Unsaturated Fat – What It Is, Benefits, Types and Foods!

An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is at least one double bond within the fat, although many of us are concerned about eating a lot of fat, a balanced diet requires a certain amount of fat – fats provide valuable energy and nutrients. that the body needs to perform its vital functions.

However, it is worth thinking about the type of fat we eat, for example, if we want to keep our cholesterol at an adequate level. Unsaturated fats in particular are considered “good” fats and offer certain advantages when used to replace “bad” saturated fats .

What is unsaturated fat?

Unsaturated (or unsaturated) fats are fats in which there are one or more double bonds in the fatty acid chain. Examples are palmitoleic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid.

Foods that contain this substance include avocados , nuts and vegetable oils such as soybeans , canola and olive oil . Meat products contain both saturated and unsaturated fats.

Health benefits of unsaturated fat:

Despite what you may have heard, so-called ‘good’ or ‘unsaturated’ fats provide energy to the body’s acids and essential fatty acids, making it easy to assimilate vitamin A , vitamin D , vitamin E and vitamin K ; They also favor heart health, reduce blood cholesterol levels  , which decreases the chances of suffering heart disease, so they are considered allies of the heart.

They are fatty acids that have one or more double bonds in their carbon chain. In fact, that’s why they can be monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. At room temperature, they are usually in a liquid state. And they also contribute 9 kcl for every gram.

These are called “good fats” because:

• Help to lower LDL cholesterol  levels already increase HDL cholesterol  ;
• They protect the heart and arteries;
• Reduce discomfort in people suffering from arthritis ;
• They help the optimal functioning of the central nervous system.

Types of unsaturated fats:

There are two main types of  unsaturated :

polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fats that are found in fish, especially oily fish. omega-6 fats that are found in some oils, such as turmeric and soybean oil, along with some nuts .

Foods high in unsaturated fats:

• Vegetable oils and vegetable oil-based margarines and spreads are good.
• Nuts and seeds, in addition to containing “good” fats, also provide fiber, another important component of a healthy, balanced diet .
• Salmon , mackerel, sardines , herring and trout are examples of blue fish.

Precautions:

As we mentioned earlier, the biggest problem with this type of acid is that they oxidize easily. But, if a balanced diet is followed, it is certainly possible to control the consumption of these, without affecting our health.

This does not mean that there are no compounds that are harmful to health. In fact, trans fatty acids commonly known as trans fats are unsaturated fatty acids whose structure contains at least one unsaturation in the trans configuration.

After all, this type of fat originates through double hydrogenation bonds, causing the fats to harden.

The most harmful effect they can have is that this will increase the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, high-density lipoprotein decreases the HDL responsible for transporting good cholesterol  . And finally, as we said, it directly influences the risk of cardiovascular disease.