Article By: Johnny Fontana

A friend recently sent me a message asking whether she should eat more fat or more carbohydrates. This really sparked my attention, making me realize that a lot of people have the same question. It is not necessary to follow one of the high-fat or high-carb diets, you just need to pay attention to what type of food (carb, fat, protein) your eating. The fact that she is thinking about this is a major step in the right direction.

No one has ever become overweight from eating too much protein, but those who have taken fancy to consuming high amounts of carbs or fat have. If you adopt a diet high in both carbs and fat chances are that you will have weight issues. I highly recommend to pick one of the two and have that lead your daily food consumption. Although I carry a heavy bias towards a high-fat & high-protein diet, you might be a carb junkie. I’ll explain the differences in the two in the following paragraphs.

Benefits of Fat

If you have been following my posts for a while, it is probably obvious that I am a big fan of fats. I would love it if we would start calling them lipids so people would get over this stigma that fats make you fat, but that likely won’t happen soon. Good fats provide a wide variety of benefits that carbs can’t even attempt to compete with. From a beauty standpoint, they are great for hair, skin and nails. Fats help increase cell production, especially in the brain. They also are very beneficial for your heart and other organs (believe it or not). Your joints will also thank you because fats tend to act as an anti-inflammatory. If you eat the healthy fats (avocado, animals, nuts & good oils) you will see a tremendous amount of health benefits from them.

Negatives of Fat

The one major downfall of fat is that it is high in calories. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories, as opposed to 4 for both protein and carbs. Other than that, the good fats are pretty flawless.

Benefits of Carbs

The one major benefit of carbohydrates is the fiber count found in them. The majority of fiber that the typical American consumes comes from carbohydrates. They also are our bodies first and main source for energy. Glycogen stores are used by our muscles, especially in physical activity.

The vast majority of fruits and vegetables consist mostly of carbs. The good news here is that most fruits and vegetables are low in calories, so the majority of the carbs in them come from fiber.

Negatives of Carbs

It is a lot harder to tell the difference between a good carb and a bad carb, as compared to a good fat vs. bad fat. Is bread good for you? Are potatoes good for you? How about rice? Most people aren’t prepared to answer these questions and have a hard time deciphering which carbs will be helping them as opposed to hurting. For the most part you have great carbs that are low calories, high fiber (fruits & veggies) than you have bads that are high calorie, low fiber. Carbs are also typically high in sugar, which leads to insulin and blood sugar spikes. If you are looking to lose weight, those spikes are your worst enemy. Bacteria in your stomach loves sugar, this can actually lead to inflammation.

My Recommendation

I suggest that you stick with a high-fat and high-protein diet. I am a believer that unless you are a cardio endurance athlete your daily intake of carbs doesn’t need to be higher than 40%. There’s really no great health benefits to most carbohydrates aside from the fiber, which you can get from proteins and fats. One of the only real cases you can make for carbs is the fact that they provide us with energy. The activity levels of most Americans isn’t high enough to require “carb loading”

Stick with the fat, it will keep you lean.

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