Foods such as butter, cream, chocolate and anything deep-fried or junky are commonly associated with fat. Despite fats and oils being different in texture and taste, chemically they are very similar; for example, they are both insoluble in water Fats are generally solid at room temperature whereas oils are liquid. A more scientific word for fat is ‘lipid‘.
Fat is a very important part of the human body. In fact, we could not function without a certain amount of fat as the body uses it as a source for energy during the day. Small amounts offal are used while you are sitting, standing or doing light tasks such al working or cleaning, and even while sleeping. However, the amounts of fat used in these instances are not significant enough to promote fat loss.
The human body can readily burn approximately 41 grams of fat for women each day and 60 grams for men Once you eat more than the maximum amount of fat needed for these daily processes, you have an amount of fat that is called surplus fat. This must be either stored or burnt off during exercise. Most people have enough fat stored in their bodies to walk 800-2400 kilometres!
The Different Types of Fats Found in the Body are:
Structural fats
Fats are found surrounding almost every living cell in the body, protecting and adding reinforcement to the cell membrane. This protective layer of fat also acts as a barrier between the external environment of the cell and the cell itself. These fats may also be implicated by the conversion of carbohydrate to structural fat when a person overeats. (This is not to be confused with storage fat.)
Storage Fats
Storage fats supply the body with an abundant source of fuel. The specific storage site for fat is in a tissue called the adipose tissue, which can be found throughout the body. When you have too much fat in your diet, it gets stored. The more fat you eat, the greater this storage fat becomes, and the harder it is to work it off. These storage fats have two and a half times more energy (kilojoules) than carbohydrates and take up less space than carbohydrates. These fats also provide the body with insulation. This is the type of fat that any weight management program aims to lose. We don’t need an excess of storage fat.
Metabolic Fats
This is a term that refers to fat which, once digested, is converted to substances that are chemically important in our bodies, such as hormones and enzymes. These fats maintain the body’s metabolism. The metabolism describes all the ongoing and essential activities of the body that we sometimes take for These activities use energy and they include:
- keeping the heart beating and pumping blood around the body.
- breathing
- breaking down food, transporting and storing it.
- producing new cells and removing old ones
- producing enzymes and hormones
- filtering blood through the kidneys
Transport Fats
Fats must be transported from the intestine through the bloodstream to their storage sites. They are transported through the body, or ‘piggybacked’ through the bloodstream, on a specific type of transport fat called lipoprotein. Lipoprotein is actually a special form of cholesterol. Fats are constantly moving through the body, from storage sites to the liver, where they can be broken down to form steroids and hormones, and exercising muscles, where they can be burnt as fuel.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
One of the most important points about fat intake is that fat contains fat-soluble vitamins. These vitamins are A, D, E and K and are essential. They may be stored in the liver, or the fat tissue.
