The Various Types of Fats Found in Foods
The Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre
in Mumbai and the Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre in
India states that the fats are an important part of diet and are one of
the three important macronutrients. A healthy balanced diet should have about
15-20% visible fats. One gram of fat gives about 9 Kcal energy on oxidation.
The Alcohol
Rehabilitation Centre in Mumbai mainly says that fats are often
misunderstood and that they are unhealthy for the body but it isn’t totally
true. Fats are of different types; some are good while some are bad for the
body. You should have knowledge about the different types of fat in the diet so
that you only consume the better ones and exclude the harmful ones.
There are basically four types of fats in our
diet namely, Trans fats, saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated
fats. Trans fats and saturated fats are unhealthy and should not be consumed in
excess amounts while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are
healthy for the body and should be consumed in required amounts.
It is basically a type of unsaturated fat and
the most common example is margarine. It is commonly found in packaged food
items where the cis oriented fatty acids are converted to trans configuration.
It is done so as to increase the shelf life of the food item. Excess
consumption of trans fats results in increased levels of Low Density
Lipoprotein (LDL) also called the ‘bad Cholesterol’ and decreases the high
density lipoproteins or good cholesterol. All of this increases the risk of
coronary artery diseases.
These fats have single bonds and lack any
double bonds. They are typically solid at room temperature, for example butter.
Saturated fats are proven to increase the blood cholesterol levels and
especially the bad cholesterol. The foods rich in saturated fats are animal
foods like meat, dairy products, chips and other fried foods. You should
totally limit them in your diet or else face the consequences thereafter.
Polyunsaturated fats have more than one C-C
double bond. They are good for the body and should be consumed in required
amounts. Mostly it is found in plant foods like nuts, oilseeds but is also
found in fishes, sea foods etc. it is useful in the synthesis of several
steroid hormones. It improves the levels of good cholesterol and helps the body
in maintaining homeostasis.
They are the healthiest of all fats and have
one C-C double bond. These fats are liquid at room temperature. Vegetable oil
is a good source of MUFA. It is best to replace the trans fats and saturated
fats in your diet with this fat. It not only lowers the bad cholesterol but
also helps in maintaining the cells of the body. Foods like avocado, nuts are
rich in MUFA.
So now that you know which type of fat is good
for you and which is not, you can easily eat healthy and eliminate the risk of
any disease related to fat consumption.
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