Q) I’m doing my homework and I need 4 reasons for eating fats…
A) Fats serve five key purposes in the body:
1) Fats are crucial for our well-being as they form the membrane (thin protection layer) that surrounds every cell in our bodies. With the right fats our cells are strong, without them they are weak and prone to attack.
2) Fats provide Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s). There are two EFA’s – Omega 6 (linoleic acid) and Omega 3 (linolenic acid). They both derive their names from linseed oil which contains these fatty acids.
3) Fats are the carriers of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
4) Fats supply the most concentrated form of energy in our diets: 1 gram of fat supplies 9 calories, compared with 7 calories for 1gram of alcohol and 4 calories for 1gram of protein or carbohydrate.
5) They help make our diets palatable. Food with little or no fat can be quite tasteless and sometimes difficult to digest.
Hope this helps!
Kind regards – Zoe