Dietary Fat - The Importance of Keeping Fat in Your Diet
Getting Fit for Life
Copyrighted by Diet Bites
"How many fat grams does that have in it?" How many times have we had this line rammed down our throats over the last few years? Too many!
Some people will mow the word 'fat' completely out of their diet and end up looking like Uncle Fester in the process. This article explains why fat is one of the essential ingredients to a healthy diet…
There are so many different fat terms - saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, etc. How did that little three-letter word blow up into a seven-syllable word? Scary, isn't it? However, that three-letter word plays a very significant, very vital part in our diet and overall level of health and fitness.
Most health associations and organizations recommend that you get no more than 30% of your calories from fat. Generally, people are more concerned about getting too much fat into their diet rather than not enough. Although too much fat in the diet isn't healthy, too little fat can have some very serious consequences.
Fats and oils are a concentrated source of energy and are necessary for good health and fitness. These are some of the side effects that can occur when too much fat is trimmed from the diet:
- hair can fall out faster than fleas off of a turkey's back;
- if one is lucky and manages to keep their hair, odds are that it will lose luster and sheen;
- nails can become so brittle, or so hard and curly that they can be used as next year's Christmas ribbon;
- without fat, vital organs will lack cushion;
Fats make up part of all body cells, help us maintain body temperature, and even delay hunger pangs.
Fats in the form of monounsaturated fat help raise levels of protective HDL cholesterol. Some of the foods that are a good source for monounsaturated fat are the almond and the avocado.
Polyunsaturated fat is valued for its ability to help lower total cholesterol. Safflower oil has the highest amount of polyunsaturated fat of all the common varieties of oil.
For optimum fitness, get your daily intake of fat, exercise, drink plenty of water and take those vitamins. It's health insurance at its best!
Counting Calories - Calorie Index - Calories in Foods
Vegetables | Beef | Chicken | Pork | Fish | Turkey | Fruit | Dairy | Fats/Oils | Condiments | Cheese | Starches |Drinks | Treats | Misc