Fara 8 July 2009 General Health, Nutritions 26 views No Comment/Trackback Print This Post  Email This Post

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Importance of fat: Good fats vs bad fats

Not all fats are bad fats. Initially, our body needs these healthy fats for several reasons.

Fats are popular as the main cause to weight gain and obesity. Alas, many people thought so. However, that is not always the case. Our body still needs certain essential fatty acids to form part of the cell’s membrane structure, which helps to carry all nutrients that the body have consumed to another membrane cells. Other than that, fats also act as the only carrier of Vitamin A, D, E and K since these vitamins are not water-soluble. For more information on fat and other healthy eating essential elements, you can find from healthy eating plan. I did make a post about fats in Types of fat and fats functions in general

It is undeniable though, that most of the time we consume food that is high in saturated fat and make us gain weight because of the unused fat reserves. These foods include many things that we love to eat like doughnuts, chips, cakes and cookies. It is rather hard to get rid of it once and for all, so all these foods should be consume at a very minimal amount. There are actually many alternatives available to get more benefits from healthy fats instead of stocking up on the bad fats.

What can you do?

Start with picking the right food and ingredients for your meals. And never to forget the ways and methods used to cook your meals too. You can reduce fat in your eating plan by trying the following:

• When cooking with oil, try switching from butter, margarine, shortening or lard which is high in saturated fat (bad fats) to vegetable oil, or canola oil, flax seed oil or even olive oil for stove cooking, stir-frying or grilling. If possible, avoid the deep-frying cooking method and do more of sautéing, poaching or steaming.

Vegetable oil, canola oil and olive oil are examples of fats that are low in saturated fat and high in poly-saturated and mono-saturated fats.

• In order to minimize the use of oil in your cooking, you should try using oil spray instead of pouring it straight from the bottle. Besides that, using low-fat spreads in replacement of margarine or butter is a good alternative too.
• Cakes, cookies, sweet and savory snacks are often high in trans-fat. So look for alternatives. Fresh and dried fruits are among the best option. Other than that, you can try munching more on whole meal snack products that’s high in fiber and vitamins.
• Try avocado if you are looking for some creamy substitution. It makes a great companion to salads, salsas, soups, sandwiches and more.
• Thinking of shedding of some fats from your diet? Try opting for fish instead of meat and poultry. Fish like salmon and cod are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which is good in improving the health of your heart and mind.
• Of course, you can still indulge yourself with meat and poultry but make sure trim all the visible fat and eat it with moderation. Look for lean cuts of meat and reduced-fat meat and poultry minces and you’re doing your groceries shopping.
• Nuts are high in fat but it contains more of the good fats than the bad ones. So you can have it together with salads as snacks. In spite of being healthy, it also tastes good. You can grind them and substitute it with breadcrumbs when coating chicken and fish before cooking. It’s also loaded with vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin E, zinc and a very good source of fiber.

Minimizing fat intake in our daily life is not an impossible task. It can be done with a little knowledge, perseverance and discipline. Hope this will some of help.

 Related posts:

1. The importance of fats: Type of fats and fats functions in general
2. Vitamins and Its Importance – List of different vitamin types
3. Importance of carbohydrate: Carbohydrate groups and functions