Healthy Fats vs Unhealthy Fats

Do you know which fats are good for you and which fats are bad for you?  We all know trans fats are bad, but is that it? 

Recently, I discovered the difference between good and bad fats to only determine what I was eating frequently was considered to be an unhealthy fat.

Unhealthy fats:

All saturated fat, trans fat and foods already high in cholesterol such as liver, organ meats and egg yolks are unhealthy fats. 

I am sure you have all heard that trans fats are very bad for you.  However, majority of the products don't even use trans fat anymore in ingredients. So, that's pretty much out of the question.

What about saturated fat?  A saturated fat is one that turns solid at room temperature and is found mostly in foods from animals and a few plants.  I would like to emphasize this post on saturated fats. 

Saturated Fats are:

• meats
• lard 
• the skin and fat of chicken 
• butter, cream, milk, cheeses, ice cream 
• coconut oil 
• palm oil  

For example, chicken fats are unhealthy fats.  If you cook the chicken without removing the fats, then the chicken will absorb it.  After the fat is already absorbed by the chicken, it doesn't matter if you cut the fat off the chicken before eating it.  It's already too late.

Have you ever tried the whole roasted chicken from Costco, Safeway or another grocery store?  Every week, I bought the Costco roasted chicken, which to me seemed pretty healthy.  Before eating the chicken, I would remove all the fat.  I figured if I removed the fat before eating the chicken, then I wouldn't be eating the fat.   Less calories for me.  This is far from the truth. The chicken cooked with the fat and the skin, is almost the same as eating the fat from the chicken. 

So if saturated fats are bad then what are the good, healthy fats?

Healthy fats:

Unsaturated fats are oils such as canola, olive, peanut, corn, soybean, sesame and sunflower oils. Nuts, olives and fatty fish including salmon and tuna are also unsaturated fats.  These fats are much better than saturated fats, but in moderation.  

This was another interesting fact for me.  I am not a big fan of cooking with oils or using it in my food, but it's great to know that unsaturated fats are actually healthy for the body.  The body needs a little bit of fat as part of the diet, so why give it healthy fats vs. unhealthy fats. 

Here are some tips on how to reduce unhealthy fats in your diet:

• Choose low fat dairy food including skim milk, low fat yogurt, cheese, ice cream and pudding
• Choose lean meat or skinless chicken and trim any visible fat before cooking
• Use low fat cooking methods like grilling, barbecuing, or roasting
• Skim the fat off the top of cooled gravies, sauces, soups or stews 
• Cook with unsaturated oils and spreads like olive or canola oils 
• Choose tomato based sauces and avoid creamy sauces or soups  

I hope this post can help you reduce and replace the unhealthy fats in your diet.  If you know of other food items that seem healthy but are actually fatty, please share your knowledge with us. 

Comments

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