What are the benefits of fatty foods?

Trying to lose weight, many try to completely eliminate fatty foods from their diet. However, you shouldn't do this. Why?

Verdicts of scientists

Previously, the situation with the consumption of fatty foods was clear: butter and lard are harmful, vegetable oils are beneficial. In general, no fat is even better: you will be slim and healthy. However, in recent years, some of the unshakable claims of nutritionology of the last century have been refuted.

The largest study to study the dependence of health on fat consumption was started in the United States in the first half of the 20th century. It continues to this day. However, scientists have already come to the conclusion that people on a mixed diet are the healthiest and most physically active. Their diet contains both animal and vegetable fats. You can't give up fat completely. After all, when there is a shortage of them, the body begins to convert carbohydrates into fats. And this is not the best option, since carbohydrates do not produce the healthiest fats.

Over the past 10-15 years, the widespread use of low-fat foods in the United States has not led to a decrease in the number of fat people. Moreover, the number of Americans with obesity is constantly growing. The incidence of diabetes mellitus is also increasing, which is directly related to excess weight. So a low-fat diet is no less harmful to health than constant abuse of fatty foods. Lack of fat leads to general metabolic disorders.

Another fairly popular belief: margarine is healthier than butter has also not stood the test of time. Margarine actually has no cholesterol. But it contains trans fats - “broken” fatty acids that are not typical for normal products. Recently, an influential English medical journal published the surprising results of many years of observation of 80 thousand nurses. It turned out that lovers of foods with trans fats significantly increase mortality from coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction.

Fat energy

Fatty foods are a source of energy; they help heat the body. In emergency situations, the supply of fat allows you to go without food for a long time. Residents of northern latitudes especially need fats. When the ambient temperature is low, you should eat a small piece of butter or some other hearty food every morning.

Accumulating in the subcutaneous tissue and tissue surrounding internal organs, fats provide thermal insulation for the body. This reduces the risk of hypothermia. It is not for nothing that the basis of the diet of many northern peoples is fatty fish. The peoples of the Far North are less likely to suffer from atherosclerosis and hypertension. Although they eat very fatty foods throughout their lives. Scientists associate this fact with the benefits of fish oil.

For mind and beauty

Fats are part of cells and are necessary for their renewal. There are especially many fat-like compounds in nerve tissues and the brain. Therefore, poor nutrition in infancy causes irreparable damage to the intellect. With insufficient fat intake, schoolchildren may experience impaired concentration and decreased academic performance.

Cholesterol is indispensable for the production of biologically active substances: bile acids, sex hormones and some other hormones. If there is not enough fat in a woman’s body, her periods disappear and conception is impossible.

Only with fatty foods are fat-soluble vitamins absorbed - A, E, D, K. Vitamins and fats are necessary for hair to grow well and for healthy, beautiful and smooth skin.

Essential acids

Some fatty acids are essential. We must get them from food, since the human body itself does not know how to produce them. Such essential fats are found in fish and fish oil, flaxseed oil and some other plant foods.

The correct ratio of essential fats contains