Question

Discuss the best types of fats to eat if your health-conscious. Give examples and draw the chemical structure of one.

Answer 1

All fats are not bad. Some fats lowers cholesterol levels and make us healthy.

Positive functions of fats:

Fats build cells

Fats gives energy

They keep the body warm

Sufficient levels of fats helps to produce hormones.

If you are really health conscious then you should have great balance of both fats and proteins in your diet. Intake of right amount of fat is necessary to be fit.

Trans fat and saturated fats are mostly bad for your health. So it is always recommend to get the unsaturated fats for good health.

Unsaturated fats:

They differ from saturated fats by having fewer hydrogen atoms bonded to their carbon chains. The main sources of unsaturated fats are vegetables, fish and nuts. They are in the liquid form at room temperature. Unsaturated fats are good for our body. So it is necessary to replace trans and saturated fats with unsaturated fats.

These unsaturated fats can be divided into two categories of beneficial fats:

Those are

Monounsaturated fats

Polyunsaturated fats

Monounsaturated fats: They have a single carbon-to-carbon double bond. As a result it has two fewer hydrogen atoms than a saturated fat and a bend at the double bond. Due to this reason Monounsaturated fats exist in liquid form at room temperature.

Example: Olive oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil and nuts

Polyunsaturated fats: These are essential fats. Actually they are required for our normal body functions. But unfortunately our body cannot make them. So we must get them through our diet. Polyunsaturated fats are needed to build cell membranes, covering of nerves, blood clotting, muscle movement and inflammation. It has two or more double bonds in its carbon chain. Omege-3 fatty acids and Omega-6 fatty acids are the main types of polyunsaturated fats.

Fig. Chemical structures of Omega-3 fatty acids

Sources of Omega-3 fatty acids are fish, walnuts, unhydrogenated soybean oil. Both Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids help prevent heart strokes.