Important Types of Fats——> ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
Saturated fats:
• Found in animal fats and tropical oils
• Do not normally go rancid, even when heated for cooking
• Made in our bodies from carbohydrates
• Constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes; they give cells stiffness and integrity
• Needed for calcium to be effectively incorporated into skeletal system
• Protect liver from alcohol and other toxins
• Enhance immune system
• Needed for proper use of EFAs
Sources: animal products, coconut and palm oil
Monounsaturated fats:
• Tend to be liquid at room temperature
• Do not go rancid easily and can be used in cooking at moderate temps
Sources: olive oil, almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts, and avocado
Polyunsaturated fats:
• Contain linoleic acid ( omega-6) and linolenic acid (omega-3) –essential because our bodies cannot produce them
• Liquid, even when refrigerated
• Should never be heated
Sources: vegetable oils, fish oil, eggs and walnuts
Cholesterol:
• Gives cells stiffness and stability
• Precursor to steroid hormones and vitamin D
• Acts as an antioxidant
• Needed for proper function of serotonin receptor in brain
• Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression, and suicidal tendencies
• Role in maintaining health of intestinal wall
• High-serum cholesterol level often indicated that the body needs cholesterol to protect itseld from high levels of altered free-radical containing fats
Sources: animal products
In conclusion, the much hated saturated fats-which Americans are trying to avoid-are not the cause of modern diseases. If they were, and if the saturated fat or cholesterol myth were true, none of us would be alive today because saturated fat was the primary energy source for most of our ancestors.
Go out eat good quality fat and tell people that “My trainer told me to eat MORE fat”!
Nick Garcia
Filed under: Accountability, Motivation, Nutrition Tagged: | college station fat loss, college station fats, college station fitness, college station nutrition
