. Thoughts?

flag	asked Jun 20 2012 at 18:20 Brittany 295●1●5

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My guess is because the macronutrient is the same stuff that IS in and on our bodies, isn't it? – MathGirl72 Jun 20 2012 at 18:25

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It is a good question. We don't call muscles protein. Fat cells contain more than just fat. And then we get into the issue of brown fat. – Karen Jun 20 2012 at 18:33

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Exactly - the muscles/protein comment is a good analogy – Brittany Jun 20 2012 at 18:35

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From this day forth I will refer to my "sore protein" after a workout :) – Jen Jun 20 2012 at 19:53

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Good subject line. I like questions like this that take something we all take for granted and step back, analyze it a bit. Nice one. – ben61820 Jun 20 2012 at 20:22

show 2 more comments

Mscott · Answer 1 · 2012-06-20 19:51:46Z UTC

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I like this. From now on I think I'll start referring to body fat as adipose tissue.

Y'know, because wearing toe shoes and telling people saturated fat is healthy doesn't make me seem weird enough.

answered Jun 20 2012 at 19:51

Mscott
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	HA! Right on. :) – Amy B. Jun 20 2012 at 21:21
	i do the first. i dont do the second. id rather let them fear fat for now. – tj Jun 21 2012 at 1:44

miked · Answer 2 · 2012-06-20 19:06:31Z UTC

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Because it's the same thing. Fat (or really, fatty acids) are a class of chemical compounds with specific properties. You could call it endogenous fat and exogenous fat or dietary fat if you want, but it is fat.

When animals make fat, it becomes the fat we eat. It's the same thing (especially in pigs: lard is almost identical to human fat composition).

answered Jun 20 2012 at 19:06

miked
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What about the comment above? "We don't call muscles protein. Fat cells contain more than just fat." – Mike T Jun 20 2012 at 20:05

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The purpose of most fat cells is to store fat for later use. The purpose of muscles is to provide mobility, not to store protein. – vraid Jun 20 2012 at 20:18

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Despite the biochemical insight, miked, the fact remains that it is not helping people when the exogenous fat is good for us but the excess endogenous fat is bad for us. I usually +1. But for this reason I did not. I keep telling my wife that dietary fat does not equal excess body fat, but I think that I am losing this battle, or at least getting no where. – bachcole Jun 20 2012 at 20:25

Re: protein question. It's just unfortunate that we use "protein". It's more of a class of compounds (polymers of amino acids) in biochemistry. – miked Jun 21 2012 at 3:02

But fat on the body is different than calling someone "fat"-- just a thought – Chuck Feerless Jun 21 2012 at 5:17

primallykosher · Answer 3 · 2012-06-20 19:37:07Z UTC

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I think it makes far more confusing than it needs to be. Its also probably why people think they will lose weight if they eat less fat.

Fats could be called lipids, oils and triglcyerides too.

answered Jun 20 2012 at 19:37

primallykosher
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People lose weight by eating LESS of everything, fat included. – thhq Jun 20 2012 at 20:31

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people will lose weight if they eat less fat. People will lose weight if they eat less of anything, fat included. Just because the SAD's demonization of fat is silly doesn't mean that eating less and moving more is silly. – ben61820 Jun 20 2012 at 20:36

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I am referring more to the whole low fat food market. Where people think its low fat, so they can eat a lot of it without getting fat. I agree that you will lose weight if you eat less, but you do have to make sure all of your nutrients are taken care of too. – primallykosher Jun 20 2012 at 20:40

thhq · Answer 4 · 2012-06-20 20:27:38Z UTC

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Augh. They're the same thing, especially when you eat animal fat. Excess blood lipids, coupled with excess blood glucose, is the normal way we store fat. De novo lipogenesis is trivial.

Now have you figured out how to marble your fat like an Angus?

answered Jun 20 2012 at 20:27

thhq
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heard that it's all about how much beer I drink and massages I get. – ben61820 Jun 20 2012 at 20:35

casey jones · Answer 5 · 2012-06-21 02:47:10Z UTC

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when i'm eating fat, i'm thinking energy. fat=fuel

answered Jun 21 2012 at 2:47

casey jones
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Chuck Feerless · Answer 6 · 2012-06-21 05:15:22Z UTC

I've written blogs about this a number of times. As someone who has struggled with my eating over the years, the 2 words make me think eating fat will make me fat. So instead, I like to now call dietary "goodness"... yum!

So now I say, "Does this meal have a few servings of healthy goodness in it?" Has really helped my mindframe

bachcole · Answer 7 · 2012-06-20 20:27:09Z UTC

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Just stick with the chant "Dietary fat reduces excess body fat". If I were to win the lottery, I would buy a billboard and put that on it.

answered Jun 20 2012 at 20:27

bachcole
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Be sure to include all the health warnings about grass fed, omega 6, etc. – thhq Jun 20 2012 at 20:29

Why call fat (the macronutrient) and fat (on our bodies) by the same name?!

7 Answers