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Good Fats and Bad Fats

Fats helps nutrient absorption, nerve transmission, maintaining cell membrane integrity etc. We need fats in our daily intake. What kind of fats are bad? and what is the good fats ? Actually, all of kind of fats are needed by our body. But you should not to consumed more than your body needs.

Fats are consist of two major form, saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Many people believes that saturated fats are the bad guys and unsaturated fats are the good guys. Actually, saturated fats or in chemistry we know as saturated fatty acids are fatty acids with hydroxyl carbon terminal. Because of their chemical structure, saturated fats are stable. Unsaturated fats are fatty acids with double or triple bonds in their chemical structure.

Polysaturated fats means fats with long hydrocarbon structure with hydroxyl carbon terminal. Otherwise, polyunsaturated fats are fats with long hydrocarbon structure that has double or triple bonds in it. 'Poly' structure enhance the basic properties of fatty acids. So polysaturated fats has a similar but deeper effect as saturated fats.

Saturated fats are mainly found in animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs and seafood. Some plant foods are also high in saturated fats such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil. Nuts including peanuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios, avocado, canola and olive oil are high in unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats as also found in fish oil as well as corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oils.

Many expert believes that saturated fats increase heart attack risk factor and unsaturated fats are the opposites. And you should know that our body couldn't synthesis polyunsaturated fats but our body could do synthesis polysaturated fats, monosaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. You need to fullfil your body with polyunsaturated fats from your foods. That's why polyunsaturated fats are called essential fatty acids.

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