You and Your Health - The facts on Fats (part 2)

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Published on Wednesday, August 15, 2018

By Dr. Mark Perrett
Neepawa Banner & Press

Last week, we discussed the negative effects on your health when eating trans fats and the risks of too much saturated fats.  This week is all about the good stuff....unsaturated fats.

Unsaturated Fats

Unsaturated fats are the good guys and are found as liquid at room temperature. There are two types of unsaturated fats that include polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats can help improve your cholesterol levels and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. It may also help you control your insulin levels and blood sugar. , avocados, olives, walnuts and liquid vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, safflower, canola, olive and sunflower.

Polyunsaturated fats are mainly found in fish such as salmon, trout and herring.  They can be further divided into two types: omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Your body needs polyunsaturated fats to function. This type of fat helps with muscle movement and blood clotting. Since your body doesn’t make it, you have to get it in your diet.

Avoid overheating oils

Careful when overheating high unsaturated fat oils as this can decrease their antioxidant abilities and produce free radicals that are harmful for our health.

Below is a great summary and lists sources of each kind of fat:

Take Action!

The biggest thing you can do when knowing if you are choosing  healthy fats is to read the nutritional labels of your food. Seek foods with zero trans fats.  Watch for the hidden trans fats  under the ingredient “hydrogenated vegetable oil”. Food guidelines allow .5 grams of trans fats per serving but still allow the manufacturer to say that the product is “trans fat-free” so be careful as these can add up to be harmful.

Avoid highly processed foods

Avoid highly processed foods and most baked goods, french fries, margarine sticks, microwave popcorn, potato chips and vegetable shortening.  Try to stick to good fats from sources like: Avocado, olives, salmon, mackerel, herring, nuts and seeds, peanut butter, eggs, and my favorite: dark chocolate.  The research is not complete on the benefits of saturated fats but remember they are still better that trans fats and can improve health but it is better to replace these with unsaturated fats. A great resource to go to is the American heart Association.  There is a lot of resources here for choosing the right fats in your diet.

Make some small changes in your diet and have a huge change in your health!

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