Fat is essential for you body, but the very word “fat” has come to have a very negative meaning in most societies. Everything advertises itself to be fat-free, and we’re always encouraged to eat as little fat as possible and to be as slender as possible.
There are good fats and bad fats, however. Bad fats are known as saturated fats and trans fats. Bad fats slow you down, make you tired heavy, and contribute to things like depression and heart disease. Good fats lift your spirits, give you energy, help you to think more clearly, and help your body remain free of sickness and disease.
A quick run-down of foods that are sources of bad fats include fatty meats such as beef and pork, tropical oils, whole milk dairy products such as cheese and yogurt, egg yolks, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and, of course, cake and ice cream and French fries and doughnuts and pastries and crackers and other processed foods such as white bread.
These foods fill you with the wrong kind of fat, which leads to high blood cholesterol. They also fill you with empty calories, which leads to weight gain. They’re fun and easy to eat, and available just about everywhere you go, so that it can become very, very difficult to get anything healthy into your diet. But you must – your happiness and healthiness depends on it.
Saturated fats, or bad fats, generally come to you through food you can buy at a window, or simply unwrap or take out of a box. These foods take no preparation and are tasty to eat, so that it may seem as though you’re being efficient with your time while keeping your body satisfied.
The truth is, though, that healthy foods are almost as easy to prepare, and that your body will be much, much more satisfied from eating them.
A good way to tell if fat is saturated is by what happens when you cook in a pan. If you cook bacon, or cook potatoes in butter, what happens when the pan dries afterwards? A white, sticky coating dries on the bottom of it. That white, sticky coating is also drying on your insides.
Unsaturated fats, on the other hand, such as olive and corn oil, don’t leave that sticky coating on the bottom of the pan. They gently slosh back and forth, light and liquid. That’s the sort of thing you want to have in your body.
There are two kinds of unsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats include things like avocados and peanut oils. Polyunsaturated fats include soybeans, corn, sunflower and sesame seeds, safflower seeds, lots of different kinds of nuts and seeds, and their oils.
You should eat as many monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats as you can. Of course, with any fat you need to practice moderation. But cooking with and eating polyunsaturated fats and been shown to do great things to your body, including the lowering of dangerous blood cholesterol levels. Polyunsaturated fats are what is known as brain food, that is, foods that feed your brain and keep you sharp and alert. Polyunsaturated fats come in a wide range of foods, so that you need not get bored sticking with your healthy diet.
It is important to remember that “fat” isn’t a swear word and shouldn’t always be thought of negatively. Fat is a crucial part of any diet, and if you were to go without fat for too long you would soon feel very poorly. Stick with monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, and they won’t stick to you, is a good way to think of it. Polyunsaturated fats are a great way to cook vegetables and rice, and a great way to cook lean meat, too. Focusing on the right kinds of fats will keep you happy and healthy.