Fats: Friend or Foe? The Truth About This Misunderstood Nutrient!

Fat in the diet is avoided when we are trying to lose weight / when cholesterol goes up / when we are conscious about our health / when there's an acne outbreak. Fat, the nutrient mostly avoided by health enthusiasts is not as bad as is considered. Being a nutrient it has many roles to play for our well-being. 

FAT, the storage form of energy, works as a backup for carbohydrates, the primary fuel. Our body stores the fat we eat and uses it when energy is scarce. This benefit sometimes makes people despise fat.

All body cells contain some fat. In a healthy non-obese female, fat makes up 18-25% of body weight and 15-20% in a healthy non-obese male. This proportion changes with ageing, pregnancy and lactation. Fat lesser or higher than this proportion can lead to various health problems, especially related to the reproductive and cardiovascular systems.

I had a friend in school who never used to feel cold, even on days we were shivering and chattering our teeth. Now I know why. He had a nice padding of fat. The subcutaneous layer (the layer beneath our skin) of fat is an effective insulator that reduces losses of heat from the body. The fat layer cushions and protects delicate vital organs, such as the kidneys, from injury.

Role of Fats in the body

Sweaters and cushions, but there is a lot more about fats that make this nutrient necessary for us. Fats are carriers of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Our body needs fats to absorb and transport these vitamins. Needless to say, with a deficiency of fats we can precipitate a deficiency of these vitamins too.

Essential  Fatty  Acids are the fatty acids that cannot be synthesized by our body and thus must be present in the diet. Deficiency of these can lead to growth retardation, skin lesions, liver degeneration, dry scaly skin, to name a few. Fat in our diet is the source of essential fatty acids.

Another benefit of fat in the diet is that it is the source (only animal foods) of cholesterol. Yes, you read it correctly. It is a benefit if taken in the right amounts. Cholesterol is a component of cell membranes and helps in the synthesis of vitamin D, reproductive hormones and bile salts.

It also contribute to the taste and palatability of our food. It is an essential cooking medium and helps us in making lots of recipes.

Sources

Fat is present in two modes in our foods: visible and invisible.

Visible fat: Butter, ghee, margarine, cream,  salad oils, lard, cooking oils, etc.

Invisible fat: Cheese, egg yolk, nuts, oil seeds, meat, fish, etc.

How much fat to include in the diet?

Not more than 20-25% of our day's calories should come from fat. Those with health problems wherein we need to restrict fat should keep fat intake between 10-15% of the total calorie intake.

The saying, "Excess of everything is bad," holds true for fats as well.