Some facts about healthy and unhealthy fats

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Most people are confused when it comes to dietary fat. In fact, there are many different types of fats, and each has its own role in the body. Even within fat groups such as saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated, there are still different roles. This article will explain the differences between some of the key dietary fats and their effects on health.

1. Not all saturated fats are bad

Saturated fats differ from unsaturated fats in the chemical bonds: double bonds, triple bonds. This makes it more stable, so it can stay solid at room temperature.
Saturated fat has always been the subject of a lot of controversy and nutritionists do not always agree on how it affects health.
People often lump all saturated fats together, but actually, there are many different types of saturated fat and they have different health effects. Labeling saturated fats as “healthy fats” or “unhealthy fats” is an oversimplification.
One distinguishing feature of fats is their length, that is, the number of carbon atoms they contain. Fats can be short (containing less than six carbons), medium (6–10 carbons), long (12–22 carbons) or very long (22 or more carbons).
Your cells process fats very differently depending on the length of their chains, meaning that fats of different lengths can have different health effects.
A study of 16,000 adults in Europe found that consumption of long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) was associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
VLCFAs long-chain fatty acids are found in nuts, including: Peanut oil and canola oil. The study also found that the long-chain fatty acids arachidic acid found in vegetable oils had a protective effect.
However, saturated fat with an even or odd number of carbons in its chain is also very important. The same study of 16,000 European adults found that saturated fatty acids with an even number of carbons were associated with type 2 diabetes, while fats of odd length were associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes. lower disease.
Even-length saturated fats are found mainly in: Meats, cheeses and baked goods. These fats also include palmitate, the name for palm oil, but are also found in milk, meat, cocoa butter, and fully hydrogenated vegetable oils. Another even-length saturated fat, myristate, can be found in butter, coconut, and palm oil.
Saturated fats that are longer than normal include heptadecanoate and pentadecanoate, which mainly come from beef and dairy.
Because the health effects of saturated fats and how they are metabolized are so varied, it doesn't make sense to consider them all good or all bad.

2. People eat food, not a single nutrient

While most nutrition studies look at the effects of individual nutrients, even the same specific type of fat can have different effects depending on its source.
For example, palmitate saturated fat from lard causes atherosclerosis in animals, but the same saturated fat obtained from beef fat does not. Rearranging the way the fats in lard connect to make them look more like beef fat also help reverse the harmful effects of palmitate.
Although these differences are complex, the type of food we eat is more important than the type of fat it contains. For example, one avocado contains the same amount of saturated fat as three slices of bacon. However, eating about half to 1.5 avocados per day actually lowers LDL cholesterol levels, according to a study of 229 adults. This may be partly due to differences in the type of saturated fat in avocados and how they are made. However, avocados also contain healthy plant compounds that may provide other benefits.
When you decide to include fats in your diet, choosing a variety of healthy foods including vegetables, nuts, seeds and fish is more important than focusing on choosing individual fatty acids.

3. The effect of saturated fat can be varied by many factors

When researchers look at the link between saturated fat and health, they often think saturated fat comes from meat, cheese, and other dairy.
In fact, 15% of the saturated fat in the American diet comes from high-carb desserts, including cakes, cookies, pastries, and candies. Another 15% comes from carb-rich foods such as burgers, fries, pizza and another 6% comes from dairy-based desserts.
When these snacks and desserts are only shown in research by their saturated fat content, it is difficult to distinguish their health effects from other foods that also contain nutrients. saturated fat.
For example, cheese contributes more saturated fat to the Western diet than any other food. However, the largest study of cheese looked at its effects in 177,000 adults over a period of 5 to 15 years and found no link between cheese and early death.
Another large study that followed hundreds of thousands of adults for 25 years found that consuming milk, cheese and yogurt did not increase heart disease, and even slightly reduce the risk of stroke.
Regarding meat, a study of 1.6 million adults found that the group that ate the highest amounts of processed meat had an approximately 20% higher risk of heart disease and death from any cause compared with those who ate the highest amounts of processed meat. those who ate the lowest amount. The study also found that people who ate the most red meat had a 16% higher risk of dying from heart disease than those who ate the least amount of meat. However, it's important to note that sometimes, people misattribute the effects of an unhealthy diet to saturated fat.
It's true that diets high in saturated fat tend to be high in calories and lead to weight gain, so it can be easy to blame saturated fat for the effects caused by excess calories. Some studies have shown that heart disease is more closely related to calories and weight gain than it is to saturated fat, although saturated fat can cause weight gain. This argument is important because it means that many foods high in saturated fat are safe, as long as they are eaten in moderation in the diet and do not cause weight gain.

