FATS – THE basics

All food groups are broken down into macronutrients and further down into micronutrients

Lets cover FATS its a Macronutrient and Fats yeild 9 cal per gram and they offer a high level; of satiety.

Some good and some not so good, the high caloric value means this macronutrient should be monitored carefully.

Good are mono and poly and we need to limit not so good saturated – if you over consume.

Saturated fats can be found in cheese, butter, milk, red fatty meats and highly processed foods,

Fats give flavour to foods, think cheese to your pizza or butter to your bread but then the energy value increases again by 4 cal per gram.

Role – helps the body absorb vitamin ADEK. the vitamins are fat soluble so this means they can only be absorbed within the body with the help of fats.

Balances your hormonal* system (*endocrine)

They can be broken down and used as a energy source.

Here’s a list of healthy fats top in your shopping basket

polyunsaturated – (omega 3 and 6)

• oils that are liquid at room temperature and in the fridge.

• sunflower seeds

• Rapeseed oils

• Flax seeds or oil

• Nuts – but beware of how many calories they yeild – include walnuts, almonds and cashews. These are rich in omega 6

Oily fish such as kippers, trout, salmon, herring – these are rich in omega 3 fats.

Monounsaturated – liquid at room temperature but start to solidify in the fridge.

• Olive oil

• peanut oil

• sesame oil

• Avocados

Fats are also known as triglycerides = one fat cell is compromised of 3 fatty acid chains with one glycerol molecule.

Fat guidelines

Men should have less than 30 g of Saturated fat per day

Women less than 20 g

The type of fat you eat also affects your cholesterol level.

Cholesterol is a fatty substance made by the liver – its a fatty waxy substance and its carried within your blood as

HDL – high density lipoprotein

LDL – low density lipoprotein

If you eat a diet too high in saturated fats this can raise the level of LDLS in the blood, these can clog and harden in the artery walls and form plaques – this leading to heart attack and strokes on this basis its down as the bad cholestrol.

HDLS act like mini toothbrushes and take LDLS away from places within the body there is too much of it taking it to the liver so you can dispose of it that way.

So include as many good fats as you can – poly and mono saturated as they are high in HDLS.

TOP TIP

To further reduce your cholesterol increase your fibre consumption – pulses, lentils, chickpeas, pasta, bread, rice and at least your 5 portions of fruit and veg a day