The Good and The Bad FATS

Now I know you guys have been waiting on this one and I’m a little late but I’m back! So lets talk about the GOOD FATS and the BAD FATS. Just as with carbohydrates there are healthy fats and not so healthy fats because what it can do to the body.

Let’s start with a little science:

• Fat Molecules which are called “triglycerides are made up of chains and bonds
• These chains and bonds can be single or double
• These chains and bonds can have carbon atoms or hydrogen atoms
• These chains and bonds will determine what type of fat you are dealing with

The GOOD:

• When you hear about good fats you will usually hear “unsaturated”

• Unsaturated fats have subcategories called “Mono-unsaturated” and “Poly-unsaturated
• Mono-unsaturated fats is a fat molecule that has a single double bound and one of those bonds is an unsaturated carbon bond
• Mono-unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and solid when cold
• Mono-unsaturated fats help to reduce bad cholesterol in the body which is called LDL and HDL is the healthy cholesterol
• Mono-unsaturated fats helps to maintain the cells in the body by giving it nutrients such as vitamin E
• Same thing goes for Poly-unsaturated fats with the exception that it has more than one unsaturated carbon bond
• Poly-unsaturated fats work in the same ways as mono-unsaturated fats helping the body to regulate cholesterol levels

Examples of Mono-unsaturated and Poly- unsaturated Oils:

• olive oil
• canola oil
• peanut oil
• safflower oil
• sesame oil
• soybean oil
• corn oil
• sunflower oil

The BAD FATS

• When we talk about bad fats there are two categories they fall into those categories are Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated fats
• We also we hear CIS and TRANS fat
• Hydrogenated fats are processed poly unsaturated fats that have hydrogen added to them
• Partially hydrogenated fats are also processed artificially as well
• CIS fats are fats that have a double bond with carbons on the same side
• Trans fats are fats that have a double bond as well but hydrogen and carbon are on opposite sides of the bond and this is what makes it bad
• Trans fats are the worse fats for your health. They don’t go rancid, they are more stable during deep frying and can change the texture of your food
• How do you know if a food has Trans fat in it? good question you will know that it does if the label of any food states that it is partially hydrogenated because that is how trans fats are made
• What foods can you find Trans Fat in ? Basically in any foods that may be fried like fried chicken, fried fish, fried doughnuts and other foods that are not fried like pizza, hamburgers, cookies, pastries etc..