Fat is fundamental to our health. Our bodies cannot live without fat. Dietary fats provide our bodies with energy, promote cell growth, help the body absorb certain nutrients and stimulate hormone production. A certain amount of body fat is essential to keep your body warm and to cushion your body’s organs. A no-fat diet or extremely low-fat diet is dangerous and would soon compromise the healthiest body.
Here some interesting facts about fat:
Not all fats are alike. There are four categories of dietary fat: saturated fats, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and trans fats. These fat types are distinguished by their chemical and molecular make-up, which affects how they are metabolized and processed in the body. The bad fats are trans fats and saturated fats. They are comparatively solid at room temperature (butter, lard, bacon fat). The good fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are comparatively liquid at room temperature (these include vegetable oils). Learn more about good fats and bad fats.
Fats are packed with calories. Per gram, fat contains 9 calories (any fat, regardless of its type). Compare this to carbohydrates and protein, which contain about 4 calories per gram. This points to the fact that high fat consumption increases the total calories in our diet. For this reason alone, it is smart to limit fat intake if your are attempting to lose weight.
Some fats can help lower chloresterol. The bad fats are bad mostly 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.
Fat can help us lose weight. The monounsaturated fat found in avocado, walnuts, almonds, canola oil, and olive oil have been found to promote weight loss, reducing body fat itself. Keep this in mind, you don’t want to eat too many, but be sure to include small amounts of these nuts and oils in your regular diet if you are trying to lose weight.
Fats provide energy to the body. 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 processes.
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.
