Fats, food and health.

Recently, in this blog, you have read about the fats your body needs to stay healthy. Your cells which are found in every part and organ of your body need fats to to be produced and maintained. It supplies you with energy, without which your organs and body cannot function. Some vitamins need fats to be absorbed. So, naturally, fats are necessary.

However, do not go overboard, as we also know that too much of anything is not good for our health. Excess of some vitamins can cause problems. Excess fat can also be a problem. Knowing this how do we go about eating correctly.

Before I continue, I would like to point out that not only obese people get heart problems. I have personally known of at least two persons who had blocked arteries even though they are two very thin persons.

Knowing that saturated animal fats are not recommended by many health researchers, we ought to eat only lean meats. Of course, there is still a little saturated fats in the lean meat but that amount is not excessive. If it is chicken, remove the skin as most of the fats is found there.

When it comes to meat, it is not so much the fats in the lean meat but residues of the antibiotics and other chemicals or growth hormones which are given to the animals that can bring on health problems.

It is good to have some fish a few days a week as our protein intake. Oily fish supplies us with Omega-3.

Then again, some people do not see the fats in ghee, butter and magarine which are used in a good number of food. One of the friends who had blocked arteries told me his favourite breakfast food was 'roti canai', a kind of bread made with some ghee, which he took every morning. Here again, it is not so much the fats in the food but the build-up of the fats. Just as people who eat carrots everyday find their skin taking on a certain colour. Therefore variety is important.

I supplement with two tablespoons of coconut oil and a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon each at either breakfast, lunch or dinner because of the benefits they bring. (Please read my posts on coconut oil.)

To be healthy, we should, as often as possible supply our body with sufficient protein, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates and water; besides giving it sufficient exercise and sleep.

How do we know we are giving our body the right amount of food? If our weight is fairly constant, then we know there is hardly excess food turning into fat in our body. Of course, we are talking about people with a good healthy build, neither too thin nor too fat.

Thus, if we desire a change, such as doing less exercise, we should reduce our food intake accordingly. Not doing so is one reason some sportmen or women grow fatter when they retire from active sports. The calories remain the same but the energy expended is lower; therefore forcing the body to turn the excessive food, which could be carbohydrates and protein, into fat.

As we can see body fat causing obesity does not come just from fat consumption. It also is caused by excessive carbohydrates and protein.

It is, therefore, excessive fats, carbohydrates and proteins which brings excessive calories which we must think of to remain healthy, not the amount of food. Some food contain so little calories that we can eat more of them and still have no health problem.

Do you agree? Well, let's share our knowledge for the good health of everyone.