Nutritionist Edi Csanalosi (@Nutreena_NT) explains why fats are vital for good health.
Fats are an essential part of our diets – we need them and cannot live without them!
So why are they so important?
Fat is a component of all of the following:
– Cell membranes – so every single cell in our body needs fats as building blocks.
– Brain tissue – no fat, no brain!
– Nerve sheaths which protect our nerves.
– Bone marrow.
Some vitamins can only be digested and absorbed with the presence of fat molecules (fat soluble vitamins: A,D,E,K).
And last but not least – fat is also an important source of energy – as muscle glycogen is a limited supply of energy, when that dips, the fat break down increases. Aerobic, moderate intensity exercise in particular requires lipids as a source of fuel as well.
So why the big fuss about them?
I am sure you’ve all heard about “good" and “bad” fats – I’ll explore the topic a bit more next time and look into the structure and classification of fatty acids – how to avoid the bad fats and what the best sources are for the good ones.
