QuestionI am a bit confused. How are plant fats better than animal fats?. I am guessing, fat is fat. For that matter, how do plants make fat? I read that coconut fat is really high. Do you know why that is?
AnswerWell, I can understand your confusion! A lot of people talk about "fat" without really saying what they mean. Dietary "fat" isn't one single thing. Instead, "fat" actually means an entire group of chemicals, just like "carbohydrate" includes fiber, starch, fructose, glucose, lactose, etc. Some things in the "carbohydrate" group are very healthy, like fiber, and others are extremely unhealthy, like glucose.
So what about fats? What makes them different from one another? There are two main kinds of fat. The first type is sterols, and second type is fatty acids.
The sterol group includes one fat that I'm sure you've heard a lot about-cholesterol, which is found only in animal products, and plant sterols, found only in fatty plants (like corn). This is the first difference between plant and animal fats-the cholesterol in animal fat can be unhealthy if you eat too much, while plant sterols are harmless.
There are literally hundreds of different fatty acids out there, and there are two main features that make each one unique. The first is their size-fatty acids can have chains anywhere from 2 to 22 carbons long, and people generally divide them into short, medium, and long chain categories. Lucky for you, there is no health difference between these categories.
The second way to tell fatty acids apart is saturation, which is a fancy way of saying shape.
Saturated fats are straight, with no bends, and come from animals. Eating mostly saturated fat can cause health problems.
Unsaturated fats have one or more bends in the chain, are found in both plant and animal sources, and are healthier than saturated fat. Unsaturated fats are classified according to how long the chain is, and where the bend in it is. There are several unsaturated fats that are essential (if you don't get enough of them, you will get sick)-these are the "omega 3" fatty acids you hear about. (Omega 3 refers to the exact spot where the chain is bent).
Trans fats (also called hydrogenated fats) are unsaturated fats that have been chemically altered so that they bend in an unnatural way. These fats quickly accumulate in your cells and cause heart disease.
So what does it all boil down to?
Try to eat only ONE serving of animal fat per day, and eggs count! If you have an omelet for breakfast, then dinner should be chicken or lean pork, not hamburgers.
Make sure you eat the good plant fats! Eat olives or nuts for a snack, and cook with olive oil or canola oil. Use guacamole instead of ranch dip. Try to eat fish once a week.
And always check the nutrition labels on the food you buy, to make sure that it doesn't contain ANY trans fat.
It can be confusing starting out, but making a commitment to learn about different foods and eat healthy isn't as hard as it seems. Make small changes slowly, and over time you'll end up eating healthy all the time!
Good luck!
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