The truth about FATS

Okay everybody, it's about time that you read about REAL, PROVEN facts. Indeed, I'll give you some of my own knowledge plus serious infos from real sources. And all that, simplified just for you, so my beloved readers can finally understand what's hiding behind the world of FATS ( lipids ).

As you probably have heard previously, there are good fats and bad fats. But it goes further than this. Here's the list of the main lipids in our body and of the functions they have :

Triglycerides : Stocks energy, insulation, protection

Glycerophospholipids : Main component of our cell membranes

Steroids :

      - Vitamin D : Controls calcium in body, required for growth and bone repair

      - Adrenal cortex hormones : Metabolism control, stress resistance, water/electrolytes control

      - Sexual hormones : Maintains sexual features

      - Cholesterol : Other component of cell membranes, useful for Vitamin D and steroid hormones

      - Bile salts : Useful for good absorption of fats and overall digestion

Ecosanoids : Act on the reaction to hormones, coagulation, inflammation, immunity, etc...

Other fats :

      - Carotenes : Useful for producing vitamin A ( for your eyes ), antioxidant

      - Vitamin E : Repairs muscle tissue, prevents scars, antioxidant

      - Fatty acids : Used to produce ATP ( energy in our body )

      - Lipoprotein : Carry lipids in blood, get rid of cholesterol excess of blood

See? Fats are not ALL bads but of course, they're not all good too. For example, fatty acids comes in 3 forms. Saturated fatty acids are easily stored in our body because it only has single covalents bonds. You find them in red meats and whole dairy products mostly. Monounsaturated are less prone to store in our body because it has one double covalent bond. You can find them in olive oil, canola oil, nuts and avocados. And as you can guess, polyunsaturated have more than one covalent bond so they don't really get stored as fats. You find them in sunflower oil, salmon or tuna. There are the essentials fatty acids too ( Omega-3 and Omega-6). These are the ones that your body can't produce itself so they have to be taken from foods or from supplements.

You certainly don't have to take off all of the fats in your diet, you need them. Your cell membranes are made of them so basically, you're made of them! Just make sure that you eat the right ones.

I'll talk to you guys in an other post about the actual lipid metabolism! 

xx

Chryseis