Drug Medical Information

EATING TO YOUR HEART CONTENT: THE FATS OF LIFE - GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF FATS

Sorting out the 'black hats' from the 'white hats' among the fats is not easy. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that often it's not the fats themselves but the way they're processed, stored, and used in the diet that makes for the difference. Fats fall into four general classifications: 1: Saturated fats - (usually solid at room temperature) - are obtained primarily from animal sources and occur naturally in most meats, and butterfat products such -milk, cream, cheese and butter. 2: Polyunsaturated fats - (tend to be liquid at room temperature) - are derived from grains such as soy, corn, sunflower and safflower oils, and fish. Unsaturated fats in this category, however, are frequently converted into saturated fats by a commercial process called hydroge-nation that food manufacturers use to give their products a longer shelf life. As a result many so-called 'polyunsaturates' - those prominent in bakery products, candies, margarine, salad dressings, vegetable shortening and mayonnaise - are highly saturated, and a prime example of a 'good' fat gone 'bad'. 3: Monounsaturated fats - found in olives and olive oil, almonds, peanuts, peanut butter and avocado - are generally applauded as the best of the lot. In recent years, research suggests that the mono-unsaturates have health-promoting properties; 4: Hydrogenated fats and oils - liquid fats made solid by adding hydrogen to the oil during processing - found in solid shortenings, margarine, baked goods, crackers, pie crust. Read labels carefully to avoid hydrogenated fats whenever possible. If you're unclear as to which fats do what to your artery walls, no wonder. To a certain extent, it depends on whom you're talking to and when!
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