Fats! They’re all not bad for you. Well, of course you have the fats seen in lard, chicken thighs, prime ribs, milk, butter, and steak, those are all bad! These types of fats are called Saturated fats. However, the fats you see in olive oils (such as grapeseed, sunflower oil, NOT COCONUT OIL), vegetables and fish products are healthy fats that benefit your body. These fats are called unsaturated fats.

The easy way to see the difference if a product contains saturated fats is to see is solid. Saturated fats can be seen as solid at room temperature. If you leave something out on the table that was once liquid, and becomes a white colored solid layer/substance, the product has saturated fats. This includes the white band of fat you see on that good ol juicy new York steak. In high consumption of saturated fats, they tend to cause buildup of plaque in arteries and veins, and block blood flow around the body. Most importantly, coronary arteries of the heart may be blocked (which are the blood vessels that route blood to your heart muscle for it to contract), and ultimately lead to Coronary Artery Disease, and may have a heart attack. Saturated fats also lead to higher levels of LDL cholesterol (bad), which also contribute to thickening and building plaque in blood vessels.

The good , unsaturated fats, are liquid at room temperature. These are usually in olive oils, vegetables, some nuts, fish, and seeds. This is a must need in your diet. These fats are tremendously beneficial for your health for many reasons. The benefits include better blood clotting, efficient muscle contraction/relaxation, and inflammation (which is good to heal injured areas of the body). Also, it raises your level of good cholesterol (HDL), which removes the LDL cholesterol (which we explained in the paragraph above) away from arteries, and to the liver to break down. This can play an important role in protecting against heart attack and stroke. So, be sure to get this type of in your fat somehow! Incorporate it.

Some examples to get unsaturated fats in your diets are; an olive oil/oil based salad dressing, snacks from pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds, fish (salmon and tuna), peanut butter, avocado, and nuts (almonds, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and cashews)

Stewart Knorr, 714-883-8940

www.placentiapersonaltraining.com