Fats

Question: What is the difference between trans fats and unsaturated fats in idiot-proof language? I understand that trans fats are a form of unsaturated fats but a bad one? Leading to heart disease? While most unsaturated fats are good for the hearth (see fat fish eaters etc.)?

Answer: Fats are part of a larger group of macromolecules (macromolecule: made up of lots of smaller subunits called monomers) called lipids. Have you ever heard of the term lipid bilayer? That's what your cell's membranes are made out of. Your cell's membranes have to be very fluid in order to function. This is a problem, because the fats have very long chains of carbons on them that tend to stick to one another (something called van-der-waals forces). What your body does to increase fluidity of its membranes is include non-saturated fats. The good fats are called "cis" unsaturated fats. What this means, is that the carbons don't go in a straight line. Halfway down the carbon chain, it changes direction and pokes out to the side. This causes the fatty acids to not pack together so tightly. cis fats are common in nature, especially in fats derived from plant products. Trans-fats, on the other hand, are NOT found in nature. They are created by something called "partial hydrogenation" which is typically done to make something melt at a higher temperature. Margarine, for instance, is a plant derived alternative to butter. If they had taken the plant fat straight from the plant and tried to make a stick out of it, it would melt far too quickly because the fats don't stick to each other well enough. So, they partially hydrogenate it to give it a higher melting point. Your body has no natural mechanism to break down trans fats. We have enzymes capable of breaking down saturated fats, and cis unsaturated fats, but since trans fats didn't exist long ago, we haven't evolved a way to get rid of them. Trans fats don't look like cis fats, in that they don't increase the fluidity of the membrane of your cells. In fact, they act just like saturated fats and make your cells function less efficiently.

Question: What does the body do with saturated fats? What if I replace saturated with unsaturated? What does the body do with saturated fats? What if I replaced the saturated fats in my diet with unsaturated fats and never ate saturated fats again. What would the body require from saturated fats?

Answer: Just like any other unburned fat it is stored in the body. As far as replacing saturated for unsaturated that is definitely a step in the right direction.

Question: What are some examples of good fats that are not fish oils? Obviously, you need to be eating fats to have a balanced diet. Trans-fats and hydrogenated fats are not good for me. Omega 3 fatty acids are good for me, but I don't really know what kind of foods contain these (except fish oils). I don't eat fish or shellfish because they makes me gag and vomit. :( Would a supplement be worthwhile? What other foods contain omega3's? What other fats are good for me and what food can I find them in?

Answer: Nuts are a fantastic source of monounsaturated fats or 'good fats,' as are avocados and certain oils such as flaxseed oil or linseed oil. All of these are very rich sources of Omega 3. I would personally recommend a supplement to anyone who doesn't have a high intake of oily fish as there are fantastic health benefits to essential fatty acids and it's reletively rare to achieve the recommended daily amount through your diet. X

Question: What’s the difference between good fats and bad fats? What’s the difference between good fats and bad fats? I thought there was no difference. But what exactly is the difference? And what foods have good fats?

Answer: The "good fats" are simply the unsaturated fats, found in foods like fish, sunflower oil, fish oil, etc. The "bad fats" are the saturated fats, found in various oils, as well as trans fats, found in most commercially supplied, packaged foods (like fast food). I placed the quotations around the good and bad fat to isolate the colloquial meaning of them, both types of fats can be both good and bad.

Question: What are the differences between the types of fats? In terms of weight management and fitness, what are the differences between these types of fats? Which sticks to your guts and add weight, and which are healthy and OK to consume if you are very strict about your weight management? 1) fat 2) saturated fat 3) trans fat 4) monounsaturated fats 5) polyunsaturated fats Thanks PS: I also heard that eating fat will not make you fat, but eating starchy items will. Is this true?

Answer: Regarding your question about fats and how they don't hurt you but startching food will. That is CORRECT! See if you consume a whole tub of butter you will not gain any fat but if you consume a large amount of white rice, white noodles, corn you will get fat. I'm a circuit trainer at a Curves for woman so I know this is right. If you are used to eating these your system is insulin resistant that means your cells are closed up the ones that make healthy sugar and when food gets placed in your body and cannot go through this process you just start gaining more fat.

Question: what is the property of fats and lipids on plants responsible for its presence when subjected to heat? this is on the experiment of determining the presence of fats and lipids on plant seeds by putting it on a filter paper and subjecting it in an open flame. i wanna know what makes the oils present after they were subjected to heat. thanks a lot. btw, this is for plant seeds.

