Nutrition

Choose healthy dietary fats

Dietary fats are made up of fatty acids. The amount and selection of the appropriate fatty acids are crucial. Dietary fats are essential for our health in a number of ways:

  • fats are important sources of energy with a high calorific content. Therefore, the amount of fat consumed must be precisely matched to the actual energy requirement. In Western diets, the proportion of fat is usually too excessive.

  • Dietary fats are needed in many ways for the structure and function of the body's cells, e.g. as building blocks for cell membranes and as basic building blocks for hormones.

Every fat, whether of animal or vegetable origin, is a mixture of different fatty acids. These are divided into three groups according to their structure:

Saturated fatty acids

They do not contain any double bonds and are found in animal fats (e.g. in bacon, fatty meat and in sausage products) and in some vegetable fats (e.g. in butter, palm kernel and coconut fat). Saturated fatty acids increase the harmful LDL cholesterol (normal value less than 155 mg/dl) and thus the risk of atherosclerosis.

Mono-unsaturated fatty acids

These contain a double bond in their structure. The most important representative is oleic acid, which is found in olive and rapeseed oil. Mono-unsaturated fatty acids increase the proportion of good HDL cholesterol (normal value between 45 and 55 mg/dl) and also lower the level of total cholesterol.

Poly-unsaturated fatty acidsAn olive tree

They are characterized by several double bonds and can be divided into two groups with opposing effects:

  • Omega-6 fatty acids (arachidonic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and linoleic acid) are mainly found in vegetable oils. Arachidonic acid (also found in fatty cuts of pork) has a pro-inflammatory effect, while gamma-linolenic acid (found in borage, for example) has an anti-inflammatory and protective effect on nerve cells. Linoleic acid (found in soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil and vegetable margarine) lowers cholesterol and protects blood vessels.

  • Omega-3 fatty acids include alpha-linolenic acid (found in linseed and rapeseed oil) and eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid (found in herring, salmon and mackerel). These are essential fatty acids that must be supplied through food, as the body cannot produce them itself. Omega-3 fatty acids have an anti-inflammatory effect, lower cholesterol and have a protective function on the blood vessels and nervous system.

Our recommendations

Omega-3 fatty acids are health-promoting nutrients, while unsaturated fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids should be avoided if possible.

  • We recommend eating two portions of fish a week, preferably saltwater fish (unbreaded, of course), and preparing vegetables and salads with high-quality olive, rapeseed or linseed oil. Care should be taken when buying cooking oils, as adulterated products are often found on the market.

  • The consumption of fatty meat and cold cuts should be reduced, not only in terms of the number of high-fat meals, but also in terms of their quantities.

Health benefits

By carefully selecting the fats we eat and limiting the amounts, we can avoid many lifestyle diseases such as heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure, as well as rheumatism and allergies, and possibly even colon cancer.

Tags: fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acid, omega-6 fatty acid, nutrition