Bad fat is slipping onto our plates and it's time we noticed.
Our health depends on it.
The fear of cholesterol has taken on exaggerated proportions, yet recent research is telling us that margarine as well as other hydrogenated fats, the ones we thought were safe, are also unsafe to our health.
In the meantime fat-free salad dressings, cholesterol-free croissants, and light cheeses multiply in a clamour of contradictory messages.
We are constantly assailed by new theories.
Confusion reigns.
Should we go back to butter before we have the last word on margarine? Should we eat cholesterol-free oils or cold-pressed oils? Should we consume foods labeled "fat free"? Good fats are fats that are essential to cellular growth, development and maintenance.
They provide health benefits and do not trigger any harmful reactions in our body.
They are best when they have undergone minimum transformation during processing.
Bad fats are fats that have been processed to the extent that they have lost their original composition and behavior.
They disturb the body's natural way of processing fats.
In addition, they have been shown to cause trouble in the arteries and in the immune system.
Some fats are neither good or bad.
They are naturally present in certain foods and may cause problems when eaten in excess.
The whole issue of fats is quite complex and in constant evolution.
Its approach should be healthful, advocates less processed fats and sets quality as the first priority.
You do not have to have "high blood cholesterol" to be interested in good fats and bad fats.
It's a matter of health.
Dietary fats not only give flavor to foods, they also supply calories, in fact, more calories than any other nutrient.
They also serve as a means of transportation for vitamins A, D, E and K.
Eating a small amount of visible fat or foods that contain fat is absolutely essential to allow the body to use these vitamins efficiently.
Among all the different fats in our food supply, two "good fats" have been labeled essential because they can not be manufactured by the human body itself.
They must be supplied by the foods we eat.
They are linoleic acid and alpha-linoleic acid (fatty acids).
Linoleic acid is the parent substance of the omega-6 family while alpha-linoleic acid is the parent substance of the omega-3 family.
These parent substances produce two series of derivatives that become chemical messengers called prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins act quickly at very precise sites in the body and allow the proper functioning of the circulatory, immune, anti-inflammatory, and epithelial systems, among others.
In other words, essential fatty acids help manage our blood, antibodies, hormones and skin.
To accomplish their vital activities, the two essential fatty acids need to be present in the food we eat, but they also need to be transported and transformed properly.
Yet to do so, they must compete against other fats, which also need to be transported and transformed.
If you eat lots of cheeses, fried foods, crackers, and margarine and very few whole grains, green vegetables, nuts, and fish, the fats in the first group of foods will compete with and easily win over the essential fatty acids in the second.
An unbalance of fatty acids in our diet can provoke such problems as abnormal sugar metabolism, atherosclerosis, hypertension, as well as other debilitating diseases.
Optimal health depends on an optimal ratio of the two essential fatty acids.
To learn more about the different fats, read my related article titled Different Fats for Different Foods.