Answer: oil, or rather lipid is already present in the seeds as reserve food.when ur heating them, ur simply melting them and provididng the activation energy to start the reaction.if any more doubrts prevail, [email protected]

Question: What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats? Imagine that you are buying a tub of margarine at the supermarket. Another shopper asks you what the difference is between the saturated fats and the unsaturated fats that are listed in the list of ingredients. What would you say to this shopper?

Answer: Saturated fats a long chains of lipids with single bonds connecting them. Unsaturated fats are chains of lipids with single and double bones connecting them. The double bonds make it easier to break down the unsaturated fat, thus most unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. There is actually a lot of controversy about whether saturated fats are detrimental to your health, so I won't get into that, but the average nutritionist believes that you should strictly limit the amount of saturated fat in your diet and limit the amount of total fat.

Question: What is the difference between trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils? I see products that now say "No Trans Fats", but they have partially hydrogenated oils in them....I thought these were the same thing. Examples include Post cereals and various tortillas and tortilla chips.

Answer: I've been wondering the same thing. "items that list partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredients but contain less than 0.5g of trans fats are considered by the government to be trans-fat free. "

Question: What are two important purposes of fats in the diet? A. Fats carry vitamins A, D, E, and K and give a feeling of satisfaction. B. Fats prevent osteoporosis and scurvy. C. Fats help carry waste products and help maintain body temperature. D.Fats help with proper bowel functioning and help prevent colon cancer.

Answer: C.

Question: What is the perfect percentage of calories from fats, carbs, and protein to build muscle mass for hardgainers? I'm a male, currently 21 years old, 6 feet tall, and 175 pounds with about 8% body fat. I'm trying to build massive muscle as quick as possible while adding the least amount of fat. I've heard the least amount of fat, the better. And others say up to 30% of my calories should come from fats as long as most of them are healthy polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats.

Answer: Since you are looking to gain muscle, I would only focus on eating the adequate amount of protein. Someone looking to build muscle should have at least one gram of protein for every pound he/she weighs. This means you need around 175 grams of protein. You can add some more if you want, but the more protein you eat the more unhealthy it is. Try to get most of it from lean proteins such as chicken, turkey, or fish. Add some whey protein powder as well. I like to have eggs whites because they are high in protein, but low in calories. If you are having trouble finding room for fats, add peanuts since they are high in protein. Good luck!

Question: How long do various fats stay usable when refrigerated? I figure that oils (olive, vegetable, safflower, etc) have a longer shelf life, but i am curious about bacon drippings, turkey fat from roasting turkey wings, and other flavorful animal fats. Do they stay fresh longer than butter because of the absence of milk fats?

Answer: I've stored bacon grease in the freezer indefinitely. Not sure about the fridge. I would imagine it would not last much longer than meat would last in the fridge... so about a week. Maybe 2, since the fat is cooked.

Question: How do we get fat? Do we get fat by eating a lot of fats? I see some people drinking diet drinks but it really isn't working so well for them. I heard that most fats are oily. Is that true?

Answer: We get fat by eating too much of anything, regardless of whether it's fat, carbs, sugar, or whatever. Our bodies convert everything we eat first into glucose which we use for energy, and then the excess is converted into fat. That's why diets that say you can only eat 1 type of food never work, because people still eat too much of it.

Question: Whats the difference between polyunsaturated, monounsaturated fats and other kinds of fats? ? Now you hear all these good things about certain oils and fats but before none of that matter. So what's the difference between the fats mentioned and those that werent mentioned? What kind of fat are Omega 3s, 6s and 9s?

