Fats are delicious and make our food taste so good! Actually, fats are essential to the human body for supplying tissue needs in energy fuel and structural material. Plant and animal fat effect the body in different ways, but excess amounts of dietary fat (from animal sources) can cause risk factors for poor health.
Fat is stored in a space within adipose tissue. Fats can supplement carbohydrates (primary fuel source) as an energy source. Lipids are the chemical group for organic substances for fats. Which are fats, oils, waxes, and fat-related compounds similar to cholesterol. Glycerides are the principal constituents of adipose tissue found in animal and plant fats and oils. The fatty acids are called monoglycerides, diglycerides, and triglycerides.
Saturated fats are the solid fats usually from animal sources. The reason why they are called saturated fats is because, the state of fatty acid components are being filled in all their available carbon bonds with hydrogen, which makes the fat harder or solid. Examples of saturated fat: butter, cheese, meat, and eggs.
Unsaturated fats are the less dense and usually found in plant sources. These fats are the opposite of saturated fats. So, a fatty acid that isn’t completely filled with all the hydrogen that it can hold is unsaturated. Most food triglycerides are in the unsaturated group. The other two forms of unsaturated fat are monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat. Examples of food sources are; olive oil, peanut oil, almonds, avocados, safflower oil, corn oil, and soybean oil.
Trans-Fats are the fats to avoid the most! These fats pose a great number of negative health consequences. These fats are partially hydrogenated to produce a more solid or “shelf-life” in products. Commercially hydrogenated fats are in margarine, snack items, and fast food. Always look at the label!!!! Just because a package says it has no trans fat, doesn’t mean that fat isn’t in the food! THIS FAT IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO THE HUMAN BODY OR DIET!
Omega-3 and omega-6 fats are also unsaturated. These fats are essential to the human body, and are found in fish, seeds, and nuts. Both of these fats serve important functions to the body like tissue strength, cholesterol metabolism, muscle tone, blood clotting, and heat action. These fats we get from food because our body don’t produce them. The body can produce monounsaturated fats and cholesterol.
Cholesterol is vital to membranes and is a precursor for certain hormones and playing a part in metabolism. It occurs naturally in animal foods but are not found in plant products. There is no daily recommendation for cholesterol but studies have shown that lower cholesterol diets are beneficial.
The functions of fat are to supply energy to the body. Fats serve as a fuel for energy production and is also used an important storage form of body fuel. Essential nutrients from fat supply essential fatty acids as long as the recommended daily amount is followed. These essential fats help make cholesterol and are a source for fat-soluble vitamins. Fats tend to slow the rate of digestion compared to carbohydrates.
Cholesterol is vital to membranes and it is a
precursor for certain hormones and playing a part in metabolism. It occurs
naturally in animal foods but not found in plant products. There is not daily
recommendation for cholesterol but studies have shown that lower cholesterol
diets are beneficial.
The functions of fat are to supply energy to the
body. Fats serve as a fuel for energy production and is also used an important
storage form of body fuel. Essential nutrients from fat supply essential fatty
acids as long as the recommended daily amount is followed. These essential fats
help make cholesterol and a source for fat-soluble vitamins. Fats tend to slow
the rate of digestion compared to carbohydrates.
The recommended daily intake of fat is 20%-35% (good
sources of fat are better)
1 g of fats= 9 calories
|
GOOD FATS
| |
|
Monounsaturated fat
|
Polyunsaturated fat
|
|
|
|
BAD FATS
| |
|
Saturated fat
|
Trans fat
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment