Fats Fat is an essential component of any diet as it helps the body to absorb nutrients as well as being a great source of energy which provides the body with essential fatty acids that it is unable to manufacture independently. However, though fats are important we should attempt to monitor how much of them we are eating, as large amounts could lead to excess weight gain and could subsequently result in an increased risk of serious health concerns such as heart disease and high blood pressure. All fat contains both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids though are usually referred to as either ‘saturated’ or ‘unsaturated’ depending on the percentage of fatty acids present. Saturated fats are commonly found in animal products and processed foods such as meat, dairy and chips, and the unsaturated fats are found in foods such as avocados, olives, nuts and oily fish. The structure of saturated and unsaturated fat is very different. Saturated fat, which is solid at room temperature, is saturated with hydrogen atoms and does not contain double bonds between carbon atoms. This type of fat is not considered to be healthy for the heart and is known to raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Unsaturated fats on the other hand are considered to be heart healthy, and can actually work to lower your LDL cholesterol levels as well as raising your HDL (good) cholesterol levels. Contrastingly to saturated fat, unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and contain double bonds. mostelle360
Posted on: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 12:41:11 +0000
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