The interesting thing about dietary fat is that since it’s twice as calorically dense as carbs and protein (9 cal/g vs 4 cal/g), all fat-predominate food sources are usually considered “low volume” and “energy dense”. However, when comparing fat sources with other fat sources, rather than fat sources with carbohydrate or protein sources, this infographic illustrates that some dietary fat choices are less energy-dense per 25g serving than others. For example, consuming 25g of whole nuts (which would be equivalent to ~25 almonds) would appear to be more volumous and take longer to eat than 25g of peanut butter. Similarly, 25g of avocado or whole olives in a salad could be considered more satiating than 25ml of olive oil. On the contrary, if appetite levels are low, snacking on walnuts and dark chocolate may be a more strategic way of consuming calories compared to eating boiled eggs. Depending on your body composition goals and if you choose to be in an energy surplus, at maintenance, or in a deficit, then psychologically feeling as though you are eating more or less can make a big difference to your long-term success! Therefore, it’s worthwhile being strategic with your food sources and matching these to your appetite levels! Also, just as a disclaimer, we’re not saying that you should exclusively choose your dietary fat choices from the “lower energy” sources if you’re dieting, and “energy dense” sources if you aren’t dieting. Diversity is key, therefore we recommend that you consume a wide variety of dietary fat sources regardless of their “volume” to ensure you obtain a balance of monosaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated sources, and the micronutrients that come with each unique food. This post is simply for information purposes and potential ideas for choosing dietary fat sources if you want to psychologically “feel” like you’re eating more or less.
If you missed part one and two of this series where we spoke about the energy density of different food options for carbohydrates and protein, make sure to check out our page!