Fat phobia gave birth to the carbohydrate craze that has by no means been limited to athletes. Fat-phobic individuals are every-where. They’re often motivated by a desire to lose weight and decrease the risk of developing the number-one killer in this country, heart disease. Many of these individuals avoid such basic nutritional staples as meat, eggs, and butter due to erroneous information they’ve received about cholesterol and fat. Instead, they fill up on sugar, which, ironically, will cause them to gain added pounds and increase their risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
The truth is that some amount of dietary fat is essential for good health. Besides providing insulation, which helps to maintain body temperature, fat acts as protective padding for your bones and internal organs. Fats facilitate oxygen transport, and are required for hormone production. They also aid in the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, and nourish the skin, mucous membranes, and nerves. And fats known as phospholipids are components of all cell membranes and other cellular structures. Without fat in your body, your cell membranes and nervous sys-tem would collapse. You would not be able to survive.
FAT PHOBIA;10 Facts You Must know
Of course, it’s possible to overdo fat consumption, and many Americans do. As nutritionist Robert Crayhon, puts it: “Too much fat is a problem, but so is too much brown rice, exercise, or water. Anything in excess is unhealthy.”‘ And regardless of the quantity of fat consumed, if the quality is poor, health problems will devel-op. Poor quality fat includes fats and oils that have had the “good” fat refined right out of them. The typical American diet includes too much total fat, too much of the wrong kinds of fats, and too little of the right kinds. But the opposite extreme, a diet very low in fat, can cause problems, too. Let’s take a look at some of the different types of fats, and how they affect the body.
Classification of Fats
Fats are composed of building blocks called fatty acids. There are three major types of fatty acids found in the diet and in the body: saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated. These chemi-cal terms relate to the type and number of hydrogen bonds in the chemical structure of the fatty acid. The three different types of fatty acids have distinct characteristics and are predominant in dif-ferent foods. Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) have straight molecules, and they tend to be solid at room temperature.
SFAs are found mainly in animal products, including meat fats, dairy products, coconut oil, cocoa butter, palm oil, and palm-kernel oil. Saturated fats have got-ten the reputation of being “bad” fats because of their connection with high cholesterol and hardening of the arteries, but they are not bad in and of themselves. Moderate amounts of saturated fats, when consumed in balance with the essential fatty acids and a full spectrum of other nutrients, are not problematic in a healthy body. Too much saturated fat in the bloodstream, however, can prevent the blood from supplying sufficient amounts of the healthy essen-tial fatty acids to the organs that need them.
. Monounsaturated fatty acids (kernel) have one kink or bend in their molecules. They are liquid at room temperature, but solid when refrigerated. Oils such as olive, almond, apricot, kernel, peanut, canola (rapeseed), high-oleic safflower, and high-oleic sun-flower oils are all monounsaturated fatty adds. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have two or more kinks in their molecules. These fats remain liquid even when refrigerated, and can be found in corn, soybean, safflower, and sunflower oils. The omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, which we will dis-cuss next, are polyunsaturated fatty adds.
