Fats are good for your body. Shocked? Well, let us clear out your doubts. When people decide that they want to lose weight, the majority of them think that the way they should do that is to virtually cut out fat. Who can blame them when low fat diets are being blasted at us every where we look. But fat is not the enemy and not all fats are equal.

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Another very important thing to understand is that Eating fat does not make you fat – it isn’t as simple as that. Eating way too much fat, just like eating way too much of anything, is what can make you overweight. In fact, many people who follow a low fat diet end up gaining weight and that is because of all the junk that is in low fat products and very high in carbs. Fat adds flavours to things, so when they take the fat out, they add in sugar.

People on a weight loss diet try to include healthy fats every day in their meals. Simple additions like nuts, avocado and fatty fish can do wonders for your body.

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Understanding the difference between good and bad fats

Good or Healthy fats are basically fats that are required by the body, while bad ones are the fats that are not important and can be cut from the diet. Fats that are responsible for raising the LDL are known as bad fats, these are most commonly man made fats. The most common man made fats are known as trans fats. Good fats or unsaturated fats such as those derived from plants and sea foods are good for the body and help increase HDL cholesterol carrier levels.

Why are healthy fats important?

A source of energy:Our body uses the fat we eat, and fats we make from other nutrients in our bodies,  to provide the energy for most of our life-functions

Energy store: The extra calories that we consume, but do not need to use immediately, are stored for future use in special fat cells (adipose tissue)

Essential fatty acids: Dietary fats that are essential for growth development and cell functions, but cannot be made by our body’s processes

Proper functioning of nerves and brain: fats are part of myelin- a fatty material which wraps around our nerve cells so that they can send electrical messages. Our brains contain large amounts of essential fats

Maintaining healthy skin and other tissues.  All our body cells need to contain some fats as essential parts of cell membranes, controlling what goes in and out of our cells

Transporting fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K through the bloodstream to where they are needed

Forming steroid hormones needed to regulate many bodily processes

Here are 5 ways you can add good fats to your diet:

Choose the fattier meats and fishes like salmon

Use more Fats while cooking by using olive oil

Eat eggs, nuts and avocados

Make Dark chocolate your friend

Include Fatty cheese in your diet

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