Good Fat vs Bad Fat

December 3rd, 2009

For most people, fats have been generally considered as something bad. The truth is, fat doesn’t necessarily cause disease, and can actually play an important role in its prevention. That’s something weird especially to those seeking fast weight loss solution. The truth however is that there really are good fats that benefit us.
In order to better understand, it’s nice to know some good and bad fats found in most of our diet.

The Good Fats

Monounsaturated Fats
Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol). These are usually found in foods such as including peanuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios, avocado, canola and olive oil are high in MUFAs.

Polyunsaturated Fats
Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol and are found in seafood like salmon and fish oil, and others like corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oils. Omega 3 fatty acids is also classified under this.

The Bad Fats

Saturated Fats
Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). These are typically found in animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs and seafood. Some plant foods are also high in saturated fats such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.

Trans Fats
Trans fats are invented as scientists began to “hydrogenate” liquid oils so that they can withstand better in food production process and provide a better shelf life. As a result of hydrogenation, trans fatty acids are formed. Trans fatty acids are found in many commercially packaged foods, commercially fried food such as French Fries from some fast food chains, other packaged snacks such as microwaved popcorn as well as in vegetable shortening and hard stick margarine.

Source: HealthCastle.com.

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