Fat
Fats are often demonised from a health perspective – fat makes you fat, as this nutrient contains twice the energy of carbohydrates or protein after all.
Taking up more fat than the body needs certainly also contributes to obesity. On the other hand, some fats contain important nutrients that are necessary for a variety of body functions that are vital to life.
Some of the important functions of fat in the human body is the supply of energy and insulation against coldness, they work as solvents for substances that are only fat-soluble such as some vitamins and they also serve as a protective buffer for inner organs and the nervous system. Certain unsaturated fatty acids (such as Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids) cannot be synthesized at all or in sufficient quantities in the human body and are therefore essential, meaning they have to be supplied by nutrition. They are important for a healthy circulation system, the immune system and they play an important role in fighting against infections. These fats are largely found in rapeseed oil, walnut oil, olive oil and linseed oil and in fatty sea fish such as salmon and herring.
Saturated fats in butter, meat, sausage and chips primarily supply fuel for the body. If this fuel is not spent by sufficient exercise, then it stores itself in fat tissue and is a burden to the body. Trans fatty acids have a negative effect on health. These are found particularly in industrially produced foodstuffs where they result from the hardening of vegetable oils. Consuming them increases the content of (“bad“) LDL cholesterol in the blood and can subsequently be a contributing factor to coronary illnesses (arteriosclerosis, heart attack).
So ‘fat’ is not always simply fat!
Tips for Daily Nutrition:
- Use low-fat animal products such as milk with a reduced fat content (1.5% fat), poultry without the skin and low-fat sausage varieties.
- Replace fatty ingredients with low-fat substitutes. Instead of cream, use low-fat milk or buttermilk. Instead of plain sour cream and crème fraiche, use sour cream stretched with low-fat milk.
- Instead of fatty cream sauces use mustard sauces, tomato sauces or vegetable sauces.
- Use less spreading fat and frying fat. 30 g of visible fat per day is enough. This is 2 tablespoons of oil, for example in salad or frying fat and 2 teaspoons of low-fat butter or low-fat margarine as a spreading fat, or as herbal butter on grilled, lean meat.
- With a salad leaf or bell pepper, a cheese or sausage sandwich also tastes moist and delicious even without butter.
