Knowing the Types of Fat You Are Eating

Hello, my dears! It’s Alla Sem here. For years, I thought all fat was the enemy. I tried to cut it out completely, and you know what happened? I was miserable, my food tasted like cardboard, and I still wasn’t losing weight. The truth is much more nuanced. Fat is not your enemy – but understanding the different types of fat is essential for your health and weight loss journey. Let me share what I’ve learned.

Why Fat Matters

Fat is a good source of energy and nutrients. It provides calories to the body and is found in foods like butter, oil, and meat. The thing we must pay attention to is balance. Excess fat intake can make us gain weight and have adverse effects on our health. On the other hand, fat is a good source of certain vitamins like vitamins A, D, K, and E. Plus, let’s be honest – food that contains fats simply tastes better.

Types of Fats

There are different kinds of fat, and they affect your body in very different ways. The key is knowing which ones to limit and which ones can actually benefit you. Here are the three main types you need to understand.

Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are the ones that remain hard at room temperature. Think of butter sitting on the counter – it stays firm. Excess intake of saturated fats can result in high cholesterol levels and heart disease. This type of fat is present mostly in milk, meats, and other dairy products. It’s also found in some tropical oils like coconut and palm oil. During my weight loss journey, I learned to reduce these fats without eliminating them completely.

Monounsaturated Fats
This type of fat remains liquid at room temperature. Think of olive oil sitting in a bottle – it pours easily. The good news is that monounsaturated fat is not very injurious to health. In fact, intake of monounsaturated fat can actually help lower your cholesterol level. This type of fat is found in vegetable oils like canola oil, peanut oil, and olive oil. Avocados are also rich in these healthy fats. I added more of these to my diet and felt satisfied and nourished.

Polyunsaturated Fats
This is another type of fat mainly found in vegetable oils like sunflower oil and corn oil. Seafood also contains ample amounts of polyunsaturated fat, especially fatty fish like salmon and mackerel. Here’s the amazing part: polyunsaturated fat can decrease the bad type of cholesterol while increasing the good type of cholesterol in your body. It also contains essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that your body needs but cannot produce on its own.

Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a type of fat that is an essential nutrient produced by your liver. Your body needs cholesterol to build cells and produce certain hormones. However, intake of too much fat from outside sources can lead to high cholesterol in your bloodstream. People who eat too much meat or dairy products can fall prey to high cholesterol. The key is balance, not elimination.

How Much Fat Should We Eat?

We must keep track of how much fat we are eating when we consume fatty foods. High calories from fat can add up quickly. All fat – whether healthy or unhealthy – contains 9 calories per gram. That’s more than double the calories in protein or carbohydrates.

Health experts generally recommend that no more than 30 to 35 percent of your daily calories should come from fat. Within that, only about 10 percent should come from saturated fats. The rest should come from those healthier monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources.

How to Regulate Intake of Fats

Every human body is different, so fat intake should be adjusted according to your age, activity level, and health status. A check must be kept on the calorie content of your food. The easiest way to do this is to read the ingredients mentioned on food packages. Labels tell you how much total fat, saturated fat, and sometimes even unsaturated fat each serving contains.

Remember this important truth: fat should not be completely abandoned from your diet. A proportional intake is essential for your body to function properly. Healthy fats help absorb vitamins, maintain cell membranes, and keep your hormones balanced. We just have to keep a check that we don’t take too much.

The Bottom Line

On my journey from 110 kg to 80 kg, learning about fats was a turning point. I stopped fearing fat and started choosing better fats. I swapped butter for olive oil, added avocados to my salads, and ate fatty fish a few times a week. The result? I felt fuller, my food tasted better, and my health improved.

Be kind to yourself as you learn. You don’t need to become a nutrition expert overnight. Start by reading labels, choosing healthier oils, and remembering that fat is not the enemy – ignorance about fat is.

With love and belief in you,
Alla Sem