Computing Fats

Fat is an essential part of a healthy diet. It's the most concentrated source of energy you can get from food. It supplies you with two times as many calories as carbohydrates and protein. During exercise, the body turns to fat for energy after your carbohydrate stores have been depleted. In addition, fat is the only source of essential fatty acids, and it is necessary for the proper absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, E, and K.

But there are “good” fats, and there are “bad fats.” Knowing how to identify the "right" fats, as well as the content, may help in controlling your cholesterol levels... or at least insure you're ingesting the proper types of fat.

There are three kinds of fat:

• Saturated Fats
  Saturated fats generally exist in solid form at room temperature and can be found in animal products and some vegetable oils. Excessive ingestion of saturated fats can lead to high LDL, the "bad cholesterol"
• Unsaturated Fats
  Unsaturated fats generally exist in liquid form at room temperature and  can be found in olive oil and canola oil. Omega-3s and Omega-6s are polyunsaturated fats.
• Trans Fats
  Trans fats result when unsaturated fats (like vegetable oil) are chemically altered to stay solid at room temperature. Trans fats are referred to as "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" and can be found in processed foods like snack cakes. Trans fats can lead to a buildup of bad cholesterol in the blood. Unfortunately, the amounts of "Trans Fats" (the bad guys) are not required to be listed on nutrition labels until 2006.

Determining the “Bad Fats”

The “bad fats” can be partially identified by some simple arithmatic. Current labeling breaks fat content down into two groups:

• total fat grams
• grams of saturated fat

By subtracting saturated fat grams from total fat grams, you'll arrive at the amount of fat that is either unsaturated or trans fat. Now examine the remainder of the label:

• trans fats are listed as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated
• unsaturated fats may be listed as olive oil, canola oil, or other vegetable oils

By subtracting one ofthe above from the previous result, you should be able to make a determination as to the amount of “good” fat - “bad” fat in your serving.

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