Dietary Fats
Dietary fats are made up of three types of fatty acids: saturated,
monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Fats containing a large amount of
saturated fatty acids are hard at room temperature; less saturated fats are soft
or liquid at room temperature. Thus, beef fat is more saturated than chicken fat
and vegetable shortening is more saturated than vegetable oil.
-
Saturated Fats: Come
primarily from animal meats and tropical oils. These include butter, lard,
egg yolks, cheeses, coconut oil, and palm oil. If the fat is solid at room
temperature, it is probably saturated. These types of fats can do the
greatest damage to our bodies because they raise the levels of LDL
lipoprotein or "bad cholesterol".
-
Polyunsaturated Fats:
Come from vegetables, seeds, nuts and grains. These include margarines,
canola oil, corn oil, vegetable oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, etc.
Polyunsaturated fats lower "bad cholesterol" which is a good
thing, but the major problem of using these oils regularly is that they also
lower "good cholesterol" at the same time. Thus, polyunsaturated
fats may have neither a positive or negative effect on our health.
Polyunsaturated fat research also indicates that these types of fats may
accelerate free radical formation, a major contributor to the aging process
and the development of certain types of cancer.
-
Monounsaturated Fats:
These types of fats lower "bad cholesterol" and at the same time
raise the level of "good cholesterol". The oleic acid in olive oil
is a monounsaturated fat. Extra virgin olive oil has the highest percentage
of monounsaturated fat of any other type of oil.
The table below shows the fatty acid composition of a number of food fats.
Type of Fat
|
Saturated
|
Monounsaturated
|
Polyunsaturated
|
Animal Fats
|
|
|
|
|
Butterfat
|
66
|
30
|
4
|
|
Beef Tallow
|
52
|
44
|
4
|
|
Pork (lard)
|
38
|
46
|
7
|
Vegetable Oils
|
|
|
|
|
Coconut
|
92
|
6
|
1
|
|
Palm kernel oil
|
86
|
12
|
2
|
|
Palm oil
|
51
|
39
|
10
|
|
Cottonseed
|
28
|
21
|
50
|
|
Peanut
|
21
|
50
|
28
|
|
Margarine, soft
|
18
|
36
|
36
|
|
Margarine, stick
|
17
|
59
|
25
|
|
Sesame
|
15
|
40
|
40
|
|
Corn
|
14
|
28
|
55
|
|
Soybean
|
14
|
21
|
50
|
|
Olive
|
14
|
75
|
7
|
|
Sunflower
|
10
|
21
|
64
|
|
Safflower
|
7
|
17
|
71
|
|
Canola
|
6
|
62
|
32
|
How does dietary fat influence cholesterol?
To protect your heart, experts recommend that you reduce your overall fat
intake - a measure considered by many to be even more important than eating less
cholesterol. About 30% of our calories should come from fats. Currently, most
Americans get about 41% of their calories from fat. another protective measure
involves replacing some of the saturated fats you now consume with
polyunsaturated fats found in vegetables and fish. Saturated
fats raise cholesterol levels in the blood while polyunsaturated fats lower
them. Although it was once believed that monounsaturated fats had no
effect on blood cholesterol levels, recent research studies suggest that a diet
high in monounsaturated fatty acids is effective in reducing LDL levels while
keeping HDL levels the same.
|
