Fat has got a bad reputation and many dieters think that cutting out all fat is a good thing. You may be surprised to read that some types of fat are good for your health, while other types of fat really are bad for you. I am sure you want to know which ones are good for you and which ones are dangerous to your health.
When I first started learning about the different types of fat that are present in many of the foods that we eat on a daily basis, I didn’t know that there were actually good fats that we should be eating and that there were bad fats that we should be avoiding. I guess I just sort of thought of all fat as bad like so many other people do, but the fact of the matter is that not all fats are bad for you.
Good Fats
As I began my research into all the different types of fats around, I discovered that monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are typically labeled as the good fats you can consume. Monounsaturated fats are usually found in olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, and in most of your favorite nuts like macadamia nuts, peanuts, or cashews. One of the best things about monounsaturated fat is that it doesn’t cause your cholesterol levels to rise at all.
As a matter of fact, whenever you substitute monounsaturated fat for saturated fat, it actually lowers the bad cholesterol in your body and it protects the good cholesterol.
Polyunsaturated fats are divided into two categories: polyunsaturated fats with Omega-3 and polyunsaturated fats with Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are very healthy and they also help protect the body against the dangers of a sudden heart attack.
They also help to lower triglycerides in the body. If you love seafood, than most of your favorite foods already have Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in them. Foods like salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, and even rainbow trout are high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fats.
Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats can be found in corn oral, soybean oil, cotton seed oil, sunflower oil and in safflower oil. Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats help to reduce the overall levels of cholesterol within the body and by doing this, it helps to prevent heart problems in the future.
Bad Fats
Hydrogenated fats, or trans fats, are without doubt the worst fats put into our food and cause the most problems to the body as well. This type of fat is actually a manufactured type of fat and it is totally unnatural to the body. It was actually made to replace saturated fat, but it was later discovered that it’s actually worse than saturated fat and has worse effects on the body.
Hydrogenated fats cause the levels of bad cholesterol to rise and lowers the levels of good cholesterol within the body. These changes and cholesterol levels are huge factors in causing heart problems in people and making existing heart problems even worse.
Hydrogenated fats or trans-fats are usually found in commercial bakery products, margarine, butter, animal meats, chicken skin, lard, cheese, whole milk and whatever is made with these products like cakes, pastries, chocolate and biscuits. Besides avoiding the bad fats and getting the good ones (up to 30 percent of your calorie intake should come from these), you also want to eat fruit, vegetables, lean meat, whole grains and low-fat dairy products.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are some good fats and there are bad fats.
The key to maintaining a balanced lifestyle is to focus on foods that contain the good fats that you need in your body. The good fats will help to maintain the cholesterol levels in your body and prevent heart problems. The bad fats will make cholesterol levels higher and can cause heart problems in the future.
While it’s true that you don’t have to completely cut out all the bad fats in your diet, you still need to think about balancing your diet and trying to avoid any products that contain trans fats as much as possible.
