Fat Nutrition Facts - What Fat is Good to Eat?

Welcome to the Fat Nutrition Facts page of our website. Fat is usually the first thing we think of when trying to lose weight, but fats are an important part of our diet. Fats are a vital part of our diet, and cannot be ignored or completely removed from it.

Lipids of nutritional importance are fats, which are solid, and oils, which are liquid. Most of the fats you find in food are found in the form of triglycerides, but some is found in the form of cholesterol, and phospholipids.

The metabolic fate of dietary fatty acids is determined by the structural characteristics of the fat. These are most commonly known as saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated fats.. They get their name from the number of bonds and placement of bonds between their carbon atoms.

Dietary fat provides on average, 9 calories per gram. Therefore, lipids are very high energy when compared to protein and carbohydrates, which provide only 4 calories per gram.

Not only does fat provide a lot of energy to the body, it is needed for the transportation and absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat is also needed to provide insulation to prevent heat loss and protect vital organs from shock while performing activities - usually less than 25% body fat is healthy.

We start having problems when we accumulate excess body fat, which can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Fat intake for your diet should be kept in the range of 20-30% (as recommended by the American Heart Association) of all the calories you eat. If you eat 2000 calories a day:

2000*0.30/9 = 67g

2000*0.20/9 = 44g

You should eat between 44-67g of fat each day.

Not All Fat is Created Equal

One of the most important fat nutrition facts is that not all fats are created equal. Here we will discuss some of the different types of fat found in the foods we eat and which one's we should choose to eat.

Saturated Fats

Saturated fats have a high melting point and are solid at room temperature. They are often found in meats, poultry, and dairy foods, as well as in coconut and palm oils. Saturated fats are unhealthy for you and should be kept to a minimum (<9% of your diet).

Monounsaturated Fats

Monounsaturated fats should make up the most of your fat intake. These fats are liquid at room temperature and can be found in olive, peanut, and canola oils, as well as in nuts, avocados, and olives.

Monounsaturated fats help to decrease level of unhealthy cholesterol known as LDL cholesterol.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Polyunsaturated fats have one more double bond than do monounsaturated fats, and are also liquid at room temperature. It can be found in corn, soybean, safflower, and sunflower seed oils, as well as in fish. These fats should be limited to less than 10% as they lower both LDL (unhealthy) and HDL cholesterol (healthy).

Polyunsaturated fats are important because this is where we get Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. These are found mostly in fish and are why they are found in fish oil health products. The body cannot synthesize these fats, so consumption is very important. Omega-3 decreases only unhealthy LDL cholesterol.

Tran Fats

You should try to avoid trans fats at all possible costs. They are the unhealthiest of all the fats. Trans fats are made through hydrogenation, which increases saturation of the fatty acids making up lipids. This causes fats found in a natural cis configuration (sorry for the chemistry) to a trans configuration. Basically, they are chemically manufactured fats.

I am a big fan of keeping unnatural products out of my diet. Try to keep these out of it as well. All food products are now required to have trans fat marked on their nutrition labels.

Deficiency

Our nervous tissues are highly dependent on fats to work properly, especially omega-6 and omega-3.

Deficiency in omega-6 leads to growth retardation in children, skin lesions, dry scaly dermatitis, impaired would healing, reproductive failure, fatty liver, and polydypsia in adults.

Deficiency in omega-3 can impair cognitive development and visual acuity in children.

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