The Facts on FAT!

We can no longer call fat just plain old fat. There are lots of different kinds of “fats”. They have different effects on our health and our weight, they burn up at different speeds, some are very healthy and some do need to be reduced and in some cases cut out of our diets. The difference comes in the molecular structure of the fat so without getting too technical, let’s have a look at the different kinds. Fats can be classified into three categories, with most food containing a mixture of each:

SATURATED FAT (SAFA)
Animal Sources: meats, eggs, dairy.
Vegetable Sources: coconut oil, palm oil, most pastries, butter, chocolate.

Saturated fat has been linked to coronary heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis (blocking of the arteries), these are the fats needed to reduce in a healthy eating plan.

POLY-UNSATURATED FAT (PUFA)
Animal Sources: fish
Vegetable Sources: most vegetable oils and polyunsaturated margarine, many nuts:

Poly-unsaturated fats are healthier than saturated fats. However they have been linked to cancer. Fish oils have been found to fight against coronary heart disease.

ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS
Some fatty acids are essential to the correct functioning of the body, all essential fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids, when one refers to linoleic and linolenic acid and omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids they are referring to essential fatty acids.

MONO-UNSATURATED FAT (MUFA)
Animal Sources: lean meats, game meats, eggs, chicken, pork, mackerel, sardines, tuna & salmon
Vegetable Sources: olive oil and olives, avocado, peanut oil, canola oil and peanuts, macadamia and hazelnuts.

Mono-unsaturated fats have been found to be healthiest types of fats to consume due to their ability to fight against coronary heart disease and cancer. Mono-unsaturated fatty acids reduce the bad LDL cholesterol and increase the good protective HDL cholesterol (see over)

It is interesting to note that many mono-unsaturated fats come out of the ground, which follows the 2/3, 1/3 guideline. They are also liquid at room temperature while saturated fat is solid at room temperature. This means saturated fat will be solid in your arteries and will clog them up, while mono-unsaturated will be liquid in your arteries and will not clog them up.

TRANS FATTY ACIDS
Molecules of trans fatty acids pack closely together and act like saturated fatty acids in regards to blocking arteries…this is a bad thing! Some of the fats in milk, meat and cheese are trans fatty acids, most of these fats enter the diet through the hydrogenation of vegetable and fish for their use in edible cooking oils and margarine.

I KNOW, BUT IT’S GOOD FAT!
All fats are stored as fat and all fats yield the same calorie value, 9 calories per gram, the difference is the benefits or disadvantages to your health. Saturated fats are labeled as the BAD FAT due to their higher levels of the BAD CHOLESTEROL which is linked to heart disease, Unsaturated fats are the GOOD FAT due to their concentration of the GOOD CHOLESTEROL, remember too much good fat is not a good thing, unless your goal is to be fat?

THE TECHNICAL MADE EASY
Make sure you don’t eat too much fat, good or bad, however, the fat that you do include in your eating plan should be of the unsaturated variety. Make sure you do not lower your fat intake lower than 20 grams, the body needs fatty acids for normal functioning.

Stick to the 2/3 – 1/3 principle and every thing in moderation and you will be on the right track!