SATURDAY, DAY 6
LIFESTYLE AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
Along with carbohydrates and proteins, fats are one of the three primary types of foods. An important source of energy, fats also help your body absorb vitamins and are essential for growth, development, and good health. Fats are especially important for infants and children.
There are three major types of fats: saturated fats, trans fat, and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Saturated fats are sometimes referred to as the solid fats in your diet. This is because this kind of fat sometimes forms a solid layer of fat at the top of food. Saturated fats are found in cheeses, meats, whole milk and cream, butter, ice cream, and palm and coconut oils.
Diets that are high in saturated fats have been linked to coronary heart disease. Saturated fats also affect your cholesterol levels. No more than 10 percent of your daily calories should be from saturated fats.
Trans fat is found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and foods made with partially hydrogenated oils. Partially hydrogenated oils are created through the process of hydrogenation, in which liquid oils are converted to solid fats. The trans fat in partially hydrogenated oils raise your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and decrease your HDL (“good”) cholesterol, both of which increase your risk of heart disease.
Fortunately, some companies have altered how they manufacture foods to decrease the amounts of trans fat in their products. Check the labels of the processed foods you buy to see whether they contain trans fat. It’s recommended that you reduce the amount of trans fat in your diet as much as possible.
Most of the fat you eat should be polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. These are the good fats. Unsaturated fats are found in avocados, flaxseeds, nuts, herring, salmon, trout, and the following oils: canola, corn, olive, safflower and high-oleic safflower, soybean, sunflower, and vegetable.