Nutrition - Discover The Good And Bad Fats

We are all well aware that consuming too much fat especially saturated fat is not good for us and can lead to health problems

. Eating too much of the wrong fat has the effect of increasing our blood cholesterol levels. This can also lead to us becoming overweight and obese. All these affects can be associated with the increased risk of heart disease and heart attacks.

The current Western diet has over the last 15 years increasingly contained more and more fat, particularly the wrong kind. In terms of calories saturated fat has 9 calories per gram compared to protein and carbohydrates which has only 4 calories per gram. If calories are not used up energy we need to expend they are absorbed in to the body as fat.

The reality is people are eating too much fat. This is also compounded by the fact that many people lead more sedentary lives that ever before. People rarely, work in physically demanding jobs. Most people sit at a desk all day typing at a computer. Most take little to no exercise and many of their favourite past times is to slump on the couch in front of the TV eating!

If you have a health condition such as heart disease or you are in a high risk category then you need to make changes to your lifestyle if you currently eat too much fat and do little too no exercise.

You need to set a goal with the aim of reducing the total amount of fat to less than thirty percent of the total calories that you consume in your diet. You need to focus more on the saturated fats and reduce it to lower than ten percent of your total calories in your diet. Saturated fats are the biggest culprit to raising your cholesterol levels and the hardening of the arteries.

To better understand the types of fat and there affects the following guide will help:

Saturated fats: This type is commonly sourced from animals. For example, foods that are high in saturated fats are red meat and dairy produce such as cheese and milk. Saturated fat can also be derived from certain plants such as palm oil and coconut oil. A derivative of saturated fat is the trans fats or hydrogenated fat. Research has revealed these are worst type of fat to consume. They can be commonly found in cookies, pastries and cakes.

Monounsaturated fat. This is sourced from vegetables and most commonly from olive, sunflower and peanut and grape seed oil. These oils are considered the healthy oils. One of the healthiest diets is considered to be the Mediterranean diet where there are lower instances of heart disease. In this type of diet a lot of olive is used.

Polyunsaturated fat: This fat is also derived from vegetable sources such as corn oil. Similar to monounsaturated oils this is liquid at room temperature. However, this type of oil is often converted into unsaturated fats by the food industry and used in products such as margarine.

If you have a health condition or food allergy always seek the advice of a doctor before changing your diet or exercise routine.

by: Sarah Woodbridge

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