Fats

There are 2 things that matter when it comes to fats.

1. the amount of fats
2. the type of of fats

The amount of fats you consume affects your body weight but the type of fats you eat play a major role in your body weight.There are 4 main types of fats,2 types are good fats while the other 2 are bad fats.

Good fats protect the heart and  maintain overall wellness of physical and psycological health.Bad fats increase the cholesterol level in the body and expose the body to certain diseases.

Of course,it is not a realistic goal to cut out fats totally from the food that we consume.The appropriate thing is to stop eating the bad fats and substitute them with the good fats.

MAIN TYPES OF FATS

• monounsaturated fats
• polyunsaturated fats
• trans fats
• saturated fats

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are both good fats while trans fats and saturated fats are bad fats.

These are the lists of foods that fall under good fats and bad fats

                                          GOOD FATS

MONOUNSATURATED FATS

• Avocado(pear)
• Nuts  e.g peanuts,cashews,hazelnuts
• Seeds
• Peanut butter
• Peanut oil
• Sesame oil
• Sunflower oil
• Olives
• Canola oil
• Olive oil
• non-hydrogenated margarines

 

POLYUNSATURATED FATS

• Soymilk
• Walnuts
• Fatty fish  e.g salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines
• Sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds
• Tofu
• Flaxseed
• Safflower oil
•  sesame
• omega-3 eggs
• Corn oil
• Soybean oil

 

                           BAD FATS

SATURATED FATS

• Ice cream
• Cheese
• Butter
• Full-fat dairy products
• Chicken with the skin
• Lard
• palm oil
• cocoa butter
• Fatty meat e.g beef, lamb, pork
• Palm kernel oil
• coconut oil
• foods prepared with hydrogenated oils

TRANSFATS

• Stick margarine
• Candy bars
• Fried foods  e.g French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets
• Commercially-baked pastries, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough
• Packaged snack foods  e.g crackers, microwave popcorn, chips
• foods  prepared with shortening or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil

The point is that ,whenever you want to eat food that has fats,make sure that the fat is from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated categories.You should try as much as possible to limit the saturated fats and trans fats in your food.The total amount of fats that you consume should be within 20 to 35% of your total calories.To calculate the amount of fat in your body click here.

Cheers.

 

Babajide Adediran