Answer: This is gonna have some chemistry. Bear with me for a bit. If you know about the chemistry, everything about fats will make a lot more sense. The backbone of a fat molecule is a string of carbon molecules connected to each other: -C-C-C-C-C-C- (See my sources for a link to nicer diagrams.) A carbon atom can make four bonds to other atoms. As you can see, each of the Carbon atoms in my pathetic diagram above is attached to two other carbons. It has used only two of its four possible bonds. To fill those other bonds, the backbone makes bonds with a bunch of hydrogen atoms. (Hydrogen atoms can make only one bond each, so you don't need to worry too much about them.) Here's one of the carbon atoms with its Hydrogen. You can see it has four bonds:  H  | -C-  |  H But sometimes not all of the carbons are attached to two hydrogen atoms. Instead, sometimes two of the carbons form an double-strength bond between themselves instead. That means they're each using three of their four bonds to attach to other carbons. They will only have one bond left for hydrogen:  H  H   |   | -C=C- So how does that translate into the fats we know? We just need to look at their names. "Mono" means one. In a monounsaturated fat, there is only one double carbon bond in the entire fat molecule. In the long string of carbons, only two of them share a single double bond. "Poly" means many. Polyunsaturated fats have more than one double carbon bond per molecule. As you go down the string of carbons, you will find more than one pair of carbons that are double bonded to each other. In a saturated fat, there are no double carbon bonds at all. Each carbon is using both of its extra bonds to connect to hydrogens. You can think of it as "saturated" with hydrogen. As for Omegas 3, 6, and 9, they're names for specific types of unsaturated fats. The number specifies exactly where in the molecule the first double carbon bond is located. When it comes to health, the important difference between saturated and unsaturated fats is their shape. A saturated fat molecule is long and straight. Unsaturated fats, on the other hand, have at least one double carbon bond. Double carbon bonds make the molecule bend. The more double bonds it has, the more bendy it will be. Really bendy molecules don't tend to pack together well. Long, straight molecules like saturated fats will pack together well, letting them come together to form tightly-packed solids in unfortunate places, such as your arteries. This is how saturated fats can cause plaque. One last type of fat: Trans fats are monounsaturated fats, so they have one double carbon bond. But it's a different type of double carbon bond that doesn't cause the molecule to bend. So it's still a long, thin molecule that packs well, so it can still make plaque buildup and raise the risk of heart disease. It also seems to raise risks for a variety of other health problems, but I don't have the knowledge to understand exactly how. Whew! I hope that answered some of your questions.

Question: How to reduce fats in a very short period of time? My prom night is coming hence i'm rather worried bout the fats at the armpit as i've decided to wear a tube dress. So i need some help in telling me what to do so as to reduce the horrible looking fats around the armpit area. Please help! I'm rather desperate as prom is less than a week away.

Answer: The only thing you can do with only a week's time to get rid of fat, is liposuction. You should have chosen a different type of dress, or else got busy on the fat thing at least two months ago. What you can do now is get a drape to go around your shoulders and cover up the armpit fat.

Question: How to loose my stomach fats and what are the diets I should to maintain my body shape? Hi, I am goin to gym thrice a week, so that i should get a good shape and my belly fats is a big concern for me. I cannot go to gym regularly because of my busy schedule, so please refer me some good exercise and diet which will help me to reduce my stomach fats and bring me back in shape.Please send me a good list of diet so that i can reduced the intake of fats.

Answer: you ould colon cleanse that a way u will be able 2 lose weight faster when u find the rite diet

Question: What ingredients are considered trans fats? I know if it says anything about hydrogenated, it is bad. I also know that in the Trans Fats section of the label it can say zero when it's not really. But, I swear I once saw 1 g of trans fats listed, but no hydrogenated ingredients. Is there other terminology used for trans fats? I don't want a bunch of mumbo-jumbo on all the different kinds of fats....I just want to know the INGREDIENTS that are trans fats. Thank you sarge for the best answer so far.

Answer: Data based on FDA’s economic analysis for the final trans fatty acid labeling rule, "Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition Labeling, Nutrient Content Claims, and Health Claims" (July 11, 2003) Basically, trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats. Trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils. Unlike other fats, the majority of trans fat is formed when food manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. A small amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods. Trans fat, like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, raises the LDL cholesterol that increases your risk for CHD. Americans consume on average 4 to 5 times as much saturated fat as trans fat in their diets. Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and dietary cholesterol also contribute significantly. Major Food Sources of Trans Fat for American Adults (Average Daily Trans Fat Intake is 5.8 Grams or 2.6 Percent of Calories) 40% cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, bread, etc. 21% animal products 17% margarine 8% fried potatoes 5% potato chips, corn chips, popcorn 4% household shortening 3% salad dressing 1% breakfast cereal 1% candy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Data based on FDA’s economic analysis for the final trans fatty acid labeling rule, "Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition Labeling, Nutrient Content Claims, and Health Claims" (July 11, 2003) Scientific evidence shows that consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad cholesterol," levels, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, more than 12.5 million Americans have CHD, and more than 500,000 die each year. That makes CHD one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration has required that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol be listed on food labels since 1993. Starting Jan.1, 2006, listing of trans fat will be required as well. With trans fat added to the Nutrition Facts panel, required by Jan. 1, 2006, you will know for the first time how much of all three--saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol--are in the foods you choose. Identifying saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol on the food label gives you information you need to make food choices that help reduce the risk of CHD. This revised label will be of particular interest to people concerned about high blood cholesterol and heart disease. However, everyone should be aware of the risk posed by consuming too much saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. But what is trans fat, and how can you limit the amount of this fat in your diet?