There are so many new diet books published every month that you'd think that fat was public enemy number one. Is it? Here are some fat facts to help you get a healthy perspective - and maybe even a better control of your own body fat.

10. A little body fat is a good thing. Really.

We might not even be here if it weren't for our ancestors having enough of it. Fat is a great food storage mechanism. A mere pound of fat stores 3,500 calories for later use - a pretty handy way to get through a famine. During the times in which our ancestors had a hard time getting a steady supply of food, their very lives depended on having enough body fat to get them through. And in fact, the possibility of starvation was a real possibility for most of the people on the planet until around 1945. We've only made this far as a species because we can store fat. Ponder this: there have been about 150,000 generations of people for whom efficient fat storage was essential to survival, and only 3-4 generations for whom fat storage has not been essential.

9. Fat can be sexy - well, a little of it in the right places can be.

Moderate fat deposits play a role in sexual attraction - which is probably hard-wired into our brains. For our ancestors, the survival of the species was ensured when males chose females with enough body fat to make it through a pregnancy and breastfeeding! Today, with the abundance of calorie-dense foods all around us every day, our fat stores can get out of hand. Still, there's no denying that women's body fat is related to attraction.

A healthy woman's biggest fat stores are where? In the breasts, hips and buttocks. Hmmm... I wonder why men's beer bellies and love handles aren't so sexy.

8. Overweight? It's not (all) your fault.

For good or for bad, your genes have a lot to say about how much you weigh. We all produce a protein hormone called leptin that helps regulate body weight. When your weight goes up, your body starts producing more of this hormone to reduce appetite and keep weight down. Our genes are thought to be responsible for how much leptin each of us produce, and at what weight it starts to kick in.

7. America is too fat, and getting fatter.

A recent survey shows that in 2007, adult obesity rose in 32 states. Mississippi topped the list. Colorado had the lowest levels of obesity, and yet obesity rates were on the increase there too. Not a single state had a lower rate of obesity in 2007!

With obesity at epidemic levels, you might want to think twice about who your pals are. In some ways, body fat is contagious. Also keep tabs on emotions - another common cause of obesity. Not getting enough sleep may contribute to weight gain. And it turns out that leptins (and its family of related hormones called cytokines) are related to both inflammation and weight gain. How exactly this connection works is not yet fully understood, but it gives you another good reason to treat inflammation. Getting enough omega 3s in your diet is a good start (see below).

6. The results of a 32-year study showed that being overweight increases your risk of death from coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, compared to individuals of normal weight. What's more, researchers found that the greater the weight, the higher the risk! This study followed Chicago men and women who had no heart disease or diabetes when the study began.

5. Liposuction cannot give you the healthy shape that exercise produces! And exercise is often unable to remove those little trouble areas like saddlebags, double chin, or fat on the sides of the knees. Think of it this way: exercise is good for overall body conditioning, and liposuction is good for the stubborn little areas still hanging on once you're in pretty good shape.

4. The hardest part of regulating weight (except for those rare people who seem to be able to eat anything and everything without gaining a pound!) is often being able to know when to push away from the table. There is an approximately 1,000 calorie difference between feeling satisfied and feeling full, and a 2,000-3,000 calorie difference between feeling full and feeling stuffed. That means when you eat a large restaurant meal, you could possibly consume as much as 4,000 calories more than your body needs. And to burn that many calories, you'd have to jog for 27 hours straight. I don't know about you, but that's a motivator for me!

3. Simply burning calories isn't the answer. As the example above shows, just one meal can add more calories than is possible to burn in several days of working out. So what is the answer? A combination of consuming fewer calories and getting more exercise.

It turns out that exercise does so much more than burn calories. Oprah's trainer, Bob Greene, was right: you need to work out every day "in the zone." It takes high intensity workouts for 45 - 90 minutes per day to make a difference. This result may have as much to do with changing leptin levels (above) or revving up the metabolism as with burning calories. But, who cares? It works! So skip the Pilates and head out to the track. And while you're at it, lift some weights to firm up those flabby bits.

2. Although research on fat cells is a relatively new area of discovery, it is believed that fat cells in different parts of the body have different functions. As a result, fat in various areas responds differently to weight loss and muscle building. Thigh fat seems harder to lose than belly fat.

1. You may have heard that eating fat doesn't make you fat. Well, that's true - but only to a point. Calories of any kind can make you fatter, and they come in three varieties: carbohydrates, protein and fat. But here's the kicker. Every ounce of fat has twice the calories of an ounce of carbs, or an ounce of protein. So, ounce for ounce, yes - fat will make you fatter than anything else!

So maybe you should just skip the fat in your diet? Think again! There are fats you need to get into your diet, and fats you can avoid. Fats from meat, fried foods, cooked foods, baked items, and packaged goods are usually saturated fats - bad for you. Fats that are uncooked and liquid at room temperature are usually unsaturated fats - good for you. Some of these contain omega 6 fatty acids - good for you, but most of us get plenty of omega-6s already. The healthiest kinds of unsaturated fats are those that are high in omega 3 and omega 9 fatty acids. These fats are not only important to good health , but they are often missing from our processed, packaged, refined, preservative-laden diets. Omega 3 fatty acids protect against breast, colon and prostate cancer, and help reduce inflammation (which may, in turn, help you keep weight under control. See #4 above). The best sources are fish, flaxseed, walnuts and spinach. Omega 9s are also important: they help keep our hearts healthy and protect against breast cancer. Omega 9s are found in olive oil, nuts, and avocados.