It’s true that eating excessive amounts of some fats can lead to extra pounds. Obesity has a host of negative effects on your health, including higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, and more. Being overweight can even cause erectile dysfunction.
But it’s time to correct the misconception: not all fat is bad for you. In fact, your body actually needs a certain amount of fat to function properly. The trick is to figure out which fats you should be eating and which are best to avoid.
Fat is a macronutrient and an essential part of your diet. Along with the macronutrients protein and carbohydrates, fat plays a pivotal role in providing energy for your body.
The average adult male needs around 2,500 calories every day. The suggested caloric intake for women is typically lower – at 2,000 calories a day.
A few factors influence the number of calories you need, including your general health, level of physical activity, and current body measurements. Since fat has about nine calories for every gram, it’s absolutely loaded with potential energy.
That’s also precisely why your body prefers to store as much fat as it can.
In addition to helping to fuel your body, fat plays another crucial role in physiological functions. It helps to dissolve and break down the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. These essential vitamins are extremely important to your health. Without fat, your body can have a difficult time absorbing fat-soluble vitamins from your diet. Vitamin deficiencies can have serious consequences on your physical, mental, and sexual health.
What are the Four Types of Fat?
Saturated, trans, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated are the four main types of fat.
Each of these distinct classifications of fat has its own qualities and characteristics, and of course, some of these fats are much healthier for you than others.
Saturated fat and trans fat are typically considered "bad" fats. These are the types of fat that you should avoid.
Unsaturated fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) are those that are beneficial when included in your diet.
Unsaturated fats maintain a more liquid structure, helping them to stay thin and light. These fats are not only beneficial to your body, but they can even help to ease some of the negative effects of saturated fats by helping to lower bad cholesterol.
There are two types of cholesterol: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is typically found in saturated fats and is considered to be “bad” cholesterol. HDL is found in unsaturated fats and is generally considered the better cholesterol.
Here’s more on the four types of fat.
Monounsaturated Fat
Monounsaturated fat is the healthiest type of fat. It’s effective at maintaining your HDL cholesterol while also lowering LDL cholesterol. High levels of LDL cholesterol can increase the odds of heart disease and stroke. Monounsaturated fat also provides nutrients that help to build, develop, and maintain cells.
A lot of monounsaturated fat comes from oils that also provide considerable vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant that may help to reduce inflammation. Monounsaturated fat can make up to 20% of your daily calories.
Polyunsaturated fat
Polyunsaturated fat is an essential part of your diet because your body uses it, but can’t produce it naturally. You can find polyunsaturated fat in both animal and plant-based foods, and it’s beneficial for your heart health. Eating foods with polyunsaturated fat can reduce the risk of arterial disease, stabilize your heartbeat, lower your blood pressure, and reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol in your blood.
There are two major types of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are the most beneficial (and most famous): omega-3 and omega-6. Omega-3 fatty acids help to reduce fat in your blood called triglycerides and slow the buildup of plaque in your arteries. Omega-6 helps to control your blood sugar and reduces your risk of developing diabetes.
Polyunsaturated fat can make up to 10% of your daily calories.
Saturated Fat
Saturated fat is the “better” of the two bad fats, but it still may not be great for you. Too much saturated fat can raise LDL cholesterol and reduce HDL cholesterol (generally considered the good kind). When your cholesterol levels start to shift in favor of LDL cholesterol, you can have a higher risk of clots and blockages. These blockages in your arteries make you more likely to develop high blood pressure, cardiovascular conditions, and experience a stroke or heart attack.
Most saturated fat comes from animal products such as meat and dairy, but it can also come from some plants. Pizza is one food that is often loaded with saturated fats, containing cheeses along with fatty meats like sausage, bacon, and pepperoni. Worse, pizza is a perfect blend of empty carbohydrates and fat that your body loves in the short term, but that can cause metabolic and heart health issues in the long run.
You should only be getting 5% to 7% of your daily calories from saturated fat.
Trans Fat
Trans fat is by far the worst type of fat and should be avoided as best as you can. It’s possible to find trans fat in animal and dairy products but typically only in trace amounts.
Most trans fats are created through a process called "hydrogenation." These are the trans fats that you encounter most often. Heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst will result in trans fat. This process is performed to make vegetable oils more stable and able to last longer. Hydrogenation can convert liquid oils into solids, which is used for margarine and some shortenings. Hydrogenated oils are perfect for deep frying as they can withstand extreme temperatures without breaking down.
Some countries and American municipalities have actually restricted the use of trans fats in restaurants, and the U.S. FDA labeled Partially Hydrogenated Oils as NOT Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). These are the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods.
Avoid trans fat as much as possible, and keep them to less than 1% of your daily calories.
How Rex MD Can Help
Fats are an essential part of your diet, but it’s important that you're eating the right types of fat. To keep it simple: consider fats that are minimally processed, as with olive and nut oils, and try to avoid trans fats that are highly altered before consumption, like vegetable-oil based shortenings.
Your body relies on fat to create enough fuel for proper function. A no-fat diet will not only be difficult to maintain, but it can also be pretty dangerous for your health. Instead, focus on avoiding and reducing bad fats (saturated and trans) as much as you can and centering your diet around healthier fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated).
