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Good Fat: Bad Fat
One of the most important pieces of nutritional information you can know is the difference between good fats and bad fats. The differences are easy to keep straight, once you start paying attention. We need fat in our daily diets. But, we want to aim for the good guys. The really, really bad guy, is the trans-fatty acid. Stay away from that villain. Liz Applegate, PhD and author of Eat Smart Play Hard (Rodale, Inc.) breaks the fats down for us: Omega-3fat. An essential (meaning the body can’t make its own) fat that is good for you. Because the body can’t make it, you need to get it from your diet. It protects against age-related aliments, such as heart disease, certain cancers, immune disorders, and possibly multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.
Best sources are cold water fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna), as well as flaxseed meal and oil (used as a salad dressing, not for cooking). Canola oil and soybean oils contain small amounts of omega-3 fat.
Omega-6 fat. Another essential and good fat. Most Americans get plenty since it is found in corn oil, sunflower and other vegetable oils. Crucial for healthy skin and proper brain function. Too much, however, can be bad for your heart. Twenty grams or fewer a day of fat should come from vegetable oils.
Monounsaturated fat. Not essential since the body produces its own, but it is a good fat as it lowers risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels. Olive, canola, and peanut oils are high in monounsaturated fat.
Saturated fat. The “bad” fat for a number of reasons. It increases cholesterol and therefore raises heart-disease risk: Found in butter, margarine, fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and fast foods.
Trans-fat. Formed when vegetable oils are hydrogenated (or partially hydrogenated) to make them have a longer shelf-life. It turns out that trans-fats are just as bad as saturated fats. Most prepared baked goods (cookies, crackers, cakes, doughnuts, chips, etc,) contain trans-fat. New guidelines will require that manufacturers separate trans fat from other kinds of fats. Meantime, look on the label for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, and stay away!
Source: Runner’s World, February 2002
Check back with us from time to time as we continue to build the cM nutrition library.
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