Life Is Science Is Life: The Scoop on Fats

Lipids...can't live with them, can't live without them! You need lipids in your body to survive; although, too many can get you into trouble. You see, lipids are used for long term energy storage, which is why they are so important for your body. They have 4000 kilojoules of energy per 100 grams, that's crazy! They are also pretty complex...there are three main types of lipids, which are steroids, fats, and phospholipids. The building blocks of lipids are fatty acids, which are broken into different groupings as well.

If you want to learn more about lipids, click here

Good Fats Vs. Bad Fats

No need to worry, there are such things as good fats!

Good fats are the unsaturated fats, which split into monounsaturated fats(have one double bond) and polyunsaturated fats (have more than one double bond). The good fats usually come from plants and are liquid at room temperature because the fats aren't packed as tightly together as the bad fats are.

Monounsaturated fats help decrease cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They are usually found in Mediterranean style food, which is why people in that region have such low levels of heart disease.

Polyunsaturated fats are divided into omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. They can't be made by the body, which is why you need to supplement them into your diet somehow. Not taking in these fats in some way can lead to deficiency symptoms, such as dry skin, excessive thirst, or impaired liver function. These fats are also needed to help your eye and brain tissue.

Bad fats are the saturated fats and trans fats. They raise cholesterol, risk for having heart disease, risk for cancer, risk for diabetes, and also lead to obesity. Basically, try to stay away from these fats! Saturated fats have single bonds, whereas trans fats have one double bond.

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature because the fats are packed in tighter than in unsaturated fats. These fats are found in foods such as in butter, ice cream, fatty meats, cakes, biscuits, and fried fast foods. Global dietary guidelines recommend that 10% of our daily energy intake should come from saturated fats, which is not a lot, so watch out! For the average adult, 10% is equal to less than 20 grams of saturated fat per day.

Trans Fats are defined as worse than saturated fats, so you need to be extra careful with these! They increase LDL cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol and also decrease the protective effects of HDL, which is the good cholesterol in the body. It is recommended to eat as little trans fats as possible in order to keep healthy cholesterol levels and also to keep the heart and blood vessels functioning normally.

To learn more about good and bad fats, click here

WHY DO YOU THINK THE TIGHTLY PACKED FATS ARE SOLID AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND THE FATS THAT ARE SPACED FARTHER APART ARE LIQUID AT ROOM TEMPERATURE?

HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES!

UH OH! CURRENT NEWS!

Be careful while picking out your peanut butter and a few other fats at the grocery store. Items, extending from peanut butter and peanuts to even MoonPies and ice cream were recalled because of an outbreak of salmonella. Sunland Inc. has recalled their peanut butter products that are sold at grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Walmart, Kroger, Target and Costco. They have recalled everything made in its contaminated plant since March 2010, so be careful because that is more than two years ago! If you have anything in your pantry, make sure to throw it away. Thirty-five people have already gotten sick and there is concern that with so many products on the list, the number of people sick will grow.

Click here to read more about this recall.

WILL YOU EVER BUY SUNLAND PRODUCTS AGAIN AFTER HEARING ABOUT THIS RECALL? DO YOU THINK THEY ARE A TRUSTWORTHY COMPANY TO GET PEANUT BUTTER/OTHER FOODS FROM?

I think it will be hard to trust their company again after knowing that this could happen once. I would not want to take a chance on anything happening to cause anyone to get sick. This is really going to kill their business and their legitimacy as a company.