Poor fats, accused of faults they do not have, innocent victims of a diet that discriminates them, repudiates them and unjustly condemns them
For too long we have followed the suggestions of those who advise limiting fat intake as much as possible.
Too much money we spent unnecessarily buying "light" products in the hope that they would help us lose weight. The time has come to give these precious nutrients the dignity they deserve.
Fats and Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet has long been depicted as the ideal diet, capable of guaranteeing well-being and vitality without making us fat. In reality many of the principles it contains are correct, while others in the light of new discoveries in the food field, are outdated or even counterproductive.
As often happens in these cases, the American government was forced to send a strong message, exaggerated in some respects, but necessary. The simple advice to reduce fat consumption would probably have gone unnoticed and in any case would have been completely ineffective in rebalancing a diet traditionally too rich in lipids. The message also had to be easily understood (it is useless to explain to those who do not know what the eicosanoids or essential fatty acids are).
The same thing happened in Italy with the Mediterranean diet. In an attempt to reduce the consumption of saturated fats, which is also excessive in our country, it was long advised to limit its intake, favoring foods typical of the Mediterranean basin (pasta, olive oil, vegetables and fruit).
The Italians became convinced, and unfortunately many still are, that pasta, bread and complex carbohydrates in general did not make them fat.
The results of these information campaigns are visible to everyone, just look around to see that in recent years the number of overweight people has increased considerably.
Therefore excessive fat limitation does not help to lose weight, indeed, in many cases it is one of the main causes that lead to overweight, as we will see in the next paragraph.
Good fats and bad fats?
From what has been said so far, it is clear that if they are not supported by more detailed explanations the advice of nutritionists is not only useless but even misleading.
Specifically, citizens should be taught the concept of lipid quality.
Not all fats are the same, some should be consumed in moderation, others should be reduced as much as possible, others should be encouraged for the beneficial role they play in our bodies.
SATURATED FATTY ACIDS: they are mainly found in products of animal origin (eggs, milk and derivatives) but also in foods of vegetable origin (coconut and palm oil). These particular oils are widely used in industrial processing to improve the flavor of foods. Therefore, every day we consume a good quantity of saturated "hidden" fats behind "harmless" snakes or sweets.
According to many doctors, an excess of saturated lipids in the diet would significantly increase the rate of cholesterol in the blood, favoring the onset of cardiovascular diseases. In reality this argument is true only for some aspects, while for others it is by now outdated.
Today the most up-to-date professionals believe it is sufficient not to overdo saturated fat consumption, without depriving it or limiting it excessively. The risk of developing cardiovascular pathologies derives, in addition to a genetic predisposition, from the lifestyle of the subject (smoking, alcohol, lack of physical activity).
As for the diet it is more important to take the right amounts of essential fatty acids and the right caloric intake than to limit the amount of cholesterol introduced with food (just think that 80-90% of total cholesterol is produced independently from our body).
MONOINSATURAL FATTY ACIDS: they are present above all in olive oil and dried fruit. They can be consumed with a certain freedom since they have a very low atherogenic power. Compared to saturated fats they are certainly healthier but also more easily digested.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS (AGE): are contained in fish, walnuts, sunflower oil, corn and some plant extracts. They are called essential because they cannot be synthesized by the human organism. They are the precursors of prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes, substances that mediate the inflammatory response and intervene in the immune and cardiovascular system.
Generally they are known as fatty acids able to decrease the bad cholesterol in favor of the good one, but it is a limiting judgment since their positive functions are innumerable.
CONTINUE: Need for fat and optimal dietary intake "
