Many of us has been hearing a lot about healthy fats, omega 3 and saturated fats but what we need to know is which fats is good for us and how much I should consume
To answer that question we need first to understand what is fats, What are the types of fats? and how we can consume it
1. Types Of Fats:
- Saturated Fats:
those fats are having a solid structure at room temperature , they are also divided into the following Dairy based, Meat based and Vegan based, All are healthy and needed by your body to function but need to be consumed in moderations
Sources :
A. Dairy : whole milk, milk cream, cheese, Yogurt, Ghee, Butter
B. Meat: All kind of meat including (lamb, beef and chicken) and their products
C. Vegan: Coconut oil , Avocado, dark chocolate , eggs
2. Monounsaturated Fats (MUFAs)
Those fats checmical structure having only one double bond (Carbon – to – Carbon) , those fats are found in variety of food like (olive oil, Avocados, Nuts, Peanut butter, Sesame
those fats are very good to lowerd your blood bad cholestrol LDL and triglycerides, and increase HDL also they can control your blood sugar
3. Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFAs)
Those are the most popular fats they have more than one doube bond that is why its called Poly, they also reduce the LDL and triglycerides, they are mainly two types of fats (Omega 3 and Omega 6)
Most of the food we consume have so much of omega 6 to omega 3 ratio which inbalance what your body needs , our typical body needs a ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 from 1:1 up to 4:1, but unfortunately it is almost impossible to achieve that percentage for exmaple most nuts are havinv very high omega 6 to omega 3 ratio except seeds which has a higher omega 3 in the nuts the best omega 6 to omega 3 ratio are walnuts and macdemia also milk products have a considerable amount of omega 3 comparing omega 6 specially organic milk products somtimes it reaches up to ratio of 1:1 which is a very good balance
the most amount of omega 3 is available in the fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, Herring, seabreem which is the highest of all the fish also a very good source of omega 3 is flax seed oil
2. What we should consume to have a healthier life:
Your body needs fats to function, your brain, skin , hair and muscles they all need fats but how much and which kind
most of us do not focus of what kind of fats and how much are we consuming and the result that we have too much of unhealthy fats and too little of the healthy fats which lead to us gaining weight, and affecting our overall health
in general try limiting your total fat intake as our bodies normally needs around 30% of fats per day from your total calorie intake and the profile should be higher omega 3 and omega 6
so using Ghee or butter, cononut butter, avocado oil, olive oil , flax seed ,walnuts and fish will be the best way to have your fats from a healthy sources, and try to stay away completely from unhealthy fats like trans fats, processed oils
Athelets and specially bodybuilders needs a higher calorie intake and in turn they need more fats in order to maintain their muscle structure
