All calories are not created equal / How fat is stored in your body

I wanted to pass along some information today. I get asked fairly regularly about calories and how fat is processed. So I am going to share what I share with those who inquire. How fat is stored is the reason I chose the diet I did low fat/complex carbs that don't spike my insulin levels I really have great success with this way of eating!
Anyhoo hope this helps any ones understanding!


 A calorie is basically a unit of energy measurement – we all need energy to survive. All of the energy you get from food and all of the energy you expend through exercise can be measured in terms of calories. For example, a small apple provides you with 55 calories of energy, and you can burn 55 calories of energy by walking at a moderate pace for around 15 minutes.

Calories are also the basic tool for weight control. The fact is that if you take in more calories than you need to sustain your current weight, you will gain weight. If you take in fewer calories than you need, you will lose weight. However, if you eat too few calories, your metabolism may actually slow down and burn those calories at a slower rate. You may also miss out on vital nutrients.

Here are some facts about calories:

A gram of carbohydrates has four calories, a gram of protein has four calories and a gram of fat has nine calories. Fat is twice as dense in calories than either protein or carbohydrates.

3500 calories equals one pound. For every 3500 excess calories you consume, you will gain a pound; for every 3500 less calories than your body requires you will lose a pound.

*Here's the key thing:
All calories are not created exactly equal, especially when we talk about excess calories. A calorie from a fat source is stored as fat more easily than carbohydrates or protein.

How Fat is Stored in Your Body Chylomicrons do not last long in the bloodstream -- only about eight minutes -- because enzymes called lipoprotein lipases break the fats into fatty acids. Lipoprotein lipases are found in the walls of blood vessels in fat tissue, muscle tissue and heart muscle. The activity of lipoprotein lipases depends upon the levels of insulin in the body. If insulin is high, then the lipases are highly active; if insulin is low, the lipases are inactive.

The fatty acids are then absorbed from the blood into fat cells, muscle cells and liver cells. In these cells, under stimulation by insulin, fatty acids are made into fat molecules and stored as fat droplets.

It is also possible for fat cells to take up glucose and amino acids, which have been absorbed into the bloodstream after a meal, and convert those into fat molecules. The conversion of carbohydrates or protein into fat is 10 times less efficient than simply storing fat in a fat cell, but the body can do it. If you have 100 extra calories in fat (about 11 grams) floating in your bloodstream, fat cells can store it using only 2.5 calories of energy. On the other hand, if you have 100 extra calories in glucose (about 25 grams) floating in your bloodstream, it takes 23 calories of energy to convert the glucose into fat and then store it. Given a choice, a fat cell will grab the fat and store it rather than the carbohydrates because fat is so much easier to store.

It is important to note that as your body stores more fat, the number of fat cells remains the same; each fat cell simply gets bigger