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Fat is an
important nutrient because it gives us energy. The body stores
energy as a layer of fat under the skin. This is called adipose
tissue.
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Composition
of Fats
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Fats are made from
glycerol and fatty acids. Each glycerol is attached to
three fatty acids. Glycerol and fatty acids contain the elements
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Fats contain a lot of carbon. This
is why they give us so much energy.
1 gram of fat gives
us 9 kilocalories.
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Fats are classified
into two groups:
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Saturated
Fats
(mainly
from an animal source)
Unsaturated
Fats
(mainly
from a vegetable source)
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Saturated
Fats come mainly from animal sources such as meat,
eggs, milk and dairy produce e.g. cream and butter. There is a
lot of saturated fat in butter, lard, suet and dripping.
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Unsaturated
Fats come mainly from plant and fish sources such as peas,
beans and lentils (pulse vegetables), whole cereals, nuts, cooking
oil, polyunsaturated margarine and oily fish.
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 Fat
insulates the body. A layer of fat under the skin prevents heat
loss from the body.
Fat
protects the delicate organs such as the kidneys and nerves.
A layer of fat surrounds them.
Fats
provide the body with heat and energy. This helps to keep the
body at the correct temperature (37o C).
Fat
is a source of the fat-soluble vitamins.
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50%
Saturated
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50%
Unsaturated
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The RDA of fats is
for a combination of saturated fat and unsaturated fat in the
daily diet. It is recommended that we eat 50% saturated fat and
50% unsaturated fat in our diet. People in the western world eat
too much saturated fat and it is recommended that we cut down
on our intake. We should also increase our intake of unsaturated
fats.
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Deficiency
of Fats
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Fat deficiency
diseases rarely occur as fat is present in a wide variety of foods.
However we should not eliminate fats completely from our diet
because they are also a source of the fat - soluble vitamins.
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A
K
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D
E
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To cut down
on Saturated Fats
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Grill
rather than fry.
Use
vegetable oil instead of hard fats for frying.
Remove
visible fat from meat.
Look
for hidden fats in the diet e.g. pastries and crisps.
Use
low fat milk, cheese, yoghurt and mayonnaise.
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ACTIVITIES
1. Use the Food Tables to find out the type of
fat in meat.
2. What type of meat has the highest fat content?
3. What type of meat has the lowest fat content?.
4. Visit your local supermarket. Make a list of all low fat-foods
available.
Make a note of prices and compare them with
the high-fat equivalents.
5. Make a list of the foods that you ate today. Indicate which
contain:
(A) animal fats
(B) vegetable fats
(C) no fat
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