Lifetime Individual Health Concern, Benefits and Tips

People abhor fats because of its lifetime health impact. With the alarming rate of heart disease, obesity, being overweight and other diseases, who would not dislike fats? Eating fatty foods are one of the reasons why heart diseases, hypertension, and diabetes are already common even in younger generations. However, no matter how we dislike all the fats, they still have vital roles to the body. Fats are important to lubricate body surfaces, form body hormones, store energy, and insulate the body from cold temperatures. Sufficient amount of body fats help protect internal organs. Fats also carry fat-soluble vitamins that are necessary elements to the blood cell membranes.

Unfortunately, not all fats are created to your benefits. There are some that are not. Here are the facts about fats and how they become factors of your weight gain or weight loss:

• Saturated fats. Saturated fats are abundant in coconuts, other tropical oils, dairy products and other animal products like fatty meats and eggs. These fats can raise your cholesterol level and can cause body inflammation. Diets containing large amounts of saturated fats increase the risk of heart diseases and some cancers. It will be better that you choose fishes, lean poultries, legumes, nuts, and seeds for a healthier alternative.

• Transfats. These fats are worse than saturated fats. Transfats are naturally found in some dairy products. However, some transfats are created artificially and can even do more danger than natural transfats. Transfats are common in vegetable oils, margarines, processed snack foods, oils used for deep frying, and pastries. Unfortunately, many people are addicted in eating these kinds of food that can trigger health concern on heart diseases. Learn to shun them as much as possible.

• Monounsaturated fats. These are fatty acids that are abundant in plants. Canola oil, peanuts, avocadoes contain monounsaturated fats; however, the best example of all is the olive oil which has large volume of monounsaturated fats. These fats are liquid in room temperature and are good for the body to reduce the risks of heart diseases. This kind of fats lowers blood cholesterol, reduce inflammation, keep blood vessels healthy, and reduce risks of certain cancers. It is advisable to use monounsaturated fats everyday under regulated amounts.

• Polyunsaturated fats. These fats have two types: omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fish, flax seeds, chia seeds, and other kinds of tuna. Omega-6 fatty acids can be found in vegetable and seed oils. Both of these fats are important to your diet since your body cannot create these types of fats. However, the problem with everybody is the imbalance intake of omega-3 and omega-6. Many people consume large quantities of Omega-6 because they are readily found in vegetable oils but are deficient in Omega-3. Imbalance of these fatty acids can lead to inflammation of the body. It is advisable that you maintain a 4:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.

Fats are necessarily important even for weight loss. Weight loss does not mean that you deprive yourself of body nutrients just to cut down some weight or trim some inches off your waist. It is not healthy if you have too much or too less body fats – make sure you balance them. Fats should comprise about 30 percent of your daily diet but this must be coupled with the right exercise. Now that you know the sources of good fats and the bad ones, you must already be conscious enough of what fats are good for taking and those that are not. Fats have lifetime health benefits if you know well how to deal with them.