Fat – not so fattening after all. – Alaska Herbal Solutions

This is not going to be the usual “FAT IS BAD” blog posts. SOME fat is bad, but it’s not the ones you might thinks. Let’s get straight into it.

Types of Fats

Saturated fats (SF) – these fats are usually from animal origin. There are a few exceptions: coconut and palm kernel oil.

Unsaturated fats (UF)- There are two types: Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated (see below).

The basic chain for saturated and unsaturated fats.

Image credit: ib.bioninja.com.au

An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is at least one double bond within the fatty acid chain. A fatty acid chain is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond. — Wikipedia

Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) – Found in both animals and plants. Most sources agree that this is a healthy fat. It is fairly stable as far as fats go. It can help your immune system heal wounds as well as improve response to autoimmune diseases. Some great sources are avocado oil, olive oil, fat from both pigs and cows. Because you find it in animal sources, MUFA are usually paired with SF.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) – These are mostly from refined vegetable oils, some of the highest be grapeseed, sunflower, and safflower. These are highly unstable and oxidize under high heat. Even without heat, they can easily go rancid.

Trans fatty acids (TFA) – Also known as Trans Fat. Many of you will have heard that this is BAD BAD BAD! Most know that TFA are a product of being processed. However, did you know that there is a naturally occurring version that has to date not been shown to be as harmful as artificial ones from hydrogenated oils? You can see the difference below.

Two different types of trans fat – one that is a product of hydrogenating oil and a natural occurring one.

Image Credit: PubMed This has been modified from the original for simplicity’s sake.

There is only one tiny difference. And that tiny difference of the line (a trans bond) on the 9th carbon (that’s what the “mountain” lines are) versus the 11th carbon makes it so that your body processes these trans fats differently.

How much fat you eat does not dictate how much fat you gain. Same with cholesterol (Look at number 3), but I’ll save that for another post. The basics of how you gain body fat is that your body uses the dietary glucose first, then fat for fuel.

Next week I will go over how fat works in your body.