Do fats make you fat?
Does eating fat make you fat? What causes weight gain: carbohydrates or fat? What type of fat makes you fat? These are some of the questions you ask most at EmPawer Fitness. And it's the phrase "fats make you fat"It has been one of the most widely used in the world of nutrition, but it's false. ❌ The campaign against this macronutrient has been so powerful and impactful in the food industry that it has even created a huge market for 0% fat products, especially dairy products, and many people are looking for protein foods that contain less fat.
But we'll answer what's going through your mind right now. 👉No, fats are not bad and they are not as bad as the industry says. There are two types commonly known as healthy or good fats or bad fats. But how to choose good fats? Below, we'll give you the keys to what good fats are and how to consume healthy fats to give your body the benefits it needs from this essential element for your health.
What are the healthy fats?
First of all it is necessary to know what are fatsIn simple and quick words: they are organic molecules formed by carbon and hydrogen with a specific shape. The size of the molecule and the type of shape or configuration is what defines the type of fat. The simplest unit of this element is called a fatty acid, and these in turn are the basis of all the fats in our bodies, from cholesterol to earwax.
The length and conformation of the chains of fatty acids are the characteristics that define their function.
How to choose good fats?
Many times the word fat reminds us of gaining weight. However, with fats we should forget this term and focus on the good fats our body needs. The differences between healthy fats and unhealthy fats. We don't focus on whether I'll gain a kilo or a kilo less, because too much of anything makes you fat. Now we'll teach you. how to choose good fats.
What types of fats exist? The most controversial
Saturates and unsaturated: They are named according to the number of free hydrogen bonds they have. Imagine your hand is part of this chain and you have a ball, which is a hydrogen atom. If both hands have a ball, I am saturated (saturated fat), and if one of my hands is free, it is unsaturated fat. The more hands you have with a ball, the more saturated this fat is.
Knowing this, it will now be easier to understand why, for example, you will find healthy fats in fish and why it is an essential food.
- Foods with unsaturated fatsThe less saturated fats are, the more capable they are of compressing and remaining liquid at room temperature. This is why fish are full of Omega 3, an unsaturated fat that allows them to swim in low-temperature waters without freezing.
- Foods with saturated fatOn the other hand, saturated fats behave like a solid at room temperature, like butter or coconut oil.
What good fats does the body need?
Now you might be wondering How healthy fats act in your bodyThe body, more specifically the pancreas, secretes an enzyme at the level of the small intestine that breaks down dietary fat into small portions (or fatty acids) so that our body can absorb them more easily.
After The intestinal mucosa packages these fatty acids into small molecules called chylomicrons, which enter a transport system called lymph. After being transported to different parts of the body, Fatty acids can have 2 destinations:
- To be used as energy
- Regrouped into triglycerides for storage.
What are healthy fats for?
The benefits of healthy fats are numerous:
- They provide energy to the body
- They help maintain a correct hormonal balance, especially hormones that use fats as a base (sex hormones and corticosteroids).
- They are an essential part of our cell walls
- They are a fundamental part of our nervous system (brain, spinal cord)
- Transport of vitamins A,E,D,K
- And they provide 2 fatty acids that our body cannot form on its own: Omega 6 and Omega 3 (take note of these, I will explain them later).
Where to find healthy fats
There are many foods that provide fats., before making a list of them, it is worthwhile It is worth mentioning that the fats present in foods are usually a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats.. For example, the egg that has usually been associated with having more saturated fats are actually composed as follows: 39% saturated, 43% monounsaturated, and 18% polyunsaturatedThe best way to consume this macronutrient is through variety and quality. Here's a list of foods that provide fat:
- Nuts, seeds
- Avocado
- Dairy
- Egg
- Fish, especially blue fish
- Olives
- Beef/pork/etc.
- Olives
- Coco
Saturated fats are good or bad
These They are present in various foods For example, proteins of animal origin, eggs, dairy products, chocolate, to name a few.
In recent years, the concept, if not the myth, has become established that the higher the consumption of saturated fats, which in turn contain cholesterol, the more cholesterol we will have in our blood. However, I dare to challenge this concept and use the word myth to define it, since Reductionism at this level leaves aside concepts of body function (or physiology) that are important in fat metabolism.
Something else that's also true and we must take into account is that when saturated fats are processed and mixed with salt or sugar, they directly cause an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (or heart attacks). This is said from a position of maximum reductionism.
Omegas are fats that our body cannot produce and must obtain through our diet.
- The Omega 3 present in Flaxseed, chia, walnuts, and oily fish are essential elements for cell membrane health, allowing for the improvement of multiple functions such as the transmission of serotonin (a fundamental neurotransmitter for mental health), helping to delay neurological aging processes, improving insulin sensitivity, and helping to regulate autoimmune processes by reducing inflammation.
- The Omega 6 present in Sunflower, corn, sesame, peanut, cereal, egg, and margarine oils are a pillar in inflammatory processes.
Here's why this omega has been getting bad press. However We must remember that the inflammation process is what allows our body to repair itself.The answer lies in a balanced diet that includes both omegas, which keeps our body with the necessary inflammation to repair itself and with the right amount of omega-3 for efficient cells.
To give you an idea of how important balance is and how much we've disrupted it. In the past, the omega-2 intake balance was 1:6, but now, with processed diets, it can be as high as 20:1.
Therefore, a varied diet with foods that are as minimally processed as possible can help maintain this balance.
Finally, what are trans fats?
Let's talk a little about trans fats. In short, this is the name given to fats with a specific configuration in one of their bonds. The bond can be Cis or Trans. Almost all unsaturated fats in nature have the bond in the Cis position, except for a few exceptions present in meats and dairy products.
Therefore, most trans fats come from industrial processes where hydrogen is artificially added to unsaturated fats until they become solid at room temperature.
In our body these fats bind firmly to our cell membranes and can produce:
- Decrease in HDL.
- Increase cholesterol production.
- Create deficiency of essential fatty acids.
- Decrease the elasticity of the vessels, which in turn worsens chronic degenerative diseases such as hypertension.
Fats are an essential macronutrient that is essential for the overall health of the human body.Although they have a high energy content and we have to take into account not to exceed their consumption, a daily intake of high-quality, low-process fats will improve our cellular function, cognitive, mental and hormonal health.
We recommend that you see all this information in our YouTube Channel To better understand everything the world of fats hides. And don't be afraid to add a little bacon to your diet from time to time. If a diet is not appetizing, it is not sustainable.
