Fats
Many diets are built on a sharp limitation of the amount of fat in food this is mainly because fat has a lot of calories ( 9 calories per gram). Typically when fats are overeaten those calories ends up directly on the waist and hips. Yes, indeed, fats have the most calories and if you eat too many of them, there will be problems not only with the button on the jeans, but also with the liver, cholesterol and the heart. You should however not completely remove fats from your diet. You need to understand the amounts of fats to intake as the fats also has good uses.
Fats are needed for…
Energy
Fat gives us a huge influx of energy. It is almost impossible to achieve a similar level of energy by consuming only proteins and carbohydrates. Without fats the heart is less effective, as this muscle receives 1/3 of the energy from the processing of all fatty acids.
Fats helps with absorption of some vitamins. There are a number of essential vitamins that we should get daily, but their absorption process will not be possible without the presence of fat. Vitamins A,C,E and K are fat- soluble vitamins, which means that their absorption occurs only in the presence of fat.
Fats help reduce exessive appetite. Of course, it applies only to good types of fats, not those that will only lead to heart failure and weight gain. When we consume fats, they stay in our stomach for longer and therefore provide a feeling of fullness. Any diet should contain a certain amount of fat so that you can control your appetite and work at full capacity.
Fat gives us warmth. Fat acts as our own isolation system that prevents us from freezing. Fats also protect the internal organs and bones from bumps and provides the necesssary support for organs. However a large percent of body fat does not carry any positive functions and it is not beneficial to keep.
Fats are needed to produce hormones. If the body does not have saturated fats it will stop the production of sex hormones, estrogen in women and testosterone in men. Fats also helps with stimulation in the brain as the brain is mainly made of fats.
Fats in your diet also helps skin and hair regeneration and prevents visual aging effects. Hair will look dull loose its shine and will often be more prone to break and have split ends.
So now that we know all the downsides to avoiding fats. Where do we find these healthy fats and how to do we avoid the really bad types.
The healthy fats are divided into two groups – animal fats and plant based fats. The plant based fats are typically found in high quantities in nuts, seeds, plant oils and avocadoes.
Mackerel, Herring, Cod and Salmon are fish types that have high amounts of healthy animal fats. Beef, chicken and pork also has high animal fats. Egg yoak is also extremely high in animal fats.
So in essence most foods has some sort of fats but how do we know when the fat is bad? The fat is generally bad when it comes from processed food and overcooked oils. Even animal and plant based fats become unhealthy when overcooked or burned. This is the predominant reason for intake of unhealthy fats. People may eat all the right things but because the food prep is not done right it becomes extremely bad. So make sure you avoid fried and pan fried foods as the fats are usually overheated and produces the unhealthy fat types.