Few public health messages are as powerful and as persistent as this one: Fat is bad. We spend billions of dollars a year on low-fat cookies, fake-fat chips, pills that block the absorption of fat from the digestive system, and all manner of fat- busting diets and cookbooks.
But we aren't any healthier for all of this effort. In fact, we're worse off for it. Americans are overweight, diabetes and other chronic diseases are on the rise.
The truth is that some fats are good for you, and it is important to include these good fats in your diet. There are four types of dietary fat: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated, and trans. The two types of fat that are good for you are the monounsaturated and polynsaturated, while saturated fats should be eaten in moderation and trans fats should hardly be incorporated into your diet at all.
Eating unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats, carbohydrates, and trans fats can give you many health benefits including:
1. Lowering the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, without also lowering levels of HDL (good) cholesterol;
2. Preventing the increase in triglycerides, another form of fat circulating in the bloodstream that has been linked with heart disease, that occurs with high-carbohydrate diets;
3. Reducing the development of erratic heartbeats, a main cause of sudden cardiac death; and
4. Reducing the tendency for blood-flow -blocking clots to form in arteries
How do we get this good fat? The main sources are from olives and olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil; cashews, almonds, peanuts, and most other nuts; peanut butter; avocados; corn, soybean, safflower, and cottonseed oils; and fish.
So here is my challenge to you: Replace saturated and trans fats with mono and polyunsaturated fats in your diet one time a day-and hopefully your body will start to reap the benefits in no time!
Source: Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy by Walter C. Willett, M.D.
