10 facts about fats!

1. Fat is vital to be healthy:

You need some fat for energy, to protect your body’s organs, for healthy cells and to provide essential nutrients. A problem only arises when you choose bad fats which can contribute to lead to plaque build up and heart disease.

2. You need fat to absorb vitamins:

You probably know that there are fat soluble vitamins, but you might not know that eating fat (in moderation of course – you only need a small amount) with your meals helps your body to absorb the Fat Soluble vitamins A, D, E and K which are vital to good health.

3. All fats, good & bad are high in calories:

Weight for weight, fat provides more than twice the amount of usable energy than carbohydrates or protein (you’ll find 9 calories in every gram of fat). Moderate consumption of good fats is key.

4. Cholesterol is important:

Cholesterol is needed to make Vitamin D, some hormones, build cell walls and make bile salts to help digest fat, however if High, too much cholesterol in the blood can contribute to plaque building up on the artery walls and therefore contribute to heart disease.

5. Too much saturated fat can increase cholesterol:

Saturated fats are found in an array of foods such as cakes, pastries, butter hard margarine, cheese and fatty meat. Limiting these foods which are high in saturated fats is the best way to help improve your health and cholesterol level.

6. Trans fat (the ugly) can actually increase LDL (bad) cholesterol:

Not only can trans fats increase LDL (bad) cholesterol, they also decrease HDL (good) cholesterol, further contributing to high cholesterol. The best way to avoid trans fats is to limit foods with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, which can be found in many processed foods such as cakes, pastries, biscuits and deep fried foods.

7. You don’t need to cut out meat for a healthy cholesterol:

Meat is an important source of iron which you need for healthy blood. Choose lean cuts of meat and lean mince and use low fat cooking methods like boiling, grilling or ovenbaking. Include a vegetarian meal and couple of meals with fish to limit your intake overall.

8. There are GOOD FATS:

Good fats such as monounsaturated fat help reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol. Replace some bad fats in your diet with good fats. Foods to include: Olive Oil, rapeseed oil, coconut oil, avocado, seeds and some nuts (e.g. cashews, almonds & walnuts).

9. Some fats are even ESSENTIAL:

Essential Fatty Acids (Polyunsaturated fats) are a family of fats which are required by the body for many functions, but your body cannot make them, so you have to get them from the food you eat or supplementation.

Omega 3: found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, trout, herring and sardines

Omega 6: found in vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower, soya bean, corn and sesame oils.

10. Keep your heart healthy with Omega-3:

Omega-3 helps keep your heart healthy by reducing triglycerides (a type of fat and risk factor for heart disease & stroke) in the blood, help to prevent the blood from clotting, has a positive effect on blood pressure, help regulate the rhythm of the heart beat, and assist in keeping the lining of the blood vessels healthy and working well.

Eskimo-3 is available nationwide in health food stores, pharmacies and online.