Is Every Fat Bad?

Is every fat we have on our food bad? Apparently, it’s not that bad. We can find at least four kind of fat on our daily food. And among these four kinds of fat, two of them are good. We can find out which one is good and useful for us and which one is dangerous for our health. This information can also guide me as a mother to choose the right kind of food for my family.

First, Mono-unsaturated Fatty Acid (MUFA)

This one is the best kind of all. It can help reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) rapidly without affecting the good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood. This friendly fat can be found on olive oil, almond, candlenut and avocado. About 70 percent of olive oil is MUFA. That is why people who live in the area where olive oil grows (such as Europe, Africa and Middle Sea) have a lower percentage of having heart disease compare to those who live in West. But even this good fat can also cause obesities. So, we have to use it wisely.

Second, Poly-unsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA)

This is the next good fat after MUFA. It can also reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) only this one can affecting the good cholesterol (HDL) also. This is the different of PUFA from MUFA. For MUFA will not affect the good cholesterol (HDL) after all. You can find PUFA on corn oil or sunflowerseed oil. Omega 3 is a special kind of PUFA. Omega 3 can be found on cold water fishes, such as salmon, pilchard, mackerel and herring. Beside of its high protein, Omega 3 in this fishes can also prevent congealment of blood. Serve fishes twice a week on your menu to get these advantages. And just like MUFA, PUFA can also cause obesities.

Third, Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA)

This one is a bad fat because it’s hard to be processed in our bodies. This can increase the bad cholesterol (LDL) and make the possibilities of having a heart disease getting bigger. It can also stimulate the congealment of blood. Generally, SFA can be found in almost every kind of animal products (except fish) such as meat, dairy products and poultry. In fact, SFA can also be found on a certain kind of plants products such as coconut, coconut oil and palm oil.

Forth, Trans Fatty Acid (TFA)

This is the worst fat of all. TFA is a kind of fat that consist of different kind of atoms in different kind of molecules. It has a very bad effect on cholesterol and veins. TFA comes along the process of “hydrogenated” food. This process usually happens along the process of transferring food appearance. Hydrogenated happens when olive oil turns to be margarine. Hydrogenated has also needed to make many kind of instant food. So, avoid margarine and any kind of food product that has the word “hydrogenated” in its package.

Anyway, these are all the good and bad fat in our food. Maybe we can not avoid all the bad fat whatsoever but we can reduce the use of those bad fat and change it too the good fat. Knowing that you have good fat on your food will make you enjoy your meal better. And if you buy a lot of package foods, remember to check the ingredients first before you put them on your shopping cart.