Fats

Recently Answered

• QHow can I identify and avoid bad fats?

  4 Answers

  A

  

  A Dr. Ronald Tamler, MD , Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism, answered on behalf of The Mount Sinai Health System

  There are two main types of potentially harmful dietary fat: 

  • Saturated fat, which comes mainly from animal sources, raises total blood cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. 
  • Trans fat is made during food processing through partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fats. This process creates synthetic fats, which can increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol and lower healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease.

  See All 4 Answers
• QHow can I include saturated fats in a healthy diet?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Mark Hyman, MD , Family Medicine, answered

  A healthy meal plan can include saturated fats. For example, you could take your vegetables and cook them in coconut oil. You could have a piece of grass-fed steak, which has the saturated fat in it. Those are fine as long as you’re eating clean, healthy food. If you’re eating a lot of sugar and carbs with the fat, then it’s dangerous. So, if you’re having, for example, a donut, that’s bad because it’s sugar and fat. But, if you have just the fat without the refined carbs, it actually is really great.
  
  I, for example, like to get a tablespoon of peanut butter and I put it in my morning shake and I have what I call a “fat shake” in the morning. I have nuts and seeds. I put in almond butter, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and hemp seed. I put in coconut butter. I even put in coconut milk, which is creamy and delicious and without sugar in it or processed ingredients.  I blend it with some berries. It’s an amazing fat and protein shake with lots of antioxidants and fiber and minerals, and it keeps me going all day long.
  
  You could also put butter on your vegetables. Some people are making coffee with it and it sounds crazy. But this "bulletproof coffee" is powerful.
• QWhat are good sources of odd omega fatty acids 3, 5, 7 and 9?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  

  Each of the odd omega fatty acids 3, 5, 7 and 9 have healthy food sources you should include in your diet to enjoy the benefits of these nutrients. In this video, I will share some of these food sources.

  

  Find out more about this DVD:

  What Are Good Sources of Odd Omega Fatty Acids 3, 5, 7 and 9?
  Buy DVD
• QWhy should I lower my triglyceride levels?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Jonathan A. Fialkow, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answered on behalf of Baptist Health South Florida

  Triglycerides are the end product of digesting and breaking down fats and carbohydrates in foods.
  
  The heart healthy benefit of lowering your triglyceride level has not been conclusively proven. However, research continues to link triglycerides and harmful low-density lipoproteins (LDL or "bad" cholesterol) particles to the build-up of wax plaque inside blood vessels. Doctors call this problem "coronary atherosclerosis." It’s a major risk factor for heart disease and the ultimate cause of heart attacks and strokes and death.
  
  Your doctor can measure your triglyceride levels using a common test called a lipid panel. It’s the same blood test that checks “good” (HDL) and “bad” (LDL) cholesterol levels. Prescription omega-3 fatty acid products have proven to be safe and effective in lowering high triglycerides and unhealthy LDL-containing particles, such as triglyceride-rich lipoproteins.
   
• QWhat is dietary fat made of?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Vonda Wright, MD , Orthopedic Surgery, answered

  Fat is built of fatty acids containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Fatty acids come in three varieties: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. The more saturated the molecule is with hydrogen molecules, the more solid the fat is at room temperature and the worse it is for your health.
• QWhat should I know about odd omega fatty acids 3, 5, 7 and 9?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  

  The odd omega fatty acids 3, 5, 7 and 9 are all healthy for you! Watch internal medicine specialist Michael Roizen, MD, explain the amazing benefits of these important nutrients, and the various foods you should include in your diet to get them.

  

  Find out more about this DVD:

  What Should I Know About Odd Omega Fatty Acids 3, 5, 7 and 9?
  Buy DVD
• QWhat do saturated and trans fats do to my arteries?

  3 Answers

  A

  

  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  Limit your saturated and trans fats (an artificial form of saturated fat) to less than 20 grams a day. No food element has been more closely linked to arterial aging than these kinds of fats, found mostly in meats, full-fat dairy products, baked goods, fried fast foods, and palm and coconut oils.
  
  These kinds of fats increase arterial inflammation, which promotes plaque buildup, and they also turn on the mechanism that increases LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream-yet another way to slap more plaque onto your arteries. They're truly the four-letter words of heart disease.

  See All 3 Answers
• QHow does olive oil help to clean out my arteries?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answered

  Olive oil contains monounsaturated fats, which help raise your HDL cholesterol-the "healthy" cholesterol carried through your body by high-density lipoproteins. It actually helps clean out your arteries as it moves through. When it comes to HDL, higher is better-so an HDL level of 60 versus one of 39 will make the average 55-year-old woman four years younger.
  
  Vegetables and flavonoids have also been shown to raise HDL. In fact, you should make sure that healthy fat makes up about 25 percent of your daily calories.