FATS - GOOD or BAD?

We have been hearing about so much  FATs and worrying about Fats intake in our diet. Thanks to all the Marketing stunts by different Ready made  food Brands available in the market.

Let me try and answer the doubts around FATs and their role in our Diet and ultimately in a Healthy life for us.

• Do we need Fats in our Diet?

          Answer is Yes and Answer is No, well it all depends on what kind of Fat we are talking about? :)

Fats are very much essentials in our Diet for basic things like desolving Vitamins A,D, K, and E so if you are not having Fat in your diet, you might be losing on utilization of above vitamins in your food.
Now Fats may also help you lower your LDL cholesterol(Bad Cholesterol) and raies HDL cholesterol(Good cholesterol).

FATs take longer to digest and hence let us continue feel full for long duration. Fats also stimulate the intestine to release hormone that suppress appetite and signals us to STOP eating and hence plays a important role to keep you on Diet.
Fats supply Fatty acids which are essential in
 a. Growth and development in children.
 b. Formation and function of Cell Membranes

Surprising ?? Shocking?? Is FAT a Hero in that case :) As I said earlier, Answer is Yes and Answer is no.. depends on what kind of Fat are we talking about.

To understand it better, There are different kind of FATs
1. Saturated Fats
2. Unsaturated Fats
  a. Mono Unsaturated Fats
  b. Poly Unsaturated Fats
3. Trans Fat

Saturated Fats: 

These are the fats which are solid at room temperature like, Animal Fats(Beef, Butter, Cheese)
  Saturated fats are the fats which raise the level of LDL cholesterol(Bad Cholesterol) as these interfere with removal of cholesterol from blood.

Mono Unsaturated Fats:

   These are the fats which are liquid at room temperature, and solid or semisolid under refrigeration like Olive, Canola, Peanut oils

Poly Unsaturated Fats:

       These are the fats which are liquid unless Hydrogen is added to in the process called Hydro-generation which causes formation of Trans Fats)
Mono and Poly unsaturated fats either lower LDL cholesterol or have no effect on it.
Poly unsaturated Fats can further be subdivided into two categories

a. Omega3 Fatty Acids 

   These help prevent blood clotting and reduce chances of heart attack or stroke. These can be found in Flax seeds, Cod liver oil capsules, Fish.

b. Omega6 Fatty Acids

 These should be still eaten in moderation as they can still contribute to total calories increase, These are found in Sunflower,Corn oil, Peanutes. On average 1 Spoon of these oils per day is recommended in the diet and not more than that.

Trans Fats

  These raise LDL cholesterol levels and these are formed when vegetable oils are hydrogenerated for longer shelf lives.

Disclaimer: This post is only for knowledge sharing purpose, Diet intake for different people may vary depending on their current health condition.