Did you know that .....?

Fats (including cholesterol) are essential in our organism.

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great Easter.

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Today I am going to talk about the fats or lipids. ¿ Whenever we hear about them, do we always think of something negative for our diet? Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

Fats are organic substances indispensable for life because the plasma membranes of all our cells are made up of lipids.

Cholesterol, which we are so afraid of, also plays a fundamental role in our organism: Did you know that it is a structural lipid present in all cell membranes? And not only that, it is also involved in the formation of:

• Precursors of vitamin D, essential for calcium absorption.
• Bile salts, necessary for a good digestion and absorption of fats.
• Steroid hormones such as progesterone and testosterone.

Therefore, the cholesterol is necessary for our health, However, what we must avoid is the excess of the same, which is the so-called “bad cholesterol” which is the one that binds to a lipoprotein “HDL” to be transported to be eliminated and whose excess or high concentrations in blood, is what gives rise to accumulations that clog our arteries leading to cardiovascular diseases.

The “good cholesterol” However, it is bound to another lipoprotein, HDL, which is the one that transports it to our tissues and organs for the functions I mentioned above.

According to its chemical structure a summary of the classification of fats would be:

1. Those not made up of fatty acids, which are the phospholipids and cholesterol.
2. Those formed by fatty acids: free fatty acids and those formed by the union of free fatty acids (acylglycerides).
   1. Within the free fatty acids we have:
      1. The saturated fats: these are the ones we have to avoid or consume very little (animal fats that are not fish: red meat fat and others, butter, cow's milk fat ...).
      2. The unsaturated fats:
         1. Monounsaturated (Omega 9 olive oil).
         2. Polyunsaturated (vegetable oils such as those from nuts or seeds (Omega 6*) and oily fish (Omega 3*).

*In addition, there are some essential fatty acids, that our organism cannot produce and that is why it is essential that we consume them:

1. Linoleic acid: Omega 6. Nuts, seeds, sunflower oil ...
2. Linolenic acid: Omega 3. Oily fish.

In short, fats should be consumed, but choose “healthy and essential fats”. .

As I told you in my previous post on what is the adequate intake of each nutrient, with respect to fats we should take:

• Between 30-35% of our total energy expenditure of LIPIDS OR FATS of which:
  • 8% maximum saturated fat (animal fat: meats, milk...)
  • 10% of polyunsaturated ( oily fish, seed oil, nuts)
  • 12% of monounsaturated: olive oil.

I hope you have found it useful, I hope you comment if you have any questions and I end with MY WEEKLY MENU VARIED AND BALANCED ! Happy weekly.