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When it comes to nutrition, there are often certain foods, or entire food groups, that keep getting a bad reputation. Fats are a good example. Many people try to avoid fats altogether, since they apparently make you gain weight.
In reality, though, that's not quite true, because not all fats are unhealthy. That's exactly what I want to talk about in this article. I'll show you why fats matter for your body and which oils and fats you should choose.
Before we get started, let me briefly introduce myself: my name is Marco Laterza, I'm a personal trainer from Zurich. I support my clients in the areas of sport, nutrition and mindset. A holistic approach to health and fitness matters to me, and it's a concept I want to pass on to everyone. If you're interested in working together, feel free to contact me anytime.
Why are fats important for us?
Fats are fairly dense and fill you up more easily than carbohydrates or proteins. That's because 1 gram of fat provides 9 calories for your body. That's more than double compared to carbohydrates. Put simply, this means you can't eat as much of high-fat foods as you can of other foods.
This absolutely doesn't mean, however, that fats aren't healthy and should be avoided. Fats are quite important for our body, since they're needed, for example, to build hormones in our body. They also serve as protection, or padding, for our organs. Fats are also needed to absorb fat-soluble vitamins and for an optimal metabolism.
Fats are divided into different types, and the most important distinction is between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.
Saturated fatty acids
This type of fatty acid consists of a chain of carbon atoms that are connected by single bonds. They're found mainly in animal foods, such as butter, milk or sausage. They're generally portrayed as the "bad fats." If you consume too many saturated fatty acids over a longer period, your LDL cholesterol level can rise sharply, which significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
They're also important for your health, though, and serve, for example, as a good energy source. Here you should simply make sure to keep the amount of saturated fatty acids at a good level.
Unsaturated fatty acids
These fatty acids generally consist of a chain of carbon atoms connected by one or more double bonds. There are several subcategories here, all of which have different effects on our body:
- Monounsaturated fatty acids: These are found, for example, in rapeseed oil, olive oil or avocados. If you consume more of these fatty acids than saturated fats, it has a positive effect on your LDL cholesterol level. They also have an anti-inflammatory effect and support the formation of important hormones.
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids: This group is quite special, since our body can't produce them itself. These include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 is found mainly in linseed oil or fish, while omega-6 is found more in sunflower oil and safflower oil.
What you should take from this information is the following: both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids should be part of our daily diet. It wouldn't be healthy for the body in the long run to reduce fat intake too much.
It's important to get the right balance, though. After all, it's quite clear: unsaturated fatty acids are healthier! There are various guidelines here, but generally you should consume roughly twice as many unsaturated fatty acids as saturated ones.
What does this mean for your choice of food, then? Well, you should make a point of eating fish instead of meat more often. Less cheese and milk, and more nuts and healthy plant-based oils instead.
Trans fats
A special form of fat is trans fats. These are produced by heating plant oils for a long time. They're found mainly in processed foods and are genuinely unhealthy. They cause LDL cholesterol to spike very quickly, while lowering healthy HDL cholesterol.
This goes so far that the WHO is working to ban trans fats entirely. This alone should show you that you should avoid trans fats as much as possible. Foods high in trans fats include ready meals, sweets, fast food and chips.
How much fat should you eat per day?
You're probably wondering by now how much fat you should be eating per day. After all, it shouldn't be too much, but not too little either. Because now you know that healthy oils are important for our body.
Well, basically a daily intake of 1 gram of fat per 1 kilogram of body weight is recommended. That may sound like little, but given the high number of calories per gram of fat, it's actually a very good amount.
Of course, you don't need to stick to this exact figure every single day. It's a rough guideline showing roughly what range you should stay within. If you're a bit under or over on a given day, that's not a problem. Just be aware that it's not good to consistently hit double that value every day.
Healthy oils at a glance
I've talked a lot about the theory now, and very little about which healthy oils you should actually use. That's what I want to cover now. First of all, you should know that a native or cold-pressed oil is always the better choice. No important nutrients are lost in production, so they're healthier.
Healthy oils like these are ideal to use on salads. Linseed oil would be a good example, since it's rich in omega-3 fatty acids. You can also use walnut oil, since it contains plenty of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Cooking with these, though, is tricky, since they're less heat-stable. Here you can turn to refined cooking oils instead. Rapeseed oil is a good choice here, since it contains comparatively fewer saturated fatty acids and more omega-3.
What you should avoid, however, is coconut oil or rapeseed oil. Both are rich in saturated fatty acids and therefore not good for the body. Both types also have a very poor environmental footprint.