Health and Nutrition: Know Your Fats
Talking about fats is not one of my favorite topics, but it’s important. It’s confusing at first (I know I was) so I’m going to try and keep this simple. – Fats provide energy for your everyday activities. Try to avoid saturated and trans fats while focusing on mono and polyunsaturated fats.
Why are fats so important?
Do you like that feeling of fullness when you eat? Most people do. Fats provide a feeling of fullness as well as the calories, vitamins and nutrients that your body needs to survive.
Healthy fats help with absorption of fat soluble vitamins and phytonutrients, like antioxidants, Vitamin E, carotenes, Vitamin D and Vitamin K. Essential fats are important for anti-inflammatory actions and healthy brain function and development. Essential fats reduce risk for heart disease.
But a word of caution — don’t go overboard even on healthy fats. All fats, including the healthy ones, are high in calories. Also, if something is advertised as fat-free, that doesn’t mean that it has any fewer calories than full or low-fat foods. Any extra calories in your diet will cause weight gain.
The Healthier Fats
Monounsaturated fat is a type of fat found in a variety of foods and oils and polyunsaturated fat is a type of fat found mostly in plant-based foods and oils.
Foods that contain healthy fats are: Nuts (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans and cashews), chia seeds, peanut butter, fish (salmon, tuna, trout and sardines), oils (olive, canola, sunflower, peanut, sesame, soybean and corn), avocados, olives, soy milk, and tofu. Kale, celery, apple and carrots.
The Unhealthy Fats
Too much saturated fat is unhealthy and is associated with increased levels of cholesterol. Saturated fats are usually solid fats, meaning they are solid at room temperature. Saturated fats are in foods like butter, meat and dairy fats, shortening and lard. Some vegetarian sources of saturated fat are coconut and palm kernel. Consuming a diet high in saturated fat will increase your LDL or “bad” cholesterol and also your risk for heart disease.
Another type of unhealthy fat is called trans fat. Trans fat is a type of unsaturated fatty acid that naturally occurs in dairy and beef. It is also produced when manufacturers hydrogenate or add hydrogen to an oil to make it more spreadable, solid or more shelf-stable. Items like stick varieties of margarine, baked goods, commercially prepared foods and fast foods contain up to 50 percent of their fat from trans fat. Eating high amounts of trans fat can raise your LDL cholesterol and decrease your HDL or “good” cholesterol. It produces inflammation and increases your risk for heart disease. Trans fats have been linked to increased cancer risk, premature skin aging and lower immune response. Trans fat is bad!
A Word About Cholesterol
Cholesterol is an important substance which can be made by our bodies and is not an “essential” nutrient. It is present in foods of animal origin only, meaning there is no cholesterol in plants. Cholesterol forms the major parts of plaques that narrow arteries in atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the narrowing of arteries and is the underlying cause of strokes and heart attacks. The National Cholesterol Education Program advises for a consumption of 300 milligrams or less of cholesterol per day. Cutting back on meat and animal products is a good way to decrease your intake of cholesterol and saturated fats. Let me emphasize, cutting back on meat and animal products is a good way to decrease your intake of cholesterol and saturated fats!
So what about juicing?
Cholesterol – present in foods of animal origin only, meaning there is no cholesterol in plants.
Fats – certain fruits and vegetables contain small amounts of fats:
If you want to add a little bit more of the healthy fats to your juices, try adding just 1-2 teaspoons of:
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Chia seeds (an ounce (28 grams) of chia seeds actually contains 9 grams of fat.)
So what is the bottom line? Try to avoid saturated and trans fats while focusing on mono and polyunsaturated fats. Consume more fresh fruits and vegetables and eat less meat and more fish! That’s my bottom line and you can’t go wrong with that. What do you think?
Wellbeing Insights March 2015