Good and Bad Fats

Any one who wants to lose weight think first of eating fat free food. Fat has negative connotation attached to it. But, the fact is we need fat and its essential for your body to perform effectively.

Some unknown facts about fat is that it helps in maintaining cell membrane integrity, it helps in nerve transmission and is also good for nutrient absorption. However, when fat is consumed in excess, it leads to heart disease, weight gain and few types of cancer.

On the other hand, some fats promote our health in a positive way. Bottom line is to replace bad fats with good fats in our diet.

Some Good Fats

Monounsaturated Fats: Better known as MUFAs. It helps in lowering down of total cholesterol and bad cholesterol (LDL Cholesterol), whilst raising good cholesterol (HDL Cholesterol). Nuts are good source of MUFAs. A few nuts that contain MUFAs are almond, avocado, peanut, pistachio, walnut. Olive oil is also a good source of MUFAs. Many researches have indicated that MUFAs are very useful for weight loss, especially body fat.

Polyunsaturated Fats: Polyunsaturated Fats also helps in reducing total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Seafood such as fish oil and salmon are rich source of Polyunsaturated Fats. Sunflower oil, soy, corn are also high in polyunsaturated fats.

Some Bad Fats

Saturated Fats: Saturated fats increase LDL Cholesterol as well as total cholesterol. Saturated fats are primarily found in animal products like dairy, meat, eggs, etc. However, some plant foods are also rich in saturated fats like palm kernel oil, palm oil and coconut oil.

Trans Fats: This is mainly found in fast foods and packaged foods such as French fries, microwave popcorn, etc. Trans fat also increases the total cholesterol levels and promotes LDL cholesterol.

What can we do to avoid bad fats?

Stay away from cooking oil that are rich in trans fats or saturated fats. Avoid using vegetable shortening palm oil, coconut oil. Use oils that are low in trans fat or saturated fat and high in polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, flax seed oil, canola oil.

Animal products are high in saturated fats, use low-fat version such as skim milk or zero fat milk instead of whole milk. Also, remove visible skins and fats from meat products.