What is saturated fat exactly, and what does it do to your body?
Today, I ate pretty good calorie-wise. (I ate about 1,500 calories.) However, I found that I ate close to 20g of saturated fat (the daily value.)
I know that saturated fat is bad for you, but why? Is it going to make me fatter and gain weight, or will I not gain because I ate the right amount of calories?
June 24th, 2010 at 7:16 am
This should be all you need
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat
June 24th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Saturated fat is considered bad for you not so much because of weight gain, but because it clogs your arteries. There are two main types of fats, saturated (bad) and unsaturated (good). Unsaturated fats are further subdivided into mono- and poly-unsaturated fats.
The word “saturated” indicates that the fat solidifies at room temperature, while unsaturated means that it doesn’t. Have you ever seen cooking grease from bacon or beef collect? It becomes thick and congealed, it solidifies once it cools to room temperature. Compare that to olive oil (an unsaturated fat), which stays nice and liquid at room temperature. Now imagine those two types of fat in your arteries. Obviously one is going to move through the blood stream much more easily than the other.
That is why you should avoid eating saturated fats, and when you do eat them, have them in moderation. They hike up your cholesterol which puts you at greater risk for plaque build-up in your arteries, which can cause blockage and eventually a heart attack. In moderation they are okay, but try to avoid them when possible.
Hope that helps!
June 24th, 2010 at 7:47 am
saturated fat is laden with hydrogen (hence the tern hydrogenated on food labels) it is harder to break down there for it accumulates in the body. Cholesterol is not all bad for you. it is necessary for some bodily functions and hormones.