Curejoy Expert Dipti Mothay Explains:
There are numerous types of fat. Fats that are found in foods from plants and animals and are known as Dietary fats; a macro nutrient that provides energy for your body. Research shows that healthy fats are necessary and beneficial for health. [1]
What are The Different Types of Dietary Fat?
The main types of fat found in food are monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Most foods have a different balance of these types of fats. Some of the dietary fats can be harmful, while others are potentially helpful fats.
Harmful Dietary Fat
Saturated Fat
The richest sources of saturated fat comes from animal sources of food. Although your body needs a little bit of saturated fat to stay healthy, eating too much saturated fat , especially those with Long Chain Fatty Acids, may increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. Some foods high in saturated fats are pork, lamb, butter and cheese.
Trans Fat
Most Trans fats are made artificially by food manufacturers. Naturally, they occur only in small amounts in some foods. Research shows that trans fats are by far the least healthy type of fat. Trans fats increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol and lower healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and should be avoided [2]. Foods that contain trans fats are usually packed and fried foods like doughnuts, cookies, crackers etc.
Healthy Dietary Fat
For good health and for initiating a healthy fat burning process, eat foods containing monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats with medium chain fatty acids instead of foods that contain trans fats or saturated fats with long chain fatty acids.
Monounsaturated Fat
It is a “heart healthy” type of fat. Studies show that eating foods rich in monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) improves blood cholesterol levels, which can decrease your risk of heart disease [3]. Foods like avocados, almonds and cooking oils made from plants and seeds like sunflower, olive, sesame contain monounsaturated fats.
Polyunsaturated Fat
It is also a “heart healthy” type of fat. Evidence shows that eating foods rich in polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) improves blood cholesterol levels, which can decrease your risk of heart disease [3]. Polyunsaturated fats include cooking oils made from plants like soybean and corn oil, and fatty fish like mackerel and salmon.
Saturated Fats with Medium Chain Fatty Acids
Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA) are found in abundance in coconut and palm oil. As compared to Long Chain Fatty Acids (LCFA), MCFAs are transported, absorbed and digested more easily, oxidized rapidly, have low tendency to deposit as body fat and are a source of abundant and rapidly available energy [4].
Crucial Ways Dietary Fat Triggers Fat Burn and Helps You Slim Down
Dietary Fat helps Burn Fat
Dietary fat helps break down existing fat by activating the fat-burning pathways through the liver. According to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the fat stored in the body’s peripheral tissues such as belly, thighs, or butt can’t be burned efficiently without new fat to help the process [5].
Delays Hunger
Fat takes longer time to digest than other nutrients; hence keeps you keep feeling full for a longer time. According to a study, diets with high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, a type of PUFA that the body can only acquire through food, creates a greater sense of fullness both immediately following and two hours after dinner than do meals with low levels of the fatty acids [6].
Helps in Nutrient absorption
Vitamins such as A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning that the body can’t absorb them without fat. If your body isn’t absorbing nutrients properly, it can lead to vitamin deficiencies and cause various health problems.
References
- Fats And Cholesterol, Harvard School Of Public Health
- Trans Fats, American Heart Association
- Nutrition and Healthy Eating, Mayo Clinic
- Medium Chain Triglycerides: An Update, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil on the Biochemical and Anthropometric Profiles of Women Presenting Abdominal Obesity, Lipids, 2009
- A diet rich in long chain omega-3 fatty acids modulates satiety in overweight and obese volunteers during weight loss, Appetite, 2008
