Fact – there are no fat cells in your eyelids or parts of the esophagus. ?
B) Bad fats – Saturated Fat and Trans Fat
These are considered unhealthy fats due to their chemical structure. They are common in the American diet. Trans fats are similar in structure to saturated fats. Too much of these two fats can increase the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL) – in our blood. This can lead to heart disease, type 2 diabetes and much more. Trans fats may also raise blood triglycerides and lower our good cholesterol (HDL).
- Saturated Fat
These are simply fat molecules that have no double bonds because they are saturated with hydrogen molecules. Saturated fats (butter or cooled bacon grease) tend to be solid at room temperature. Common sources include red meat, whole-milk dairy foods, cheese, and coconut oil. Currently the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that between 20 to 35 percent of your total daily calories should consist of fat and less than 5 to 6 percent of that fat should be from saturated fat with the rest being polyunsaturated fats.
- Trans Fat
These are naturally occurring trans fats and artificial trans fats. Small traces of natural trans fats are produced in animals guts and in turn tiny amounts turn up in foods they create. But according to AHA, we don’t have enough research to determine the impact these types of natural trans fats have on our health. Several review studies have concluded that a moderate intake of naturally occurring ruminant trans fats does not appear to be harmful. [6,7,8]
Artificial trans fats – These are the worst type of dietary fat!
While they’re actually unsaturated fats, their chemical structure is changed by a man- made process called hydrogenation, in which hydrogen molecules are added to the unsaturated oil to change them into a solid saturated fat called partially hydrogenated oils (PHO’s). This was done to try and synthesize a cheap, stable, easy to use, long shelf-life and tasty oil – The result was the birth of “The Frankenstein’s monster of fats” – artificial trans fats.
Some common sources of (PHO’s) artificial trans fats are margarine, fast food, coffee creamer, baked goods, crackers, fried potatoes, chips, microwave popcorns, frozen pizza, refrigerated dough products (such as biscuits and cinnamon rolls), and ready-to-use frostings. Many restaurants and fast-food outlets use trans fats to deep-fry foods because oils with trans fats can be used many times in commercial fryers.
GOOD NEWS! Canada has been trying to ban artificial trans fats, (PHO’s) for 15 years.
Just recently, on September 17th 2018 an important milestone in terms of nutrition policy in Canada occurred; Canada’s artificial trans fats ban came into effect. Retailers will be given a grace period of two years to clear the inventory already on store shelves. Keep watching those nutrition labels – it will be roughly two years before all PHO’s are eliminated in Canada … that’s pretty significant!
Note – fats contain a combination of different fatty acids. No fat is pure saturated fat or unsaturated fat. This is where it is important to read nutrition labels on food. (We will talk about reading food labels in a future article)
So, as you can see, healthy fat is good and necessary in moderate amounts. But, not all fats are equal and some are actually silently harmful to our overall health in the long run. Dietary fat is a confusing concept, with both evolving science and areas that still remain uncertain. Now that we have this background information about fat, in a future post we will look at 2 lipoprotein biomarkers we can obtain from a simple bloodwork panel. We can use this information to optimize our health, athletic performance and prevent an array of illnesses.
- Diekman C, Malcolm K. Consumer perception and insights on fats and fatty acids: knowledge on the quality of diet fat. Ann Nutr Metab. 2009;54(Suppl 1):25–32.
- International Food Information Council Foundation. 2014 Food and Health Survey: consumer attitudes towards food safety, nutrition
- Jensen MD, et al. AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management