Fat & Nutrition – Fat Sources In Your Daily Food And Diet

Fat is an essential nutrient that provides energy to the body and supplies vital fatty acids to build cells and hormones. Not all fats and fat sources are healthy. The official recommendations suggest that 25-40% of daily energy intake should come from fat, especially from sources such as nuts, seeds, avocado, oil, and fish.

In This Article

Key Takeaways

1. Fat is an essential nutrient that our bodies need to function properly.
2. Not all fats are created equal. Some types of fat, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, are considered healthy, while others, such as saturated and trans fats, can be harmful to our health.
3. Healthy sources of fat include nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, and fatty fish.
4. It’s important to limit your intake of saturated and trans fats, which are found in foods like red meat, butter, and fried foods.
5. Eating too much fat, regardless of the type, can lead to weight gain and other health problems.
6. When it comes to weight loss, a calorie deficit is necessary, but replacing unhealthy fats with healthy ones can help you achieve your goals while also improving your overall health.
7. Finally, it’s important to remember that fat is just one part of a healthy diet, and other nutrients, such as protein and fiber, are also important for optimal health.

What is fat?

Fat contains 9 calories per gram. The official recommendations are an intake of 25-40 percent of your daily energy intake comes from fat. Not just fat in any form, but healthy fat sources in your daily diet.

There are different types of fats. Although most people on average eat a good amount of fat, the quality of the fat must be improved, since the fat source most people consume does not live up to what is considered healthy fat.

Fat is an energy-giving nutrient and supplies the body with vital fatty acids, which your body needs to build the body’s cells and hormones. Fatty foods contain fat-soluble vitamins. These vitamins use fat to be absorbed in your intestines.

In a typical daily diet, about 35% of the energy most people eat comes from fat. Most people stay within the recommended amount of fat in the diet, however, most people eat more fat than recommended.

Healthy fat can be found in:

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Avocado
• Oil
• Fish

Limit your fat intake from:

• Meat
• Meat products
• Dairy products

Which Fats Are Healthy?

What does fat do to your body?

Fat has a number of important functions for your body and your body cells. Fat adds energy to your body. The cells in your body need energy to perform necessary work in everyday life, from being able to move around, performing physical work or weight training in the gym.

Even what most people take for granted like getting up from bed or walking around is the body’s work and function for you as a human being. If you eat too much, the excess energy can be stored in the body’s adipose tissue.

Adipose tissue is your body’s store of energy that can be used when you eat less than you need. If you eat and drink too much for a long time, the amount of fat on your body will increase and can lead to obesity.

• Fat is used as insulation under the skin so you can better keep warm.
• Fat is used to build cells and hormones.
• Fat is also needed for the body to absorb fat-soluble vitamins from the diet.

Compared to protein and dietary fiber, fat generally saturates less well, but in turn contributes to prolonged satiety.

Where do you find fat in everyday food?

Fat is found in many different foods. The main sources of fat in the regular diet and foods are:

• Fats (eg butter, oil, mayonnaise)
• Meat and meat products such as beef and pork.
• Dairy products (eg whipped cream, cheese and milk)
• Bread and cereal products (eg bread, biscuits and other baked goods)

Other foods high in fat are nuts, seeds, grains, avocados and fatty fish. You will also find some fat in sweet things like cake and desserts, biscuits, chocolate and ice cream.

There is very little or no fat in foods like water, juices, fruits, vegetables and potatoes.

Saturated Fat vs Unsaturated Fat

There are different types of fats, the 2 main groups of of fats are:

• Saturated Fat
• Unsaturated fat

Saturated Fat

Saturated fats are typically found in meat and other products such as butter, cheese and other dairy products.

The official recommendations are an intake of a maximum of 10 percent energy. Most people typically eat 40% more saturated fat than recommended.

Facts about monounsaturated fatty acids:

Monounsaturated fatty acids have a positive effect on the good HDL cholesterol.
Monounsaturated fatty acids are found in nuts, almonds, avocados, seeds and kernels and oils – especially in olive oil and rapeseed oil, in addition, rapeseed oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. It’s recommended that 10-20% of the daily energy intake is from monounsaturated fats.

Unsaturated Fat

Unsaturated fats are typically found in foods from land and sea such as nuts, seeds, grains, oils, olives, avocados and fish.

The official recommendations are an intake of 10-20% energy, of which omega-3 fatty acids should make up at least 1% energy.

Omega 3 and Omega 6 are vital fatty acids. Both Omega 3 and Omega 6 are unsaturated fatty acids. Fish such as mackerel, salmon and herring contain much of the attractive long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.

How is fat stored in the body?

Biologically, human fat storage contains well over 50 billion fat cells. The fat appear partly as collections of fat cells, but other cell types can also contain smaller parts of fat.

Many cells obtain energy by breaking down triglycerides, either from the diet or from the cell’s own fat stores. But one of the most important ways to get energy is by breaking down carbohydrates. When the cell is deficient in carbohydrates, in the absence of intake or in the case of diabetes, the body may need to provide energy solely by burning fat.

How Does Your Body Burn Fat?

The balance between deposition and release of fat is regulated both hormonally and through the nervous system. The main hormonal regulation comes from insulin, which stimulates fat deposition.

The regulation controlled via the nervous system can be attributed to the system known as the autonomic nervous system.

For example, if you exercise, the part of the autonomic nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system is stimulated. Such activation will stimulate the cells to release triglyceride into the blood so that it becomes available to other cells in the body, for example muscle cells. You can exercise to burn fat.

Conclusion

In conclusion, fat is an important nutrient that provides energy and essential fatty acids to the body. However, the quality of fat in our diet is crucial, and we should aim to consume healthy sources of fat such as nuts, seeds, avocado, oil, and fish. It’s important to limit our intake of unhealthy sources of fat, such as meat, meat products, and dairy products.

Additionally, understanding the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats can help us make informed decisions about our dietary fat intake. Balancing our fat intake with other nutrients such as protein and dietary fiber can contribute to prolonged satiety and overall health.