Consume Healthy Fats For Your Vitality
Not all fats are made equal when it comes to their healthiness. So which fats are ok for you and what specifically do they do for the body?
There are a lot of different individual fatty acids within each category; all fats are composed of carbon chain molecules bonded to hydrogen molecules and it’s the length and form of these carbon chains and how the hydrogen molecules are added that gives fats their different properties.
Consume healthy fats for your vitality
Fat isn’t a unique nutrient.
According to WebMD, dietary fat can be separated into four broad categories:
- Saturated
- Trans fats
- Polyunsaturated
- Monounsaturated
The American Heart Association signed out that there are small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats in some dairy products, and meat, but it is not clear if these natural trans fats have the same negative health impacts as industrially made trans fats.
Harvard Medical School cataloged monounsaturated fats -as found in avocados and olive oil- and polyunsaturated fats -as found in flaxseeds and salmon- as the healthiest fats to consume.
In spite of their bad reputation, some saturated fats may be healthy if they are eaten in the correct portions. On the other hand, artificial trans fats “in the form of hydrogenated vegetable oils”, however, have been associated with a number of health conditions and should be avoided.
Healthy fats are an important source of vitality
As with any other macronutrient, your body creates dietary fat into energy that fuels your cells. But unlike the other macronutrients, which provide four calories per gram, fat provides nine calories per gram. Your body uses these calories to provide you will the energy you need for life.
Although fats are an excellent source of energy, Medical News Today advised focusing more on protein and carbs prior to a workout, as fat is consumed more slowly than carbohydrates or protein and won’t give the quick power boost you need.
