Flushing Fat With Flavor

People have heard horror stories for years that bacon is full of harmful fat, but facts show the opposite, as bacon helps to fully satiate appetite with high protein, low carb energy, helping the body lose weight, raise metabolism, and build leaner, stronger muscles. Bacon actually has less total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than many cuts of beef and chicken. Some fish have less fat and cholesterol than bacon, but bacon has more protein and does not contain mercury toxin. One strip of bacon has 43 calories and .1g carbohydrates.

Yogurt Debate

Almost 28% of Americans eat yogurt on a daily basis.  Yogurt comes from milk that has healthy bacteria added for fermentation. During this process, yogurt thickens and takes on a slightly tangy taste. Yogurt is then strained through a cheesecloth, which allows the liquid whey part of milk to drain off. Regular yogurt is strained twice and Greek yogurt is strained three times to remove more whey, making it thicker.

Greek yogurt has almost double the protein of regular yogurt. Eight ounces of Greek yogurt has about 20 grams of protein and regular yogurt 11-13 grams. Greek yogurt has fewer carbohydrates than regular yogurt. Regular yogurt has about three times the calcium of Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has half the sodium of regular yogurt. Plain, nonfat versions of Greek and regular yogurt have a similar calorie count per serving. Greek yogurt does not curdle when heated like regular yogurt. Greek yogurt, on average costs twice as much as regular yogurt. Bottom line, for one serving a day, not much difference, except a little texture, maybe taste, and a much higher cost.

Muscles and Fat

Muscles and fats are made up of very different types of cells that have completely different functions.  Skeletal muscles get larger when a person exercises. The muscles get larger, with more filaments being developed within the cells to accommodate the more challenging demand on them.

After a person quits exercising, the muscle cells do not magically turn into fat cells. They just shrink.  This allows the body to conserve energy when a person’s daily activities don’t require as much muscle mass.

The myth that muscles turn to fat when a person stops exercising probably stems from the fact that people who body build or otherwise exercise regularly and quit, tend to put on weight.

It all comes down to caloric intake. People who exercise regularly tend eat more food and when they stop exercising their body loses the need for the calories. These people may not reduce their food intake quickly enough to compensate for their reduced caloric needs.

Burning Calories

On average, 42% of an adult man’s body mass is made up of skeletal muscle.  For women, that number drops to 36% on average. Contrary to popular myth, skeletal muscles consume about 6 calories per pound per day, not 50.  So, if you weigh approximately 180 pounds and are a man, your skeletal muscles will burn around 454 calories per day when you just sit around all day.

Fat cells will burn about 2 calories per pound per day.  How much of your body mass is made up of fat cells varies greatly from person to person, but you can use a body fat test to get that number and then calculate how many calories your fat cells burn per day. Average male is 18% - 25%, female is 25% - 31%. Wow, another 64 burned calories for sitting around.

Bone cells burn about 1 calorie per pound.  If you are a man, on average about 15% of your body mass is made up of bone (another 27 calories for just sitting around).  For women, that number is around 12%. Sit back, relax, burn some calories.