Fats

Fats are the type of calories that dieters try to cut out of their diet because they are “fattening”.

If you take into account the fact that 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories and that 97% of the calories coming from fats are absorbed as opposed to 90% from carbs and 80% from protein you will realize that gram for gram fats are more fattening than other foods. To make matters worse fats don’t take up room in your stomach so they are easily overeaten.
The three types of fats are:

1. Saturated fats.

They are mostly animal fats and tend to stay solid at room temperature.
They should be avoided because they are harmful, leading to increased levels of cholesterol in the blood. Butter, cheese, chocolate, egg yolks, meat fat, dairy fat and palm and coconut oils all contain saturated fats.

If you are following the approved food lists strictly you should not worry about saturated fats.

2. Unsaturated fats.

Vegetable fats fit in this category.

Unsaturated fats are essential as they:

• reduce levels of blood cholesterols.
• Provide the body with essential fatty acids (EFA): omega 3’s and omega 6’s.
  Some of the benefits of EFA’s are:
  1. increased metabolic rate
  2. improved skin texture
  3. promote joint health
  EFA’s are required for:
  1. absorption of fat soluble vitamins
  2. growth promoting
  3. energy production

Needless to say, fats should be apart of your diet: 15 to 20% of your calories should come from unsaturated fat sources.

Approved list of fats

Source	Portion size	fats/portion
Avocado	1 oz or 28.35 g	5 g
Almonds (dry roasted)	1 tbsp or 6 pieces	5 g
Oil (olive & canola)	1 tbsp	5 g
Peanuts	1/3 oz or 10 pieces	5 g
Salad dressing (light)	2 tbsp	5 g
Walnuts	1 tbsp	5 g

3. Hydrogenation and trans fatty acids

Hydrogenation is a process used to prolong the shelf life of products. This process has the downside effect of making healthy unsaturated fats have the proprieties of saturated ones.

Trans fatty acids are chemically altered fats found in partial hydrogenated foods.

Some of the destructive effects of trans fatty acids are:

• Cholesterol level increase
• Hampered immune system functioning
• Increased sensitivity to insulin

Foods that contain trans fatty acids and should be avoided:

• Fried foods (fried chicken, French fries etc.)
• Bakery Products (cookies, Biscuits, doughnuts etc.)
• Refined Vegetable Oils
• Margarine