The Truth About Fats: Healthy Fats and Harmful Fats

Are Fats Unhealthy?

Our total fat intake should be between 20% - 35% of our total caloric intake. How many of us are actually practicing that? Our bodies need certain types of fats in order to function effectively. Our bodies need the unsaturated fats (good fats).

Unsaturated fats aid in the absorption of certain vitamins, such as A, D, E, and K, along with carotenoids. Healthy fats are also a major source of energy. Fats also add flavor to the foods we eat. Adding healthy fats to the diet, within moderation, plays an important role in our overall health.

Fats that Heal: Unsaturated Fats - The Good Fats

Unsaturated fats are the good fats. They don’t raise our cholesterol levels. To maintain good health we should consume more unsaturated fats and less saturated fat. Why is that? Unsaturated fats provide our bodies with the essential fats that our bodies need for healthy cell development. The Omega 3s and Omega 6s, which are found in the good fats, are critical for the normal growth and development of our bodies. They are also needed for brain function. Unsaturated fats work by lowering our overall cholesterol, including our low-density protein (LDL) cholesterol.

Monounsaturated Fats

The majority of the fats we consume should come from monounsaturated fats. According, to research conducted by the American Heart Association, monounsaturated fats are heart healthy. They can lower the risk of heart disease. Monounsaturated fats are considered to be the healthiest of the saturated fats. If we consume monounsaturated fats we will increase our high density lipoprotein (HDL) (also known as the good cholesterol). Monounsaturated fats remain a liquid at room temperature, but they can become a solid if put into a refrigerator. A few sources of monounsaturated fats are canola oil, peanut oil, and olive oil. Other food sources that contain a high amount of monounsaturated fat are avocados and most nuts.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Polyunsaturated fats can also aid in lowering our LDL. Polyunsaturated fats will usually remain liquids at room temperature or when placed in the refrigerator. Vegetable oils such as cottonseed, corn, safflower, sunflower, and soy oil are all polyunsaturated fats.

Fats that Harm: Saturated Fats - The Bad Fats

Saturated fats are the main culprits of high blood cholesterol. Low-density protein (LDL) causes fatty buildup in the arteries. The cholesterol deposits place a lot of demand on our heart and circulatory system, making it harder for the blood to flow through the body. A high level of LDL in the blood increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Saturated fats can be found in animal foods and in certain plant foods. A few examples of animal fat are butter, beef, dairy products, eggs, cheese, lamb, milk, pork, poultry fat, and veal. Saturated fats can also be found in some vegetable fats like cocoa butter, coconut, coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil.

Hydrogenation

When foods are processed, the fats sometimes go through a procedure referred to as hydrogenation. Hydrogenated fats are commonly used in baked goods like cookies, cakes, most breads, and fried foods. Hydrogenated fats remain solid or semi-solid at room temperature. You can usually find them in vegetable shortenings and margarine. Hydrogenation occurs when the manufacturer adds hydrogen to a vegetable oil. This process increases the shelf life of foods containing hydrogenated fats, along with the flavor of the product, but at what cost?

Trans Fats

Trans fats raise our LDL and are very unhealthy. They also increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. When we add trans fats to healthy foods like steamed vegetables and baked potatoes, they become unhealthy. The American Heart Association recommends that individuals over two years of age should limit the intake of trans fat to less than 1% of their total calories.

Make Healthy Choices: Choose Healthy Fats

Our bodies need fat to function. It’s important to greatly reduce our consumption of saturated fats. If we consume too much, we face a higher risk of developing a disease. It’s important that we choose unsaturated fats, especially the monounsaturated fats. If you aren’t doing this already, get into the habit of reading the labels on food packaging. You want to ensure that you are choosing the right types of fats.

If you are consuming too much fat, reduce your intake. In addition to monitoring your fat intake, be sure you add plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet and engage in some type of physical activity.

Isoflavone Supplementation for Stroke

A new study in Hong Kong, recently published online at the European Heart Journal, investigated the effects of isoflavone supplements on the main artery in the arm, the brachial artery.

The study involved 102 patients. Fifty-two of the patients were placed on placebos, and fifty patients were placed on 80 milligrams of isoflavone supplement per day. The study lasted for twelve weeks and is the first of its kind. There have been no other studies examining the effects of isoflavone and the brachial artery.

What is isoflavone? Isoflavone includes a class of organic compounds related to flavonoids. Isoflavone is found primarily in the mean family and is naturally-occurring in foods such as legumes, soy, clovers and chickpeas. Some foods with isoflavones are thought to protect against certain types of cancers.

Nearly 80 percent of the patients in the Hong Kong study had an impaired blood flow when they began the study. The researchers used ultrasound to measure the blood flow of the brachial arteries in all patients one minute after removing a tourniquet from their arms. What they found was that the patients who took the isoflavone supplements had an increased blood flow in the brachial artery. This is great news for ischaemic stroke studies, since ischemic stroke is caused by obstructions in the artery, such as blood clots.

The study lasted for twelve weeks and showed a significant improvement for the patients taking isoflavone supplements, as opposed to those taking placebos.

Though this new study has some researchers excited about the possibilities of using isoflavone supplements in addition to conventional medicine to help stroke patients, it is too early to make recommendations. The side effects of long term isoflavone supplemental use, as well as the long-term benefits, are yet unknown.

However, doctors can recommend that their patients eat a diet high in isoflavones in hopes that it will be helpful for their cardiovascular health. The foods containing isoflavones are also known for their vitamins, fiber and polyunsaturated fats, so there is no risk in recommending them.