You may have been mislead to believe that all fats and oils in your diet is a bad thing. You need it more than you realize.
Fats are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen organic compounds which are the most concentrated source of energy in the foods you eat. Fats are also what makes the food more palatable. Have you ever noticed that foods with a higher fat content seem to feel more comforting on the tongue than those with low or no fat? That's why it is so hard to eat just one potato chip!
Fats belong to a group called lipids. They come in liquid or solid form and can be combinations of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Fats can be called very saturated or very unsaturated depending on their proportions.
Saturated fats can be found in animal and vegetable sources. Animal sources include meat, poultry, fish, lard and dairy products like cheese, milk, ice cream, cream, and butter. Vegetable sources include coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils. This is the group referred to as the so-called "bad" fats. While these are consumed far too much in the American diet plan, these fats are still an essential part of a healthy diet within moderation.
Unsaturated fats are usually liquid at refrigerator temperature and come in two kinds - monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fat (slightly unsaturated) can be found in plants, including olive oil, peanut, avocado, and rapeseed (canola oil). Polyunsaturated fat is a better grade of unsaturated fat (highly unsaturated fat) that is found in safflower, sunflower, corn, and soybean oil. These are the good oils people must include in a healthy diet.
Another group of polyunsaturated fats include the omega-three fatty acid (fish oil) found in seafood. Seafood is lower in saturated fat than meat.
Fat is one of the three nutrients (protein and carbohydrates are the others) that gives you calories. Fat provides 9 calories per gram which is more than twice what is provided by carbohydrates or protein.
Fat is essential for the proper functioning of the body. It provides the fatty acids which are not made by the body. Linoleic acid is the most important essential fatty acid for the growth and development of infants, toddlers and small children. Fatty acids help in the control of blood pressure, blood clotting, inflammation, and other body functions.
Fat serves as the insulation of the body. This is why the goal of "0" body fat is not only unrealistic, but dangerous. If one truly had no body fat they would be cold all the time, the skin would be dry and crack to the point of bleeding, and organs would eventually start to breakdown.
Fats are an important energy source. When the body uses up the calories from carbohydrate it begins to depend on the calories from fat. Without fat reserves on your body, if you get to the point where your body has exhausted the carbohydrates you then become very dizzy. In severe cases it can cause heart arrhythmia or failure.
Healthy skin and hair are maintained by fat. Fat helps in the absorption, and transport through the bloodstream of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Approximately 40% of the calories consumed in the United States are from fat. Current recommendations for children over the age of two are to reduce the total fat intake to 30% or less of the total daily calories. Saturated fat should be limited to 10% of the total calories for the day. The remainder of the day's fat intake should be equal amounts of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat.
Children under two years of age should NOT be on a fat restricted diet because cholesterol and fat are thought to be important nutrients for brain development. The problem with most American diets, however, is that children are often given too much of the wrong kinds of fat.
Peanut butter is a good example. If your child has an otherwise healthy diet, peanut butter is a great addition of fat to his or her diet and almond butter would be an even better choice. However, if your child indulges in a diet of too much meat, chips, fast food products, peanut butter should be considered a substitution for some of those more harmful fats. And too much peanut butter can be bad as it also has a high sugar and calorie content. In that regard, peanut butter should not be viewed as a health food for kids. Remember, even though kids need more fats, they still have to watch what goes in their mouths. A tablespoon or two a day of peanut butter can't hurt and would be better than a Happy Meal, although almond butter is an even better choice.
Eating too much saturated fat is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. A diet high in saturated fat causes a soft, waxy substance called cholesterol to build up in the arteries. Too much fat also increases the risk of heart disease because of its high calorie content, which increases the chance of becoming obese (another risk factor for heart disease and some types of cancer).
A large intake of polyunsaturated fat may increase the risk for some types of cancer. Reducing daily fat intake is not a guarantee against developing cancer or heart disease, but it does help reduce the risk factors.
As with all food groups, do it in moderation.
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