Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are usually soluble in organic solvents and insoluble in water. Fats can be either liquid or solid at normal room temperature depending on their structure and composition. Although the terms “fats”, “oil”, and “lipids” are all used to refer to as fats, “fats” is normally used to refer to fats that are solids in normal room temperature, while “oil” is normally used to refer to fats that are liquid inside normal room temperature. “Lipids” is a term normally used to refer to both liquid and solid fats, along with further related substances.
Fats are very important for many forms of life because of its chemical structure and physical properties. Serving both metabolic and structural functions, fats have an important role on human diet. Excess of fats is also dangerous since it can lead to high cholesterol. Saturated fats are more commonly found in foods that come from animals such as pork, beef, poultry and dairy products. These fats are healthy when eaten moderately. Unsaturated fats are most commonly found in fish, corn, olives, soybean and sunflower. Unsaturated fats are most helpful for your health and may even lower your cholesterol when you consume them.
Below are guidelines to eating fatty foods (what to avoid, what to do and what not to do):
Good fats
- Peanut butter
- Soybean
- Nuts
- Corn oil
- Olive oil
- Avocados
- Canola oil
- Sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds
Bad fats (when consumed excessively)
- Palm oil
- Milk
- Cheese
- Cream
- Butter
- Ice cream
- Mayonnaise
- Organ meats
- Marbled meats
- Sausage
Eat healthier fats rather than not so healthy fats. Eating healthier fats can be helpful for you to avoid having high cholesterol and harmful or deadly diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis and gout.
Maintaining a balance in eating such saturated fats. Maintaining a balance in eating saturated fats can be a healthy way to keep your body fit.
Practicing healthy ways of cooking. Cooking in a healthy manner like grilling, pressure cooking and stir frying. These healthy cooking manners minimize the fats and speed up the cooking time to preserve more nutrients.
Knowledge about fats. Having the right knowledge about fats can help you choose which food is healthy for your body. Knowing the food you eat can help you prevent from eating too much of food classified as unhealthy when eaten excessively.
Will power. Determination is always the best way to solve and correct wrong things. Willingness and determination is one of the most effective ways to avoid or control the balance of eating fatty foods
Knowing what fats can do to your health is an advantage for us to maintain a balance in eating them. Knowing what it does when we eat too much of it can help us avoid harmful and deadly illnesses or diseases such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, cancer and some mental problems. Maintaining a balance in the amount of eating such fatty food is a healthy way to keep our body fit to promote a healthy lifestyle.