Lard glorious lard!
Jan. 13th, 2010 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriqueSo, you may have run into the media message that 'low fat = good'.
It's not quite true. Actually, it's not even remotely true.
But fat - fat's not actually a bad thing. In fact, almost the opposite - it's good for you.
Or specifically, there's good fat and bad fat, but neither has any impact on losing weight - it's just fat has a relatively high energy density, so you get a smaller portion of lard than you would of cabbage.
Just for those that don't know (because I didn't until relatively recently):
Cholesterol is an important part of your body function - you need some.
There's two kinds of cholesterol. HDL (High-density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein).
HDL is generally speaking, good for you. LDL is bad for you - they sort of do the same thing, but LDL is more prone to coagulating and 'clogging' and so make you more prone to heart disease, and just generally reduces your blood flow (which is bad).
And you mostly get it from eating fats.
Unsaturated fats are good sources of HDL.
Saturated fats are rich in LDL.
The way you tell the difference? Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature - oils and the like.
Saturated fats are solid.
Just visualise it as what it's doing in your arteries - oil means well lubricated and flowing nicely. Solid fats will coagulate and solidify, and block 'em.
So stuff like olives, nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oil has unsaturated fats, and are (bearing in mind the calorific value - a handful of nuts is about 150kcal) good for you. And rich in fat.
Cheese, butter, lard, bits of fat off meat. Even milk - the fat is from the cream in it, and whilst you can get it runny, cream will thicken at room temperature.
Good sources of energy, not so great for unsaturated fats.
My bag of cashew nuts here:
25g (about a handful) is:
4.4g protein
4.5g carbohydrate (1.2g sugar)
12.1g fat,
2.1g saturated,
6.4 monounsaturated,
2.1g polyunsaturated.
(mono and poly are both 'positive' but mono-unsaturated is the better of the two, as it increases HDL and reduces LDL more)
Of special note is hydrogenated fat and trans fats - a popular ingredient in fast food, as it's tasty, and has a higher melting point, meaning it has a long shelf life for you cakes and humbuggers and stuff. It's ... well, to perhaps oversimplify, it's like 'super saturated fat'. Trans fats do the opposite - they reduce the good cholesterol, and increase the bad.
Fast food restaurants will often use hydrogenated fat, because it has a better shelf life, and lets them cook chips/fries faster.
And, for bonus points, they're not required to label 'trans fats' on the nutritional readout. To quote:
This analysis is supported by a 2006 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) scientific review that states "from a nutritional standpoint, the consumption of trans fatty acids results in considerable potential harm but no apparent benefit."
Which is nice.
It's not quite true. Actually, it's not even remotely true.
But fat - fat's not actually a bad thing. In fact, almost the opposite - it's good for you.
Or specifically, there's good fat and bad fat, but neither has any impact on losing weight - it's just fat has a relatively high energy density, so you get a smaller portion of lard than you would of cabbage.
Just for those that don't know (because I didn't until relatively recently):
Cholesterol is an important part of your body function - you need some.
There's two kinds of cholesterol. HDL (High-density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein).
HDL is generally speaking, good for you. LDL is bad for you - they sort of do the same thing, but LDL is more prone to coagulating and 'clogging' and so make you more prone to heart disease, and just generally reduces your blood flow (which is bad).
And you mostly get it from eating fats.
Unsaturated fats are good sources of HDL.
Saturated fats are rich in LDL.
The way you tell the difference? Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature - oils and the like.
Saturated fats are solid.
Just visualise it as what it's doing in your arteries - oil means well lubricated and flowing nicely. Solid fats will coagulate and solidify, and block 'em.
So stuff like olives, nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oil has unsaturated fats, and are (bearing in mind the calorific value - a handful of nuts is about 150kcal) good for you. And rich in fat.
Cheese, butter, lard, bits of fat off meat. Even milk - the fat is from the cream in it, and whilst you can get it runny, cream will thicken at room temperature.
Good sources of energy, not so great for unsaturated fats.
My bag of cashew nuts here:
25g (about a handful) is:
4.4g protein
4.5g carbohydrate (1.2g sugar)
12.1g fat,
2.1g saturated,
6.4 monounsaturated,
2.1g polyunsaturated.
(mono and poly are both 'positive' but mono-unsaturated is the better of the two, as it increases HDL and reduces LDL more)
Of special note is hydrogenated fat and trans fats - a popular ingredient in fast food, as it's tasty, and has a higher melting point, meaning it has a long shelf life for you cakes and humbuggers and stuff. It's ... well, to perhaps oversimplify, it's like 'super saturated fat'. Trans fats do the opposite - they reduce the good cholesterol, and increase the bad.
Fast food restaurants will often use hydrogenated fat, because it has a better shelf life, and lets them cook chips/fries faster.
And, for bonus points, they're not required to label 'trans fats' on the nutritional readout. To quote:
This analysis is supported by a 2006 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) scientific review that states "from a nutritional standpoint, the consumption of trans fatty acids results in considerable potential harm but no apparent benefit."
Which is nice.
