THE FATS WE LOVE
When it comes to choosing your fats, you want to aim for the unsaturated fats variety. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. As with many other nutrients, your body needs these, but it can’t make them, so it’s essential to get them from the food you eat.
There are two kinds of unsaturated fats: polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.
Polyunsaturated fats are primarily found in vegetable oils (such as safflower, sesame, soya, corn, and sunflower) as well as nuts and seeds. These fats have a variety of benefits, from helping to protect your muscles to help your blood clot.
Monounsaturated fats can be found in foods like olive oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, avocados, and nuts. These fats are beneficial for your blood cholesterol levels and insulin and blood sugar regulation.
You have probably heard about omega-3s are unsaturated fats, and they are typically found in fatty fish, like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, as well as a few
OMEGA – 3s FOR VEGETARIAN
Omega-3s comprise three kinds of fatty acids:
- ALA (alpha-linoleic acid)
- EPA(eicosapentaenoic acid)
- DHA(docosahexaenoic acid)
- Fatty fish and fish-oil products provide EPA and DHA, but these sources may not be appropriate for a vegan or an ovo-Lacto vegetarian.
- Ground instead, walnuts, soya beans, soya oil, rapeseed oil, and marine algae are all examples of plant-based sources of omega-3s.
As with essential amino acids, our bodies cannot produce these essential fatty acids and we cannot live without them, so we must get them from our food source.
Plant-based sources. you can believe the hype about these much-buzzed-about fats: they are superstars! From protecting you against heart disease and Alzheimer’s to boosting your brain power, omega-3s are some of the best fats you can choose.
THE FATS WE LIMIT
When we are choosing our fats, we want to limit the number of saturated fats, trans fat, and cholesterol that we select. These fats are the ones that may bear a threat to the health of our arteries and are the ones usually found in fast food and processed foods, as well as in dairy products, such as butter, cheese and milk, and meat products, as well as in coconut oil and palm kernel oil (found in many processed food).
There are about twenty-four different saturated fat, but it also helps boost your ‘good’ cholesterol level and your thyroid function.
When I indulge in saturated fats, it’s usually in the form of a nice piece of Cuban pork or a really delicious burger. But I don’t eat that way every day.
And things like fast-food burgers? Well, every once in a while I’ll get an urge and I’ll go ahead and give in. I get the smallest burger and fries available and enjoy the taste for that moment. But I always know that within the next thirty minutes, I’ll be nursing my poor belly, which is the one that takes the hard fall in order for my mouth to enjoy that taste of nostalgia.
But that’s not something I do very often. If I’m going to eat a burger, I prefer to either make it myself or go to a restaurant or burger joint that makes their burgers from fresh ingredients. High-quality fresh meats and cheeses still offer your body some nutrition, but fast food is just empty calories.
Speaking of natural versus artificial, there is NOTHING natural about trans fats. They are literally man-made fats, and they are no good. All-natural foods spoil at some point, so food manufacturers figured out a way to create fat that could keep their products ‘fresh’ for months on end.
Basically, they add hydrogen molecules to vegetable oil in order to create this extremely shelf-stable, solid fat. Margarine and vegetable shortening contain trans fats, and both of those ingredients are used in a ton of fast foods and processed foods, especially the kinds of foods you find at convenience stores and petrol stations (crisps, cakes, biscuits, crackers, etc). these fats have no saving graces. There is NO acceptable amount of trans fat.