GOOD FATS VS BAD FATS

Fats are an important part of the diet. They're essential for healthy growth and development and are needed for the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). They also enhance the flavour of foods and provide a feeling of fullness after a meal or snack.

In addition, fats can have an influence on your cholesterol levels and thereby affect heart health. It's all about eating the right kind of fats.

In fact, a recent study has shown that for cholesterol management it is better to use good fat as a spread on your bread than consuming no fat at all!?



There are four groups of fat which make up the total fat in a food.

Saturated Fats

Saturated fat, found especially in the fat of dairy and meat, is unhealthy for your heart. Saturated fat can increase 'bad' LDL-cholesterol and can lead to an increased risk to heart health.

We can reduce the intake of saturated fat by consuming less foods rich in saturated fat, such as butter, fatty meats and full fat dairy, and by preferring foods low in saturated fats instead (e.g. margarine spreads such as Flora, vegetable oils, lean meats and milk products).

Trans Fats

Trans fats are naturally found in animal foods from ruminants such as butter, milk and meats. Also, they form a by-product of a process called partial-hydrogenation. The purpose in hydrogenation is to increase the 'hardness' of fats. Solid fats have different roles in food preparation to liquid fats.

Most margarine spreads available in New Zealand including Flora spreads, contain a maximum of 0.9% trans, described as 'virtually trans free'.

Monounsaturated Fats

Monounsaturated fats, found especially in olive and peanut oils, can be used to replace saturated fats in the diet for better heart health. However they are not essential, which means the body can produce them.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Polyunsaturated fats, called 'essential fats' or 'good' fats, are found in vegetables oils such as sunflower and canola, margarine spreads like Flora and some nuts. Dietary recommendations for heart health are to eat less saturated fat and replace them with polyunsaturated fats. Like vitamins and minerals, polyunsaturates are essential nutrients that cannot be produced by the body and therefore are only obtained from the foods we eat.

The Heart Foundation (1) recommends using margarine spreads instead of butter as a simple step to a heart healthy diet. Butter is high in saturated fat and low in good polyunsaturated fats, while Flora spreads are high in polyunsaturated fats, low in bad saturated fats and virtually trans fat free. Flora spreads can help keep your heart healthy because they are:

• Rich in heart healthy polyunsaturated fats
• Low in saturated fats
• Virtually trans fat free

† Skeaff M et al. Isocaloric substitution of plant sterol-enriched fat spread for carbohydrate rich foods in a low-fat, fibre-rich diet decreases plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increases high-density lipoprotein concentrations. Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases (2005) 15, 337e344

Reference

1. http://www.nhf.org.nz/index.asp?pageID=2145828145