Good Fat Bad Fat
By Chris Walker Fitness Professional
100% Hardcore Truth
“Don’t eat fat and you won’t get fat”, wrong.
Let’s face it most people are confused when it comes to fat and the effect it has on health. Honestly it is confusing, trans fat, saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, essential fat, hydrogenated fat. What? To make things more complex these fats have different effects on our LDL and HDL. What’s that?
Fats Explained
If you frequent the supermarket good marketing and advertising will teach you: trans fat is bad, warning, danger and it is. Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids are good, wonderful, fantastic and they are. You’ll notice this advertising all over the supermarket. To recap, trans fat is bad and EFA (essential fatty acids) is good. When you think of something as saturated you think too much; therefore saturated fat is too much fat (Bad Fat). In contrast if saturated fat is too much then poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated fat is not too much (Good Fat). Hydrogenated fat just sounds like something bad to ingest. So, hydrogenated fat is bad. That leaves us with LDL and HDL. Just remember, the H in HDL stands for happy (you want to increase this) and the L in LDL stands for lousy (you want to decrease this). In other words, HDL is good and LDL is bad.
That was easy we’ve just learned that good fats are:
- EFA (essential fatty acids)
- Polyunsaturated fat
- Monounsaturated fat
- HDL
Bad fats are:
- Trans fat
- Saturated fat
- Hydrogenated fat
- LDL
Alright I know everyone’s not satisfied with my simplistic brief explanation. Let’s take a closer look.
LDL and HDL
You’ll need to understand what these letters stand for in order to comprehend the effects of ingesting certain types of fats. LDL stands for low-density lipoproteins. Its function is to transport cholesterol to cells. Cholesterol is a lipid (fat) that is produced by your liver. Your body does not need to obtain additional cholesterol from your diet. Elevated LDL increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. HDL stands for high-density lipoproteins. Its function is to pick up cholesterol from cells and transport it to the liver for elimination. High levels of HDL in the blood are associated with a reduction in the risk of heart disease.
Fatty Acids
What we call fats is more completely known as fatty acids. Fatty acids can be categorized based primarily on their number of carbons. Saturated fatty acids are probably the most consumed. They are found mostly in meats and dairy products and some tropical oils. Diets high in saturated fats increase LDL cholesterol in the blood (Bad). Trans fatty acids are found in small amounts in nature and are formed during food processing. Both clinical and epidemiological studies provide evidence that trans fatty acid intake increases the risk of heart disease. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are found in corn, safflower and soybean oil. Monounsaturated fatty acids are found in olive and canola oil. Both fats are good and have great benefits. In particular, populations with diets high in monounsaturated fats, such as those in Mediterranean countries where olive oil is commonly used, have low cases of heart disease. Monounsaturated fat reduces LDL cholesterol. Essential fatty acids (EFA) more commonly known as Omega-6 (Linoleic Acid) and Omega-3 (Alpha Linoleic Acid), are found in animal and vegetable fats and must be consumed by the body because it cannot be produced in sufficient amounts to meet needs. Hydrogenation is a process used by food manufacturers to raise the melting point of products, making them more solid at room temperature and increasing shelf life. The process combines hydrogens to the carbon bonds making them more saturated. Vegetable oil is often a good example of this.
Conclusion
Stay away from bad fats and remember don’t eat fat and you wont get fat is misinformation. EFA are good and vital for health.
Chris Walker is the founder of fitnesstrainingformenandwomen.com.com located in Kitchener, Ontario. Chris is a certified fitness trainer, (CFT) and actively works with medical doctors and health care professionals in helping their patients to reduce bodyfat restore musculoskeletal strength and gain control over their blood sugar readings, good and bad blood fats and blood pressure readings, among other critical fitness issues. Chris is a member of International Sports Sciences Association, (ISSA) and Canfitpro Organization. Chris has made TV appearances on Global Television and is a published author. Chris produces a book that he gives to all readers titled, "New Body", everything you need to transform your body.
Thanks for reading.
Good Fat Bad Fat
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