Such harmful - healthy fats! Despite the fact that many women find it almost a personal enemy, and combat pay a huge amount of time and effort, the fat in the body perform many useful functions. First and foremost: the fat - the most concentrated source of energy. Paradoxically, but the energy and the strength to fight against excess weight we provide exactly it - fat.

But he has other important functions: supplying the body with essential fatty acids (part of which is essential) and fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E. Fats form the lipid barrier of the skin, not allowing moisture to evaporate and protecting the skin from drying out. Fat helps the body efficiently use protein and carbohydrates. Sufficient amount of fat is necessary for good brain function, concentration, memory.

But the fat - fat hatred, and the world of fat is so varied and rich that you can get lost and confused. There are animal and vegetable fats (oils), solid and liquid, refractory and fusible.

So what are the fats benefit us, and what harm? - You ask. So the question can not be put. And the harm and benefits of fat depends on their number and combination of the diet. All natural fats and oils - they are mixtures of saturated, mono- and polyunsaturated fats. In any conventionally "good" fat contains small amounts of harmful fats in any "harmful" - useful.

Fat (triglycerides otherwise) refer to a class of lipids and are an organic compound of natural esters of glycerol and fatty acids. And now, these fatty acids are divided into: Saturated and unsaturated .

If there is a fatty acid molecule at least one free carbon bond is not related to hydrogen - is an unsaturated acid, if such there is no connection - the rich.

Saturated   fatty acids in large amounts (up to 50% of the total mass) contained in the solid animal fats. Exceptions are palm and coconut oil - in spite of vegetable origin, their fatty acids are saturated. Saturated acid - butyric acid, acetic acid, margarine, stearic, palmitic, arachidic, etc. Palmitic acid - one of the most common fatty acids in the lipids of animals and plants. In animal fats and cottonseed oil the acid is a quarter of the total fatty acids. The richest palmitic acid (almost half of the sum of all fatty acids) palm oil.

Unsaturated   fatty acids are mostly in liquid vegetable oils and seafood. Many vegetable oils their content reaches 80-90% (in sunflower, corn, linseed, olive). In animal fats also have unsaturated acids, but the number is small. By unsaturated include: palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, arachidonic acid and the like. There is still such a subtlety, unsaturated fatty acids, in which one molecule of free carbon bond - called monounsaturated, those who have these ties, and two more - polyunsaturated.

• Monounsaturated fatty acids   They are not indispensable, since our body is able to produce them. The most common of monounsaturated fatty acids - oleic acid - is found in large quantities in olive oil, avocado oil and peanut oil. It is believed that this kind of acid helps to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.

• Polyunsaturated fatty acids (Complex Omega-6)   -
coderzhatsya in sunflower oil, soybean oil, vegetable margarine.

• Polyunsaturated fatty acids (a complex of Omega-3)   According to the degree of utility they stand in the first place, as they have a broad effect on the various systems of the body: a positive effect on heart function, eliminate depression, anti-aging, reduction of cognitive and mental abilities with age, and have a host of other useful features .  They belong to the so-called "indispensable" fatty acids that the body can not synthesize their own and that must come from food .  Their main source - saltwater fish and seafood, and, the north of the fish lives, the more its fat acids omega-3 .  These fatty acids are found in certain plants, nuts, seeds, and oils obtained therefrom .  Chief among these is alpha-linolenic acid .  Its a lot of rapeseed, soybean oil, linseed and camelina oils .  They can not be subjected to heat treatment, and should be added to salads or taken as a dietary supplement .  Fully vegetable omega-3 fatty acids can replace marine: only a small part is converted in the body into the same acids contained in fish . 

Fats that we choose

Comparing the most common fat products, we were surprised we can observe that caloric vegetable oils ahead and butter, and lard, and olive oil contains almost no polyunsaturated fatty acids.

• Sunflower Oil (omega-6).   Most traditional vegetable oil in our latitudes. It contains a lot of polyunsaturated FA, but too little omega-3 fats. This is its main disadvantage.
The total fat content - 98%
Saturated fat - 12g
Monounsaturated - 19 g
Polyunsaturated 69 g of these omega-6 - 68 g; omega-3 - 1 g
Calories - 882 kcal

• Olive Oil (omega-9).
The total fat content - 98%
Saturated fat - 16 grams
Monounsaturated -73 g
Polyunsaturated - 11 g of which: omega-6 - 10 g; omega-3 - 1 g
Calories - 882 kcal
The percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids in olive oil is small, but there a huge amount of oleic acid. Oleic acid is present in the cell membranes of animals and plants, and helps to maintain arterial elasticity and skin. At high temperatures, it is stable (and therefore well suited for frying olive oil). Yes, and digested better than others. Olive oil is well tolerated even by people suffering from digestive disorders, diseases of the liver and gall bladder. Moreover, such patients even recommend taking a spoon of olive oil on an empty stomach - it has a light choleretic effect

• Flaxseed oil (source of omega-3).   Perfect power rare in normal diet and the most valuable omega-3 fats. It is used as a food additive and 1 tablespoon a day.
The total fat content - 98%
Saturated fats - 10 g
Monounsaturated - 21 g
Polyunsaturated - 69 g including omega-6 - 16 g; omega-3 - 53 g
Calories - 882 kcal

• Butter.   The present butter contains at least 80% milk fat.
The total fat content - 82, 5%
Saturated fat - 56 grams
Monounsaturated - 29 g
Polyunsaturated - 3 g
Cholesterol - 200 mg
Calories - 781 kcal
It contains vitamins (A, E, B1, B2, C, D, carotene) and lecithin, which lowers cholesterol, protects the blood vessels, stimulates the immune system and helps fight stress. It is easy to digest.

Such harmful - healthy fats! • Salo.
The total fat content - 82%
Saturated fat - 42 grams
Monounsaturated - 44 g
Polyunsaturated - 10 g
Cholesterol - 100 mg
Calories - 738 kcal
Lard contains valuable polyunsaturated arachidonic acid, which in vegetable oils is absent It is part of the cell membrane, enzyme is part of the heart muscle, and is involved in cholesterol metabolism. Moreover, the content of unsaturated fatty acids, fat is far ahead of butter. That is why the biological activity of fat in five times higher than that of butter and tallow.

• Margarine.
The total fat content - 82%
Saturated fat - 16 grams
Monounsaturated - 21 g
Polyunsaturated - 41 g
Calories - 766 kcal
Replace butter contains no cholesterol. It is rich in unsaturated fatty acids. If the composition of margarine low in trans fat content (soft margarine), which are formed during the partial hydrogenation (hardening) of liquid oils, his dietary quality are good enough to replace them butter.

The only uniquely harmful fats - trans fats it!   Independent studies confirm the link between diets high in trans fats and coronary heart disease. In 1994, it was found that an annual trans fats are responsible for about 30,000 deaths from heart disease in the US

• Spreads   - Essentially the same margarines, spreads, but limited use hydrogenated fats and margarines virtually no such restriction. Besides matters of any mixture of vegetable oils used in the manufacture of the spread.

So what are the fats and oils to choose (since I can not do without them)? Nutritionists still have not agreed how much cholesterol (and it is also vital) fatty acids should receive a healthy person. So - more variety, use all the rich natural potential of fat, but do not overdo it with the amount. Everything is good in moderation!
Author: Olga Travleeva