The importance of fats cannot be underestimated because of the vital functions they perform in our body and which translate into wholesome health benefits.
Planning your diet for optimum health benefits goes a long way to prevent any major health problems. As far as the macronutrient fats are concerned, you should incorporate foods that contain the right type of fats to obtain the best benefits.
You have the “good fats” and the “bad fats”: the former includes unsaturated fats while the latter include saturated and trans fats. For decades, this classification has stayed.
The “good fats” do all the good things for your health. They reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
You should, therefore, choose your fats well, avoiding the bad ones and incorporating the good ones into your diet.
Importance of fats: Health benefits and risks
Here we shall try to analyze the benefits and importance of the different types of fats to our health: Trans fats, saturated fats, and unsaturated fats
Trans fats: Do they have any benefits?
There is no research that shows any health benefits of trans fats. That these fats do nothing but harm your health is proven beyond doubt. You should, therefore, avoid them completely.
They raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Their regular dietary consumption increases your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Their only benefit lies in their commercial use. They are easy to use, inexpensive to manufacture, and can be stored for a long time.
Trans fats impart good taste and texture to foods. Commercial establishments use them to deep-fry foods because oils with trans fats can be used repeatedly for frying.
Saturated fats benefits
Saturated fats are also put in the same harmful category as trans fats. However, there is recent research, which defies this categorization and insists that saturated fats are indeed required in your diet in the recommended amount.
It admits that excessive consumption of saturated fats does raise LDL but it also raises HDL, the good cholesterol.
HDL removes the LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream and carries it to the liver for excretion. HDL, therefore, reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by lowering LDL cholesterol.
But, what about these fats increasing your LDL cholesterol? You should know that not all LDL cholesterol is bad.
LDL has two subtypes:
Small and dense, which can penetrate the arterial wall and cause heart disease
Large LDL particles cannot penetrate the arterial wall and therefore, do not increase the risk of heart disease.
Again, research has shown that eating saturated fats changes small and dense LDL into large and benign LDL.
Saturated fats do not harm your lipid profile and do not increase your risk of heart disease as previously believed.
Like all fats, one gram of saturated fat contains 9 calories. You should, therefore, exercise caution and consume them in moderation for fear of gaining weight.
Besides other functions, the importance of fats, unsaturated fats, for our cardiovascular health can only be described as essential.
These fats help to maintain a healthy lipid profile. They improve levels of high-density lipoprotein, and subsequently lower levels of LDL lipoprotein. HDL transports LDL cholesterol to your liver so it can be flushed out of your body.
Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), such as omega-3 fatty acids, can also help lower your triglyceridelevels.
Unsaturated fats also help reduce inflammation and build stronger cell membranes in the body.
Besides the above-mentioned functions fats perform, there is a vast range of other functions that outline the essential importance of fats.
Antioxidants. Foods containing unsaturated fats are rich in antioxidants.
Cell wall formation. Fats help in the formation of cell walls. A membrane lipid is a compound, which forms the double-layered surface of all cells. This is probably one of their most important functions.
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins and can be absorbed by the body only with the help of fats. This factor also helps in the absorption of calcium and in maintaining bone strength. Due to this property, night blindness, rickets, and anemia are prevented.
Supply energy. For the first 20 minutes of physical activity, energy is supplied by carbohydrates. After that period, stored fats provide energy. One gram of fat provides 9 calories of energy – more than twice the amount you get from carbohydrates and proteins.
Maintain body temperature. In cold weather, fats provide you with insulation against the cold and help in maintaining body temperature.
Promote the health of body cells. Fats are very important to help body cells to absorb nutrients. They, therefore contribute significantly to promoting body cell health.
Promote the clotting of blood during the healing of injuries. This property of fats also helps prevent internal bleeding.
Benefits on skin. The Omega-3 fatty acids provide and help to maintain adequate levels of prostaglandins. Lack of prostaglandins in the body will lead to itching, dryness of skin, and cracking of nails. This property, therefore, helps to promote healthy skin.
Night vision. Fats improve night vision.
Sex hormones. Fats help in the production of sex hormones.
Cancer. Essential fatty acids, Omega-3 and Omega-6 reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer.
Protection to viscera. Visceral fats provide a protective covering on the organs in the body.
Benefit on the nervous system. Fats form an important part of the structure of the nerve cells and also of the myelin sheath which covers every nerve fiber. Fats are, therefore, important for the proper functioning of the brain and the nervous system.
Lactation. Fats help in the production of milk in lactating mothers.
Immunity. They help in the proper functioning of the immune system.
Fats provide energy for the heart to function and good fats help in maintaining a healthy heart.
What you should do?
All these facts emphasize the importance of fats to our body’s health. However, that does not mean you should feast on them. It s necessary that you stick to moderation when consuming fatty foods. They are high in calories and can cause weight gain, which has its disadvantages.
But, as mentioned above, choose healthy fats over unhealthy fats and avoid trans fats foods at all costs.
