Len A Hayman
Nutrition/ SCI 241
November 28, 2013
Dr. Joseph F. Robare
Understand Your Fats and Fiber
Bad fats are saturated and trans fats. Saturated fats are mostly in meats, dairy products and tropical oils. Saturated fat raises both bad cholesterol and good cholesterol, while trans-fat only raises bad cholesterol. This makes trans fats technically worse than saturated fats. The better fats would be monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated will lower your cholesterol, and unlike polyunsaturated they do not lower your good cholesterol. Your best fats would be the omega-3s (fish oil). This fat has shown to protect people from sudden cardiac death (Schardt,2002). Before you can understand the difference between good and bad fats, you need to some information about them. There are four major types of fats: monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, saturated fats, and trans-fats.
Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as good fats because they are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your overall health. These fats are found in olive, soybean, canola, and corn oils, avocados, fatty fish, and soymilk.
Saturated fats and trans-fats are known as bad fats because they increase your risk of disease and elevate cholesterol. These bad fats can be found in high-fat cuts of meat, packaged snack foods, butter, cheese, vegetable shortening, fried foods, and candy bars. Foods containing trans-fats, or trans fatty acids, are harmful because they are known to increase the risk of heart disease, increase total cholesterol levels, and cause your healthy HDL (good) cholesterol levels to drop. They are also responsible for clogging arteries and causing obesity. Saturated fat is a fat that contains only saturated fatty acids, is solid at room temperature, and comes mainly from animal food products. Some examples of saturated fat are
References: Mayo Clinic Staff, (2010). Schardt, D. (2002, July/August). Nutrition Action Health Letter. OILS & fats, Edible HEALTH