Understanding the Role of Fat in Health Nutrition

We have all heard the evils of fat and how it has little place in health nutrition. While our bodies do need some fat for insulation, protection and vitamin storage, most people get far more fat than is healthful.

There are many reasons why fats are not good for us.

       1. First, fats have more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates.

       2. Second, fats are more readily metabolized into body fat by our human systems, whereas protein and carbohydrates require a bit more energy to turn them into storage fat.

       3. Third, excessive amounts of fat can clog our arteries, leading to cardiovascular disease. Limiting fat intake as part of an overall diet of health nutrition can make us healthy, helping us to live more vibrant and longer lives.

Types of Fat

Advertisements talking about saturated fats and unsaturated fats abound, but many of us do not really know what this means or how fat fits into our health nutrition. A healthy diet should include only 20-30 percent fat. Most of that should be “healthy fats,” and yes, they do exist. Let us review the basic types of fat.

Healthy fats are an important part of health nutrition and include monounsaturated (found in nuts, seeds, avocado, peanuts and more) and polyunsaturated (found in other nuts, seeds, vegetable oil and more), as well as omega 3 fatty acids (found in some fish, flaxseed and walnuts). These fats help the body with various metabolic functions and can actually serve to decrease bad cholesterol levels. These fats do not contribute to heart disease, though they do have calories and in overabundance can cause weight gain, as any food can.

Bad fats are saturated fat (usually found in animal products and tropical fruit oils), trans fat (found in partially hydrated vegetable oils and most processed foods) and cholesterol (also found in animal products and heavy vegetable oils). These fats are not part of a person’s health nutrition and serve no valuable purpose. They do, however, contribute to blocked arteries, coronary disease, cancer and more.

The Facts about Fat

Overall, healthy fats are an important part of health nutrition, when eaten in moderation and as part of a healthy diet. Unhealthy saturated, trans fats and cholesterol can also be acceptable in moderation, but dangerous in overabundance. It is important to eat a balanced diet for good health nutrition, including watching one’s intake of fat – and the time to start is now!

Unfortunately, studies have shown that waiting too late in life to begin lowering one’s fat intake is significantly less effective. Think about your health nutrition as a retirement plan: if you save more when you are younger (i.e. eat healthy with low fat intake), it has time to grow and work for you later in life. But if you spend all your money (i.e. eat with poor health nutrition and high fat), trying to save later (and eat a low fat diet) is great, but not nearly as effective as it would have been had you begun earlier. Thus, while it is certainly never too late to get healthier, the earlier you can find the determination to improve your health nutrition and lower your fat intake, the better.