4. It is the artificial trans fat that is the culprit of heart disease, not the natural trans fat

Trans fats are created industrially by “hydrogenating” vegetable oils. This process converts liquid unsaturated fats into saturated fats. Trans fats are usually solid or nearly solid.
The most common sources of trans fats include: Cakes, pies, cookies, cream fillings, fried foods or margarine.
Oils that are “fully hydrogenated” become indistinguishable from saturated fats and are considered by the body as saturated fat.
Trans fats are one of the many causes of atherosclerosis and heart disease. A 39-month study of atherosclerosis in the heart arteries of 50 men found that the disease got worse faster in men who consumed more trans fats.
An increase in atherosclerosis can increase the risk of a heart attack. A study in 209 people who had recently experienced a heart attack found that they had higher levels of trans fat in their fat cells than 179 adults who had not had a heart attack.
Look carefully at the ingredients listed on the packaging when you go shopping. If the manufacturer lists "partially hydrogenated" on the food label, the food contains trans fats and should be limited.
Industrial or artificial trans fats are clearly harmful while dairy and meat products also contain small amounts of natural trans fats but they are not harmful.

5. Heart-healthy unsaturated fats

Unlike saturated fats, unsaturated fats have double chemical bonds that change the way your body stores and uses them for energy.
Unsaturated fats are good for the heart and some fats are better than others. Similar to saturated fats, there are different types of unsaturated fats. Their length, number and location of double bonds affect their effects in the body.
Monounsaturated fats have one double bond, while polyunsaturated fats have two to six double bonds.
Monounsaturated fats are abundant in olive oil, canola and avocado. These fats can also be found in tree nuts, including almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and cashews.
A study that followed 840,000 adults for 4 to 30 years found that those who consumed the most monounsaturated fats had a 12% lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who ate the least.
This benefit is highest in oleic acid and olive oil, compared with other monounsaturated fat sources.
Polyunsaturated fats are even more beneficial than monounsaturated fats. In one study, replacing foods high in saturated fat with sources of polyunsaturated fat reduced the risk of heart disease by 19%. This means that for every 5% of daily calories of people who consume polyunsaturated fats, their risk of heart disease is reduced by 10% compared with those who eat saturated fat. Polyunsaturated fats are found mainly in vegetable and seed oils.
Omega-3 fatty acids are a prominent type of polyunsaturated fat, found in seafood, especially fatty fish such as: Salmon, herring, bluefin tuna,...
One A study in 45,000 adults used the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood and adipose tissue to estimate the amount of omega-3 in their diets. Research has found that a high omega-3 intake is associated with a 10% lower risk of heart disease.
Not all studies have found the same benefits of these fats. Some people are even concerned about eating fish because it can be a source of mercury, a poison if consumed in large enough amounts.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency have stated that two to three weekly servings of fish are the safe limit, although this depends on fish type. However, they recommend against regularly eating fish that are high in mercury, including large fish such as king mackerel, sailfish, swordfish and bigeye tuna. Albacore and yellowfin tuna have smaller amounts of mercury and are considered safe to eat up to once per week. While salmon and white fish are safe to eat 2-3 times a week.

The more you know about fats, the better equipped you will be to make healthy choices. It is important to understand that each specific type of fat has unique effects on the body and these effects can be good or bad. For example, many studies lump all saturated fats together, when in reality there are many different types of saturated fat, each with a different role in the body. In addition, humans do not eat saturated fat alone, but we choose foods that contain different types of fats and many other nutrients. Even the same type of saturated fat can have different effects depending on how it is used.
For example, the saturated fats in milk, poultry, and some vegetable oils are neutral and even heart-healthy. Unsaturated fats are always good for the heart, while industrial trans fats are always bad. In contrast, the small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats found in some foods such as milk are harmless, as are the cholesterol in eggs and other animal products.
In general, choose good fats, including unsaturated and saturated fats from a variety of vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish and unprocessed meat. Avoid using bad fats like partially hydrogenated oils and saturated fats in processed meats.
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Reference article: healthline.com