Fats

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• QDoes eating fat make me fat?

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  A Neal Spruce , Fitness, answered on behalf of dotFIT

  Eating more calories than you burn makes you fat, whether those calories come from carbohydrates, protein or fat. Any amount of food/calories you consume over the average amount of calories you burn will be stored as fat. At the end of the day it is our non-fitness friendly environment that forces us to sit or not move most of the day, combined with our biology that has hard wired us to eat when food is available (and all of it) whether we are hungry or not that has led to overweight societies in developed nations. Americans eat 250 more calories per day than they did a decade ago and they move less because of technology and lifestyle.

  Just remember one thing: excess calories make you fat. Your daily calories can contain anywhere between 15-30% fat as long as the majority comes from polyunsaturated fats, which contribute to your health. Avoid saturated fats, which primarily come from animal sources as much as possible.

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• QWhat are monounsaturated fats?

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  A Intermountain Healthcare answered

  Monounsaturated fat is a type of unsaturated fat that may lower total cholesterol while keeping high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or "good" cholesterol high. Avocados, olive oil, peanut oil, and canola oil are high in monounsaturated fat.

• QWhat are the side effects of eating saturated fat?

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  A RealAge answered

  For a real happy meal that's kind to your waist, keep saturated fat low and trans fat close to zero. If your refrigerator is stocked with pepperoni pizza, cookie dough and full-fat cheeses, it's likely you're getting too much saturated fat and not enough fruits and vegetables. Saturated and trans fats boost body-wide inflammation and gunk-up your arteries. Some foods with saturated fat are healthy and can still be enjoyed, like avocados, salmon and nuts, but most others should be tossed. You'll start losing your belly fat and power-washing your arteries, too.

• QWhat type of oil is best for my diet?

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  A Ximena Jimenez , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

  Olive oil is a major feature of the mediterranean diet. It also has good reputation as a healthy fat due to its three main components: monounsaturated fat, antioxidants and vitamin E. Monounsaturated fat is known to reduce your bad cholesterol, prevents your LDL from becoming oxidized and can raise your protective good cholesterol. The antioxidants in olive oil are health promoting. Vitamin E is known to be good for your heart, skin and overall health.

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• QWhy should I limit my intake of saturated fat?

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  A Janis Jibrin, MS, RD , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of The Best Life

  

  Saturated fatty acids are considered unhealthy fats because, when eaten in excess, they raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL—"bad" cholesterol) and have been linked to an increased risk for heart disease, breast, colon, prostate and pancreatic cancer. To make matters worse, a high intake of saturated fat appears to increase insulin resistance, which raises risk for type 2 diabetes.

  You can't completely avoid saturated fat, nor should you; you need some to be healthy. Even healthy foods like olive oil and nuts contain some saturated fat. But it’s wise to limit whole milk, burgers, cheese, palm oil and other foods that are particularly high in this fat.

  You may have seen reports in the media and in scientific journals saying that saturated fat is not a trigger for heart disease. One reason for the controversy is that studies show that when people reduce levels of saturated fat in the diet and replace it with bread, rice, cookies and other white flour-based high carbohydrate foods they actually increase their risk for developing heart disease. But substituting polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat (from olive oil, canola oil and other sources) for some of the saturated fat, actually reduces heart disease risk. So, your take-home: In excess, both saturated fat and refined carbohydrates are unhealthy.

  

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• QWhat are some foods that are high in saturated fat?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  Here are a few examples of foods that are high in saturated fat.
  Animal sources:

  • Meats such as poultry with the skin or fatty cuts of beef and pork
  • High-fat dairy products such as whole or 2% milk, butter, cream cheese, sour cream, and ice cream
  • Lard and other meat fats

  Plant sources:

  • Cocoa butter and coconut
  • Tropical oils such as coconut, palm, and palm kernel oil

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• QHow can I identify and avoid bad fats?

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  A Sigma Nursing answered

  You want to avoid or limit saturated fats. Saturated fat comes from animal sources, whole milk dairy products, and some oils. Saturated fat is found in red meat, butter, cheeses, luncheon meats, cocoa butter, coconut oil, palm oil, and cream. Saturated fats boost total cholesterol by elevating harmful LDL cholesterol.
  
   Trans fats are perhaps the worst fats of all. They are formed when unsaturated vegetable oils are hydrogenated to make them solid at room temperature (stick margarine). In the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study, researchers found that among 80,000 women aged 34 to 59, trans fats greatly increased the risk for coronary heart disease. In these findings, researchers reported each 2 percent increase in trans fat calories raised the women’s coronary risk by 93 percent.
  
  Avoid high trans fat foods such as fried foods, snack and fast‑food products, commercial breads, crackers, pastries, and many processed foods.

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• QWhat foods contain monounsaturated fats?

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  A Intermountain Registered Dietitians , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Intermountain Healthcare

  Monounsaturated fats occur primarily in plant oils. Rich sources of monounsaturated fats include:

  • Olive, canola, and peanut oils

  • Olives, nuts, and avocados

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