For years I’ve wondered what the differences where between the two different types of fats. When I went to buy some groceries, I always looked at the % of fat in the food, but I could never tell whether these fats were healthy or unhealthy fats. I think many of you have experienced this as well. To get rid of this, should I say misunderstanding, I decided to write a post about what healthy and unhealthy fats are. This way it will be forever clear to me, and I hope for you as well.
When you look at the nutritional facts of foods, and especially the fat part, it always says something like this:
Fats per 100g: 25g
Saturated: 7g
Unsaturated: 18g
Before writing this post, I’d only look at the total fat amount, which is 25g in this case.
To get a better understanding of these fats, we need to know that there are two types of fats. Saturated fats and Unsaturated fats.
Saturated fats aka the bad fats
The saturated fats are the enemy. You can easily recognize them because they are hard at room temperature. Saturated fats are not essential to your health. They come from animals and are found in meat, eggs and cheese. They are harder to digest and full of cholesterol.
Unsaturated fats aka the good fats
The unsaturated fats are, unlike the saturated fats, liquid at room temperature. Think of fats such as olive oil and sunflower oil. These fats can be split in two different groups. These are monounsaturated fats (fats such as olive oil) and polyunsaturated fats (fats such as sunflower oil)
Monounsaturated fats (Omega 9) are not essential, but if you use it in moderation, it’s not harmful to the body. If possible, try to use polyunsaturated fats.
The polyunsaturated fats are split into Omega 3 fatty acids and Omega 6 fatty acids. Good sources for Omega 6 fatty acids are oils such as sesame oil, pumpkin oil, walnut oil, sunflower oil and safflower oil.
Good sources for Omega 3 fatty acids are: flax seed oil, tuna, sardines, pilchards, salmon, herring and mackerel. As you can see Omega 3 fatty acids are found in fish. So it’s important to eat fish regularly.
I hope by reading this post you got a better understanding of fats.
Tue, Aug 19, 2008
Health