Good Fat Good Diets
Saturated fats are good for the body
Contrary to common belief, good diets include good fat. Good fat includes saturated fats. Saturated fat comes from animals and dairy products like red meat, poultry, cheese, eggs, cream and butter, and tropical fruits, like palm and coconut oils.
It is a natural substance that your body uses for several purposes such as: your body cannot use calcium without some presence of saturated fat; saturated fats also help your body maximise the essential omega-3 fatty acids; it helps protect the liver and improve its function; and cell membranes use saturated fat to retain their proper form.
Is it fat that makes us fat?
What is ironic to me is despite the decreased consumption of saturated fats which is said to have been the leading cause of obesity and heart diseases, generally people’s waistlines are not getting any smaller and heart disease is more rampant than ever.
The bad news is we eat too much polyunsaturated fats. On its own, polyunsaturated fats are a good source of essential fatty acids that lower triglycerides and manage inflammation. It is a fact that saturated fats work with unsaturated fats. However, the structure of polyunsaturated fat is so unstable that any processing done to it causes instability and damages your body cells.
How unsaturated fats can kill
When exposed to extreme heat, fats become trans fatty acids (TFAs) which to me is the deadliest among the lot. Your body is not conditioned to work with damaged fats. Some scientists believe that the molecules in the oil break off in the digestive tract and they become free radicals.
Unsaturated fats when exposed to open air (which is always the case in your household), turn rancid which become TFAs. The effect is similar to exposing metal to oxygen, the metal becomes rusty.
TFAs are cheap – and very nasty
The biggest concern I have with TFAs is it comes so cheap and readily available in the market. These oils are still widely used by restaurants and fast foods. In fact, a large serving of McDonald’s fries contains 6–7 grams of trans fat.
I remember the days when experts said that you need to toss out your coconut oil and butter because these are the leading causes of heart disease and replace it with vegetable oil. It was highly touted as good for the health because it comes from vegetables but this has been proven otherwise. Nowadays good diets consist of food cooked in coconut oil or butter.
Omega3 fatty acid
Another important type of fat that your body needs is omega-3 fatty acids. These are found in flax oil and shellfish and other types of fish. There are three types of omega-3 fatty acids that are essential to your body. These include ?-linolenic (ALA), docosahexænoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentænoic acid (EPA).
In particular, DHA and EPA are very important for the healthy functioning of the heart. They soothe inflammation in the arteries; help to decrease blood pressure by a small amount; help lower the level of triglycerides in the blood; responsible for keeping the walls of the arteries as relaxed as possible; and help to make the structure of the blood less sticky, thereby reducing the chance that a blood clot could take place.
Other potential benefits of omega-3 fatty acid include reduced risk in some forms of cancer, is useful in the cure of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Low-cholesterol foods do not necessarily lead to weight loss. Controlling the portions of your meal and taking out sweets from your diet are beneficial to weight loss. Choosing a low-fat diet also, does not lead to weight loss because taking out good fats deprive your body of the nutrients it needs. It also usually translates into a high carb diet. Now that you are aware of the health benefits of having good diets with good fat, the key is to have it in moderation, good fats included.
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