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Fats. Do you know the good roles of fats plays in your body? Do you know what a good fat is? Do you know what a bad fat is? To get a little more clarity, I am going to roughly go over types of fats and roles they play.

What are fats?

Fats used to get an absolute bashing, why? No education. So what is a fat? Well a gram of fat provides 9 calories of energy this provides the body with a number of fantastic health benefits when selecting the right types. These health benefits include supporting hormone levels, neurological function and cell health

What types of fats are there?

 

You have saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are the ones you want to try and avoid as they will cause a detrimental effect on the body which include cardiovascular disease. Saturated fats are found in foods such as butter, cream, cheese, processed foods like pastries, cakes and biscuits.

Saturated fats increase the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body,

Unsaturated fats

There are two types of unsaturated fats: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

They can help to maintain the ‘good cholesterol’ (high-density lipoprotein or HDL) in the body. HDL carries cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver, where it’s either broken down or passed out of the body as a waste product. Monounsaturated fats are present in a higher amount in olive oil, rapeseed oil and avocado.

 

The omega fat groups

 

Polyunsaturated fats are further divided into Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids. Most dietary polyunsaturated fat is in the form of Omega 6, found in sunflower, safflower, corn, groundnut and soya oils. Oily fish, such as mackerel, sardines, trout and pilchards, is a good source of omega 3 oils.

 

Trans fats

 

Trans fatty acids have a similar effect to saturated fats.  Trans fats are also produced when ordinary oils are heated to fry foods at a very high temperature, which is why takeaway foods tend to be high in trans fats.  The main issue arises because they are also created by the food manufacturing industry using a chemical process known as hydrogenation that hardens vegetable oil to solid or semi-solid fats. These artificially produced trans fats are found in significant quantities in margarine and manufactured foods that contain partially hydrogenated fat.

What types do you want in your diet?

The types of fats we want are the ones which are going to provide the body with health benefits which are going to improve the current state. So in a nut shell you would to get ample amounts of unsaturated fats and the omega 3,6,9.

Question: How much good and bad fat do you currently have in your diet?