Types of Fats: Percentage of Fat in Body

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Types of Fats:- We should know about these General terms like what are Fats, Types of Fats, and Percentage of Fat in Body So that we can get the basic knowledge about the substances present in our body. First, let’s get Knowledge about what is Fat? After that, we will move on to Types of Fats. Fats are substances that help our body to use some vitamins and maintains the skin. Fats are the main way to stores energy in the body. Basically, Fats maintain your blood cholesterol and triglyceride (lipid) levels as near the normal ranges as possible. Our body uses fat as a charging source, and fat is the major storage of energy in our body. and a moderate amount of fat is needed in the diet for good health. Fats in food are good in several forms, including saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Now we will discuss the types of Fats and the percentage of Fat in Body.

Types of Fats

There are basically two types of Fats that help in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.

  1. Unsaturated fats
  2. Saturated Fats

1. Unsaturated Fats:- Unsaturated fats are beneficial types of fats as they can improve blood cholesterol levels, ease inflammation, stabilize heart rhythms, and play a number of other beneficial roles. Unsaturated fats are mostly found in foods from plants, like vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds.

There are two types of  unsaturated fats:

  • Monounsaturated fats
  •  Polyunsaturated fats

(a) Monounsaturated Fats:- Monounsaturated Fats have one unsaturated chemical bonding. Oils that have these fats are liquid at room temperature, but they turn solid when we deep freeze them. Eating foods that are high in monounsaturated fats can help lower your “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Monounsaturated fats are found in foods like:

    • Avocados
    • Olive, canola, and peanut oils
    • Almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, and other nuts
    • Seeds such as pumpkin and sesame seeds

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(b) Polyunsaturated Fats:- Polyunsaturated Fats have many unsaturated chemical bonds. Polyunsaturated oils stay liquid at room temperature and also in the deep freeze form. Eating polyunsaturated fat instead of saturated fat can lower LDL cholesterol.

polyunsaturated fat is found in foods like:

      • Flaxseed, corn, soybean, and sunflower oil
      • Walnuts
      • Flaxseeds
      • Salmon, tuna, and other fatty fish
      • Canola oil (Canola oil is an oil made from crushed canola seeds. It is one of the best oils for heart health, canola oil has less saturated fat than other oils. Canola oil helps to decrease the cholesterol levels)

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There are two types of polyunsaturated fats:

  • Omega-3 fatty acids
  • Omega-6 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids:- Omega-3 Fatty acids are not created in the body, so they intake in the form of food.

Omega-3 fatty acids are present in three forms:

  • Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), found mainly in fish
  • Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), also found mainly in fish
  • Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from plant sources like flaxseed, vegetable oils, and nuts

Researchers say that eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. You should take these essential fats from food because your body doesn’t create them.

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Omega-6 fatty acids:- Omega-6 fatty acids are found in foods like leafy green vegetables, seeds, nuts, and vegetable oils. Reports suggest that these fatty acids are good for your heart.

2. Saturated Fats:- Saturated fat is a type of dietary fat. It is one of the unhealthy fats, along with trans fat. These fats are most often solid at room temperature. A diet rich in saturated fats can increase your total cholesterol and tip the balance toward more harmful LDL cholesterol, which can lead to blockages in arteries in your heart and other parts of your body. LDL cholesterol raises your risk of heart disease.

Saturated fats are found in foods like:

  • Red meat like beef, lamb, and pork
  • Skin-on chicken and other poultry
  • Whole-milk dairy products like milk, cheese, and ice cream
  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • Palm and coconut oils

How Saturated Fats Affect our Health

Saturated fats are bad for our health in so many ways:

Heart disease risk. Our body needs healthy fats for energy and other functions. But too much-saturated fat can cause cholesterol to build up in our arteries. Saturated fats raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol. High LDL cholesterol increases your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Weight gain. Many high-fat foods such as pizza, baked goods, and fried foods have so much saturated fat. Eating too much fat adds extra calories to our diet and cause us to gain weight. Having a healthy weight can lower your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems.

Trans Fats

Trans Fats are basically made by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them solid at room temperature, so foods last longer. It also gives them a satisfying taste and texture. Trans fats are naturally found in beef fat and dairy fat in little amount. Trans Fats Raises the bad LDL and lower good HDL

Trans Fats are found in these foods:

  • Fried foods
  • Cakes, biscuits, cookies, and other baked goods
  • Frozen pizza

Percentage of Fat in Body

Mostly we categorize Fats as something bad in our body, but not all fats have adverse effects. Some types of fats have a negative effect on our health and contribute to disease. Others are beneficial and necessary for your health. So taking a limited amount of fat is necessary. The best way to keep the balance of fat in the body is to Eat the healthiest kinds of fats, in the right amounts. Unsaturated fats are healthy fats. Saturated and trans fats are generally not good for you.

Some of the Important functions of Fats in Body are the following:-

  • Give you energy
  • Maintain the warmness in the body
  • Build cells
  • Protect our organs
  • Absorb vitamins from foods
  • Create hormones that help your body work in a balanced way.

We have discussed earlier types of fats and Functions of fats now we will discuss the percentage of fat in body that should be present in the human body for both men and women.

Percentage of Fat in Body for Women

Body fat percentages for women fall under a few different categories like Athletes, Fitness, Acceptable, Obesity.

Category Percentage
Essential fat 10-13%
Athletes 14-20%
Fitness 21-24%
Acceptable 25-31%
Obesity >32%

For ideal body Percentage of fat in body based on age, For Women are given below:-

Age Percentage
20-39 21-32%
40-59 23-33%
60-79 24-35%

Percentage of Fat in Body for Men

 Men have lower body fat to lean tissue ratio than women. Ranges of Body fat in man under different categories are as follows:-

Category Percentage
Essential fat 2-5%
Athletes 6-13%
Fitness 14-17%
Acceptable 18-24%
Obesity >25%

Ideal body fat percentages of fat in body based on age for Men are given following, Check the percentage and Intake the fats in the body accordingly.

Age Percentage
20-39 8-19%
40-59 11-21%
60-79 13-24%

Difference Between Saturated Fats And Unsaturated Fats

Now we will discuss the difference between the Saturated Fats And Unsaturated Fats So that you can get a clear idea about these two types of fats and can easily know the basic difference between them.

Saturated Fats Unsaturated Fats
Saturated Fats have a single bond. Must have at least one double bond.
Not to be consumed more than 10 percent of total calories per day. Not to be consumed more than 30 percent of total calories per day.
Excessive consumption leads to heart diseases. Good for consumption, but excessive may increase cholesterol.
Increases LDL, which is called bad cholesterol. Increases HDL, which is commonly known as good cholesterol, and also reduces LDL.
Would not spoil quickly. Spoil quickly.
Food sources of saturated fats are whole milk, butter, cheese, margarine, coconut oil, vegetable oil, meat, peanut, fried foods, etc. Food sources of unsaturated fats are walnuts, flax, avocado, sunflower oil, soybean oil, fish oil, canola oil, red meat, etc.
High melting point. Low melting point.
Present in Solid form at room temperature.

Present in Liquid form at room temperature.

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