Researchers can take fat biopsies off the hips or waist and tell where it came from – pork, dairy, chicken, olive oil, etc.  The fat you eat is stored in the exact form in which you ate it!

Dr. Joel Fuhrman suggests that the reason is that calories from carbohydrates are not as easily converted to fat as calories from fat.  Studies show that when people eat a very low fat diet, about 15% calories from fat, more calories are burned to convert carbohydrates into fat, so the body cannot store fat as easily.  The body has to burn about 23% of the calories consumed in order to convert glucose into fat, but it converts dietary fat into stored fat more easily.  100 calories of fat can be converted to 97 calories of stored fat, burning only 3 calories.  Converting ingested fat into stored fat is so easy – the process doesn’t even change the molecules. 

Your appetite is controlled by fiber content, nutrient density and caloric density.  The single most overriding factor in fullness is the stomach being full.  The stomach holds one liter of food. 

Following is the caloric density of a stomach full of food (from Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live):

    Oils                   4100 calories
    Potato chips    3000 calories
    Meat                 3000 calories
    Cheese            3400 calories
    Chicken           1500 calories
    Fish                 1400 calories
    Beans                500 calories
    Fruit                   300 calories
    Green Veggies   200 calories

The bottom line is that when you consume complex carbohydrates (fruit, veggies, whole grains), you can consume so much more food and you will never be hungry.  This makes losing weight and maintaining optimal weight easy!

Dr. Fuhrman's ANDI Scale is a chart that lists the nutrient density of whole foods.  (see pic) The higher in the list the whole plant-based food is the better it provides nourishment and gives you a feeling of being "full." When you feel hungry, your body is really telling you that it needs nutrients, not bulk, which is why when you choose to eat a bag of potato chips to quiet your hunger pains, you end up being hungry again very soon...because you did get the nutrients you needed.