Fat burns fat, eat fat to burn fat. Let us first know about the fat nutrient. Fat is an essential nutrient of the diet which is important for our brain and heart. Our body does not produce fat by itself. Fat soluble vitamins, such as Vitamin A, could not be absorbed without some amount of fat in the diet. It supplies energy to our body. Our brain has 60% of fat. People having a weak brain, weak memory and people who don’t remember things properly do not have a good source of fat in their diet.

There are different types of fats which include saturated fat and unsaturated fat.

• Saturated fat :

Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature. Saturated fats and trans fatty acids (trans fats) cause negative health effects such as heart disease.

• Unsaturated fat :

Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats i.e. monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated lowers the effect of some diseases such as cancer and heart disease. They raise good cholesterol levels and lowers bad cholesterol.

You must have heard about EFA’s- essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids cannot be synthesized by our body and must be obtained from food. The two essential fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3 fatty acids) and linoleic acid (omega-6 fatty acids). So, eat good fat to burn bad fat.

Our diet must contain a mixture of unsaturated and saturated fats. We should try to consume more unsaturated fat than saturated fat. Most adults who consume 2000 calories per day should limit their fat intake to 65g.

The American Dietetics Association (ADA) recommends limiting total calories from saturated fat to 7-10%.  Monounsaturated fats should account for 10-15% of total calories and roughly 10% of total calories should come from polyunsaturated fat.  Trans fat should be avoided.

The following chart will help you to choose the healthy source of fat to maintain a balanced diet.

SATURATED FAT	TRANS FAT
Red meat	Cakes
Coconut oil	Cookies
Butter	Droughnuts
Chocolate	Crackers
Cheese	Snack chips
Ice cream	Deep fried food
Sea food	Peanut butter

 

MONOUNSATURATED FAT	POLYUNSATURATED FAT
Olive oil	Fish
Peanut oil	Fish oil
Peanuts	Sunflower oil
Almouds	Soyabean oil
Cashews	Cottonseed oil