You’re Fat…In A Good Way

This post is the second in series about fat. Last week, my post was about how fat has, unfortunately, received a bad reputation. As part of my previous blog, I mentioned that recent history has proven that our attempt to reduce the amount of fat in our diets has not correlated with improved health. This is most likely the result of reducing our intake of good fats as we attempted to eliminate all fats from our diet. That being said, I suppose this is a good time to mention that there are both good fats and bad fats. 

The bad fats are called trans fats and have been largely banned by the Food and Drug Administration. The good fats, that became the innocent victim of our fat reducing diet plans, are called saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and monounsaturated fats. It is these fats that provide many health benefits. Good fats are a major source of energy. They help us absorb vitamins and minerals. Fats are needed to build cell membranes and are responsible for blood clotting, and muscle movement. This is why fats are essential for good health. In fact, a study directed by William Castelli in Farmingham, Massachusetts in 1948, which continues today, found that people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active.  

Perhaps the most interesting benefit of fat in our diet is how it helps regulate other substances in our body. This is something that I just recently discovered myself and have implemented in my own diet. Our bodies process (or metabolize) different kinds of foods at different rates, with fat being one of the slowest. The slowest food determines the rate at which the rest of the contents get processed. What this means is that we can prevent sugar or caffeine rushes, and eventual crashes, by consuming these substances after or along with ingesting fat. This final point is the topic of my next blog, along with a discussion of good sources of fat.