Fats: What You Should Know about It

Food Fats

Food fats or dietary fats are white or yellowish greasy material, found in both animals and plants. Pure fat lacks color, odor, and taste, and it exists both as a liquid and as a solid.

During digestion, fat is broken down in the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine, just past the stomach) to fatty acids and glycerol. As a food, its primary value and importance are as a fuel – a source of body energy. It is the most concentrated food we have, and it possesses more than twice the caloric value of carbohydrates or protein. Every ounce of fat has the same value as every other – whether it is an ounce of butter or an ounce of cottonseed oil. One type of fat, however, may be more easily assimilated, or absorbed, thus more accessible, than another. In  northern America, the fats eaten most often are in the form of eggs, margarine, butter, meat, cream, nuts, and such oils as olive oil and vegetable oil.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fatlike pearly substances found in saturated animal fats and oils and especially in egg yolk. It is an ingredient of bile, blood, brain tissue, nerve fibers, the liver, kidneys, and the adrenal glands. Pathologically, it constitutes a large part of gallstones and is deposited in the wall of arteries, thickening and hardening them.

A diet  rich in polysaturated fats may raise the cholesterol level of blood; poly unsaturated fats, on the contrary, may lower it. The following foods have a high content of cholesterol: egg yolk, cream, milk, cheese, butter, lard, fatty meats, sweetbreads, brain, shellfish, and caviar

Cholesterol is known to be closely associated  with arteriosclerosis. This chemical is a waxy substance manufactured by the body and stored in those places where it participates in certain necessary physicochemical functions. The body’s supply of cholesterol may increase when certain animal fats are eaten excessively – fats high in cholesterol content. It is known that when the cholesterol level in the blood is driven above normal, the excess is deposited on the inner linings of the arteries. These deposits narrow the passage-ways, even blocking the blood vessels entirely. They also caused such changes that clotting takes place in the blood vessels themselves. The greatest danger of this is in the blood vessels of the heart or brain: when clots  occur in the blood vessels of the heart or when they are blocked, a heart attack is the result. Even if it does not progress this far, the narrowing of the blood vessels makes it harder for the heart to pump the required blood through these vessels.

Cholesterol can be found primarily in fats and particularly in animal fats, eggs, and dairy products. Experiments have indicated that recurrent heart attacks in those who have suffered prior attacks might be avoided or reduced by lowering the amount of such fat in the food they eat. Since the body needs to have fats to maintain a proper dietary balance, doctors have recommended the substitution of vegetable fats for those of animal origin wherever possible.

Saturated and Unsaturated Fats

Fats are separated chemically into two basics groups: saturated and unsaturated. Further experiments indicated that unsaturated fats do not raise the cholesterol content of the blood in contrast to the saturated ones which may. Still further experiments indicated that the unsaturated fats – particularly the polyunsaturated fats – actually lower blood cholesterol if included in the ordinary diet, even one containing saturated and animal fats.

Vegetable fats are of several different types. For example, certain saturated vegetable fats (such as coconut oil and, to a lesser extent, certain of the oleo margarines) actually raise the blood cholesterol if included in the diet. But such unsaturated vegetables fats as cottonseed oil, safflower oil, corn oil (all polyunsaturates) and in some cases olive oil either do not raise the cholesterol level or actually decrease it.

It is still too early, however, to draw any final and sweeping conclusions from the results of these early experiments as to the preferability of unsaturated to saturated fats in the diet, although the American Heart Association and certain of the experts in these fields are urging a radical change in our diets to get such killer diseases as heart attacks, stroke, and arteriosclerosis under control. Subsequent studies have tended to indicate that the excessive consumption of other foods may yet prove to be more closely connected with this excessive cholesterol blood level than is the consumption of saturated fats. These include highly refined carbohydrates such as sugar or foods high in sugar such as cakes, pies, candy, soft drinks and the like – and alcoholic beverages, especially whiskey and other hard liquors.

Based on the statistic data, countries with the lower standards of living, such as China and southern Italy, often have the lowest incidence of arteriosclerosis. The consumption of refined carbohydrates and alcohol happens to be high in northern America and Scandinavia and low in China and southern Italy, which seems to render these substances suspect as well!  Much more research is certainly needed in this field before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.

For further information, please find  a couple of important articles  regarding the dangerous type of  fats you should aware of, namely trans  fats in this blog and  similar related topic in Blog of Health.