Vegetable fat is a multi-faceted concept and many are confused in it. Everyone knows that, for example, olive oil is useful. But is it useful to add palm oil to ice cream? Are spreads with vegetable fats useful? To all these questions you will learn the answers from this article.
What concerns vegetable fats?
The category of vegetable fats includes both useful oils and harmful ones. Because the classification according to the principle of origin (vegetable fat or animal) does not always indicate the benefits of the product.
For example, vegetable oils include useful olive, peanut butter and harmful - palm and coconut. And animal fats include useful fish oil and harmful animal fat (interior fat, fat, etc.).
The thing is that it is necessary to classify fats from the point of view of the benefits in three categories - saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Saturated fats - fats of dense structure that are not digested, and often settle in the body, slagging it and clogging the vessels with cholesterol plaques. This category includes palm, coconut oil and cocoa butter, as well as all kinds of animal fats - whether margarine, fat, fatty meat, butter or other dairy products of high fat content. They should be excluded from the diet!
Monounsaturated fats or oleic acid (omega-9) is the most useful component for the human body, which allows you to fight diabetes, oncology, decreased immunity, weakness and other ailments. You can get them from olive and peanut butter, poultry, avocado and olives. These are healthy fats, and they should be in the diet.
Polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 and omega-6) are fats that the body does not produce, and they must be obtained with food, as they participate in all metabolic processes and enhance vitality. This category includes rapeseed and linseed oil, walnut oil and wheat germ, and fish and fish oil are sources of omega-3. And sources of omega-6 are nuts, seeds, cottonseed, sunflower and corn oil.
Thus, part of vegetable fats and oils is useful, some are harmful. It is very important to remember this difference and not to make common mistakes.
Vegetable fat in products
If in the composition of any product you saw "vegetable fat" - you know, it is those very harmful saturated fats - palm or coconut oil. Their influence on the human body is very negative, but due to them it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of production, so they are added to the mass of different products.
Let's consider in detail, than these cheap vegetable fats are dangerous:
- disrupt the work of the gastrointestinal tract;
- they are almost not digested, because of what sharply increases the level of harmful cholesterol in the blood;
- such fats provoke the development of atherosclerosis;
- because of the frequent use of this type of fat, obesity develops;
- the use of products with such fats - a strong blow to the cardiovascular system;
- in this fat there is almost no useful linoleic acid, which means that the harm done is not compensated at all.
That is why, when you see the mysterious "vegetable fats" in the list of ingredients of the product, it is worthwhile to understand that these are not valuable and useful oils, but cheap and harmful fats.
Products containing vegetable fats
Palm oil is incredibly popular: the products, in which it is added, are stored longer, do not require special storage conditions, perfectly hold the form and do not lose their appearance even after long-term storage. As a rule, it is possible to detect harmful vegetable fats in such products:
- french fries and chips;
- hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and other fast food;
- corn flakes and sticks;
- various ready-made sauces, marinades and sauces;
- Candy, chocolate, biscuits and donuts;
- unnatural cream;
- some types of ready-made cereals;
- baking of industrial production;
- fried chicken;
- processed cheese;
- ice-cream, many ready-made desserts;
- instant noodles and other freeze-dried products;
- margarine and spreads.
Choosing something from this list, at least, do not be too lazy to learn the label to choose products that will not harm you and your family.