Does eating Fats make us Fat? - Margaret Brightling

For the past thirty years or so, eating Fats has been associated with obesity, heart disease and high cholesterol. So people went crazy for “low fat” and “zero % fat” foods thinking that by reducing fat in their diets, they would “lose fat”. Unfortunately almost the opposite happened with obesity reaching crisis proportions in Ireland and other Western societies. So what is the problem?

First, many foods that are labelled “low fat” are often high in sugar to make them taste good which really defeats the purpose.

Secondly, our body needs up to 30% fat in our diet on a daily basis as it is one of the three macronutrients (Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat) – in other words, our body needs a high proportion of each of these three food types to function properly and to be in balance.

Thirdly, not all fats are the same – there are good fats (unsaturated) and bad fats (saturated) and really bad fats (Trans-fat) and it’s important that you are eating the right quantity of the “good fats”and avoiding the bad and the really bad!

Examples of each are as follows:

GOOD FATS:

Unsaturated: –

Mono-unsaturated Fats: e.g. olive oil and peanut oil, avocados, almonds and hazelnuts, and seeds such as pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds.
Poly-unsaturated Fats: e.g. sunflower, corn, soybean and flaxseed oils, walnuts, flaxseeds and fish. This group includes essential fatty acids (Omega 3) which your body can’t produce itself so you have to eat it to benefit. Omega 3 has anti-inflammatory properties and essential for healthy heart, healthy brain, joints and lots of other body functions.

BAD FATS:

Saturated:- affect your heart health and your blood vessels. Usually solid at room temperature!

Found mainly in animal products such as red meat and whole milk dairy products. Also found in some tropical vegetable oils such as palm oils. Poultry and fish do contain some saturated fat but less than red meat.
Saturated Fat raises “Bad” Cholesterol which increases the risk of Heart Disease.

VERY BAD FATS:

Trans Fats – created by heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen gas – called hydrogenated.

Foods such as margarine, biscuits, some snack foods, fried foods, processed foods – should be avoided.
Trans fats raise your “Bad” Cholesterol while also lowering your levels of “good” cholesterol.

So just to recap – aim to eat foods from unsaturated sources such as nuts, seeds, olive oil (not cooked), and avocados. But if trying to lose weight, remember all fats have similar calories so you do need to limit them.

I hope that helps.