From all you hear, you'd think fat and calories are really bad
for you. It's true that many people are eating more fat and
calories than they need. But we all require a certain amount of
fat and calories in our diets to fuel our growth and activities
— everything from solving a math problem to racing up and down
the soccer field. So what's the truth on fat and calories? What
Are Fat and Calories? Fats, or lipids, are nutrients in food
that the body uses to build cell membranes, nerve tissue (like
the brain), and hormones. The body also uses fat as fuel. If
fats that a person has eaten aren't burned as energy or used as
building blocks, they are stored by the body in fat cells. This
is the body's way of thinking ahead: By saving fat for future
use, it plans for times when food might be scarce. A calorie is
a unit of energy that measures how much energy food provides to
the body. The body needs calories to function properly. Food
Labels: Calories Food labels list calories by the amount in each
serving size. Ser