What is Good Fat?

HEALTH & BEAUTY HEALTH

What Do People Mean by Good Fat?

By Dylan Roche

You hear people refer to it all the time—“good fat.” They use it to describe foods like olive oil, avocado, peanut butter… but what exactly does this mean? And how exactly is good fat different from bad fat?

In short, good fat is the type of fat that helps your cardiopulmonary system instead of hurting it. So if you’re looking for a few easy dietary swaps to treat your ticker better during American Heart Month, here’s the skinny on what you should know about fat:

YOU NEED FAT: First off, and maybe most importantly, fat is essential for good health. Energy dense, providing more than twice the calories per ounce when compared with carbohydrates and protein, fat is found abundantly in animal products, nuts, seeds, and even a select few fruits and vegetables. Fat digests slowly, so it helps you feel satiated after a meal, keeps you feeling full longer, and reduces the impact of fast-digesting carbohydrates on your blood sugar. It’s also important for numerous bodily functions, including the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals.

SATURATED AND UNSATURAT-

ED FATS: So what kind of fat should you be consuming and what kind should you avoid? Health experts encourage you to consume more monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat, and reduce your consumption of saturated fat. That’s because mono- and polyunsaturated fats improve your blood cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of heart disease.

HDL VS. LDL: Your blood cholesterol levels are made up of high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins, more commonly referred to as your HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

These lipoproteins transport cholesterol through your bloodstream for vital functions like cell formation and hormone synthesis, but it’s HDL that takes the cholesterol to your liver to be flushed out when all is said and done. The problem is that most people have lower levels of HDL and higher levels of LDL than they should. Too much LDL causes buildup of plaque on the walls of your blood vessels, which restrict the flow of blood and can ultimately lead to a heart attack or stroke.

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT SAT-

URATED FAT?: The reason health experts warn people to watch their consumption of saturated fat is because it raises your blood cholesterol levels (both HDL and LDL). In contrast, polyunsaturated fats lower your blood cholesterol (both HDL and LDL) and monounsaturated fats raise your HDL and lower your LDL.

High consumption of monounsaturated fat—and, in turn, high levels of HDL in your bloodstream—keep your vessels free and clear of any plaque.

CHOOSE HEALTHIER FATS:

Experts such as those at the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasize that a healthy diet is one of the best ways of preventing unhealthy cholesterol levels.

Focus on keeping your intake of saturated fat (often found in meat and dairy products) to less than 10 percent of your calories per day, and opt for foods that are high in mono- and polyunsaturated fats instead—think vegetable oils (olive, canola, peanut, safflower), nuts and nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew), and seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds). Avocados and olives are also rich in healthy fats.