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Know Your Fats By now, most of you know that eating too much fat leads to extra
body fat, and is a risk factor for heart disease. But, what is the right amount
of fat for you? How much fat is enough? Humans need a certain amount of fat in their diet, in order to
provide a source of essential fatty acids that the body can’t make. Diets
should contain at least 3% essential fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids)
to avoid fatty acid deficiency. Most people in western societies eat enough fat, but for those who are following a very strict
low fat diet, it is a potential problem. Fats are a concentrated source of energy, providing 9 calories per
gram, compared to 4 calories per gram for both carbohydrate and protein. That's
why high fat diets can lead to weight gain much easier than lower fat diets:
it’s easy to eat foods packed with calories and not realize that you’ve
eaten too much! Beside their value in supplying energy, fats are an important source
of Vitamin A, E, and K, and fats add taste to food (making fatty foods
appealing!). Fats are divided into three main categories: polyunsaturated,
monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. But, regardless of the type of fat,
they all have the same caloric value: 9 calories per gram. So, for purposes of
weight control, fat is fat, it all has the same caloric value. So why choose one
fat over another? “Good” v.s. “Bad” Fats Diets that are rich in saturated fat raise blood
cholesterol levels, an important risk factor for heart disease. These fats can
increase the stickiness of red blood cells and increase the formation of blood
clots. Certain fats may also increase risk of particular cancers as well. So,
it’s wise to avoid saturated fats. “Saturated” and “hydrogenated” and
“trans fats” are similar, all should be avoided. These fats are often in
packaged foods, so read labels! Common examples are: coconut oil, palm oil,
lard, butter, and the fat in animal foods like beef, chicken skin, cheese, and
other high fat dairy foods. A good rule: your diet should contain less than 10% of calories as
saturated fat To summarize:
A healthy diet for most people should contain no more than 25- 30% of Calories from fat. No more than 10% of those fat calories should come
from saturated fat, the kind that increases risk of heart disease. The rest
should be mostly monounsaturated fats (like olive oil, avocado, Canola oil) and
some polyunsaturated fat (other vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, soft margarine). |
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