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Good Fats or Bad?

At the end of the last article, we promised to talk about fat. Just as with carbs, there are also good and bad fats. Saturated fats are bad. Polyunsaturated fats are better, and monounsaturated fats are even better. All three types of fat have the same number of calories (9 calories per gram), and none of them affect your insulin level much. So one won't make you any FATTER than another - but saturated fats will clog up your arteries and give you a heart attack - that's even worse than being fat!

What about cholesterol? You can't live without cholesterol - it's a component of the plasma membrane in every cell in your body! Plants don't have cholesterol. It' is found only in animals. There are two main types of cholesterol that we need to be concerned about: HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (Low density lipoprotein) cholesterol. LDL is usually called "The bad cholesterol," because it is the type that clogs up your arteries and causes heart attacks. HDL, or "The good cholesterol," actually helps keep your arteries clear.

So if you just don't eat any cholesterol, there won't be any "bad" cholesterol to clog up your arteries, right? Wrong! There's surprisingly little correlation between the amount of cholesterol you eat and the amount circulating in your blood. Even if you are a vegetarian who eats NO cholesterol, you could still have high levels of cholesterol circulating in your blood, because your liver makes cholesterol. What is it that affects the amount of cholesterol circulating in your blood?

One important factor is the ratio of fats in your diet. If you eat a lot of saturated fats, your HDL goes down and your LDL goes up. You die young. If you eat mostly monounsaturated fats, your HDL goes up and your LDL goes down. Your heart thanks you.

How do you know which fats are saturated? Get in the habit of reading the label. Avoid fats that are solid at room temperature. Avoid animal fats, except for fish oil. Avoid hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Olive, canola, and peanut oils are the best.

That's all for now. Be sure to read the next article, where we tell you everything you need to know about protein.