The truth about dietary fats
When we hear about fats in our food, we automatically think that these are substances that are bad for us. This may not be necessarily true because although some dietary fats are bad for us, there are also other types of fats that could be beneficial to us. We could see that most of us do not want to have dietary fats in our food so the producers have develop foods that are non-fat or those that are low-fat. But before we judge the foods that contain fat, let us first learn the different types of dietary fats that are present in our food.
The different dietary fats
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Saturated fat
This fat mainly comes from animals and they are the ones that cause a rise in our cholesterol levels. This could lead to a higher risk of having heart diseases. This is one of the bad fats that you should avoid. They are usually found in butter, cheese, chicken skin, lard, and ice cream
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Trans fat
This is another type of fat that you should avoid. It also comes from animals and is produced when processing food. This can be found in candy bars, fried foods, chips, popcorns and some commercially processed pastries.
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Monounsaturated fat
This type of fat could be considered one of the good types of fat. This helps in the control of sugar levels. This fat can be found in olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocados, olives and nuts.
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Polyunsaturated fat
This is the last type of fat and is also one of the good fats. Having this kind of fat in your diet will help control your cholesterol levels thus, reducing the risk of heart disease. This type of fat could be found in walnuts, corn oil, fatty fishes, tofu and soymilk.
Fats for weight loss
Now that we know that there are also other types of fats that are good for you, let us now get to know some of the fats that could also help you lose some weight. You may think eating fats to lose fats is weird but here are some examples of the fats in different foods that you should eat to help you lose weight.
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Conjugated linoleic acid
This fat helps reduce the total body fat and helps to replace it with lean muscles instead. It also helps increase your metabolism so that you would be able to burn fat much faster. It is commonly found in dairy products and sunflower oil.
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Omega-3 fats
This fat mainly comes from fatty fishes and is capable of telling our body to produce leptin. This substance helps decrease your appetite and also increases the metabolism. Omega-3 fats are not only capable of making you slimmer; it also helps develop the brain.
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Medium-chain triglycerides
These fats could also be used to suppress your appetite and they could also be used as a source of energy for the people who are always on the go. This type of fat is usually found in coconuts.
Fats and your skin
Having beautiful skin is every woman’s dream. They want to have smooth and flawless skin all over so they buy different beauty products to apply on their skin. But applying all these beauty products on the skin is just one of the steps you should take to have beautiful skin. You also need to provide the nourishment that your skin needs through the foods that you eat.
There are many different types of fats and some of them could help improve your skin’s condition. The essential fatty acids are the type of fat that you need to consume to make your body look more radiant. This is composed of the omega-3 fatty acids and the omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids help people whose skin is very sensitive to the sun’s rays. It also helps decrease the inflammation found in people with acne. The omega-3 is usually found in flaxseed, walnuts, sardines, salmon, soy, fortified eggs and mackerel while the omega-6 is usually found in cooking oils, grains and poultry.
Other benefits of fats
Monounsaturated fats have many benefits in the body. They are capable of reducing cholesterol levels to help you with heart problems. They are also used by people who want to reduce their weight. Instead of diets with trans fats, opt for monounsaturated fats to help you become slimmer. It is also said that it is helpful to people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. It helps lessen the pain and stiffness that the patients usually feel.
In whatever food we take in, we should keep in mind to keep it in moderation. You cannot completely remove the fats in your diet because some of them are also needed by your body. All you can do now is to choose what kind of fats to consume. It is important that you take note of the foods that you eat so that you will know if it is beneficial to you or not.