What Are Fats? ~ Your Weight Loss

Fats, also known as lipids are probably the most misunderstood macronutrient of all. When most people think of fat the first thing that comes to mind are burgers, fries, fast food, heart disease, deep-fried food and overall unhealthiness. While it is true that if you eat too much fat you may run into health issues such as heart disease, but fats are essential to both muscle building and believe it or not, fat loss. Each gram of fat contains about 9 calories, which is more than double the calories a gram of protein or carbohydrate has, this makes foods containing high amounts of fat very calorie dense, which may be useful while bulking.

Saturated vs Unsaturated
Saturated fats have a chemical makeup in which the carbon atoms are saturated with hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats are typically solid at room temperature. Saturated fats occur naturally in many foods, the majority come mainly from animal sources, including meat and dairy products. Examples are fatty beef, lamb, pork, poultry with skin, beef fat (tallow), lard and cream, butter, cheese and other dairy products made from whole or reduced-fat (2 percent) milk. These foods also contain dietary cholesterol. Saturated fats cause high levels of blood cholesterol therefore increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke,saturated fat give fats a bad reputation. The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of saturated fats you eat to less than 7 percent of total daily calories.
Unsaturated fats come in two forms, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated are liquid at room temperature but begin to solidify at cold temperatures. This type of fat is preferable to other types of fat and can be found in olives, olive oil, nuts, peanut oil, canola oil and avocados.

Some studies have shown that these kinds of fats can actually lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and
maintain HDL (good) cholesterol. Polyunsaturated are also liquid at room temperature. These are found in safflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed and soybean oils. This type of fat has also been shown to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, but too much can also lower your HDL cholesterol. Unsaturated fats should make up most of your daily fat intake in the form of olive oil, fish, omega 3 supplements and nuts.

Trans Fats
These are the worst kind of fats, they do not occur naturally in life and didn't even exist before 1890. Trans fat is created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. They are even worse for your health than saturated fat. Trans fats increase your LDL cholesterol level (bad cholesterol) and lower levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) and are found in most highly processed foods such as biscuits, pizza dough, margarine, french fries and ice cream.

Benefits Of fats
Hormone Production- Fats help your body produce your body's most powerful muscle building, fat burning hormone, testosterone. There is even been a diet based upon this principle known as the anabolic diet which is a high protein/fat/carb cycling diet.

Better Skin- If you're not getting enough EFAs in your diet, your skin may be dry, inflamed, and prone to white heads and blackheads. Yet there's more to essential fatty acids than plumper skin.

Elevated Mood
Nutrient Absorption- Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins, meaning that the fat in foods helps the intestines absorb these vitamins into the body.
Satisfaction- Foods high in fats leave you feeling full. This can help you from snacking between meals.

Calorie Dense- If you are trying to add more calories to your diet but don't have much of an appetite, fats are very helpful. Three tablespoons of olive oil alone contains more than 300 calories of healthy fats.

Joint Health- Consumption of fish oil containing omega 3 fatty acids can reduce inflammation and help lubricate joints.

How Much Fat Should I Eat
Depending on your goals, each person will have different fat requirements. The general rule for health purposes is 20-30% of your total daily calories should come from fat, most of which should come from unsaturated sources. If you are following a low carb diet you will have to raise your fats to compensate for the lack of calories and vice versa.

Article Summary
If you eat too much fat you may run into various health problems such as cardiovascular disease.
Fats are essential while bulking and cutting.

Fats contain 9 calories per gram which is more than double than a gram of protein/carbohydrate
Saturated fats cause high levels of blood cholesterol therefore increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of saturated fats you eat to less than 7 percent of total daily calories.

Unsaturated fats lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol.
Unsaturated fats should make up most of your daily fat intake in the form of olive oil, fish, omega 3 supplements and nuts.

Trans fats increase your LDL cholesterol level (bad cholesterol) and lower levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).

Trans fats are found in most highly processed foods such as biscuits, pizza dough, margarine, french fries and ice cream.

The general rule for health purposes is 20-30% of your total daily calories. Most of which should come from unsaturated forms.

The benefits of fats range from hormone production to joint health.

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