Here’s What You Need to Know About Dietary Fat
Sunday, February 7th, 2010Fat is fundamental to good health. Our bodies cannot live without fat. Dietary fats provide your body with energy, contribute to our cell growth, help the body absorb certain nutrients and assist in hormone production. A certain amount of body fat is required to keep your body warm and to cushion your body’s organs. A no-fat diet or extremely low-fat diet is disastrous to good health. The real matter is knowing which fats are healthy fats.
Here some fascinating facts about fat:
Not all fats are similar. There are four types of dietary fat: monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, saturated fats, and trans fats. These types of fats are distinguished by their chemical and molecular make-up, which impacts how they are metabolized and processed in the body. The bad fats are the trans and saturated fats. They are distinctly solid at room temperature (such as beef fat, bacon fat, lard and butter). The good fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are comparatively liquid at room temperature (vegetable oils, for example).
Fats are rich in calories. Per gram, fat has 9 calories (this is true of any fat, irrespective of its type). Compare this to carbohydrates and protein, which contain about 4 calories per gram. This tells us that high fat consumption increases the overall calories in our diet. For this reason alone, it is wise to limit fat intake if your are attempting to lose weight.
Certain fats can help lower chloresterol. The bad fats are bad largely because they lift LDL chloresterol levels (known as bad chloresterol). Good fats, the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, increase the HDL (known as good) cholesterol levels, which helps lower LDL chloresterol.
Some fats promote weight loss. The monounsaturated fat found in avocado, almonds, walnuts, canola oil, and olive oil have been found to promote weight loss, particularly body fat itself. Again, you don’t want to eat too many, but be sure to include small amounts of monounsaturated fat from these nuts and oils in your regular diet if you are on a weight loss program.
Fat supplies our body with energy. Polyunsaturated fats (found in oily fish such as salmon and tuna as well as corn, safflower, and sunflower oils) have a detoxifying effect on our cells, removing toxic fats deposited there that clog up cell activity.
Fat lubricates the body. Good fats are like oil in a car engine, providing needed lubrication to our joints, digestive system (flax seed is excellent for constipation) and skin. Some of our dermatological problems are caused by deficiencies of good fats in our diet.