How important is fat in our daily diets and our bodies? When people hear the word FAT, what comes to their mind is unhealthy eating, junk food, too much food, and the extreme thinkers will think obesity. It is true that ‘fat’ has received a lot of bad press in today’s world, but is fat always negative?
Fat is not always negative it is indispensable for the proper functioning of our bodies. Body organs like the brain, lungs, heart and immune system require an amount of fat to function properly. A deficiency of fat in these organs will be detrimental to their proper functioning.
Fat is not just a source of energy, it also aids the building up of cells and the regulation of major bodily processes. One shocking fact that you probably did not know about the importance of fat is:
The health of our cells and even our whole bodies rely on lipid molecules (cholesterol fats) that form the cells surface membrane area.
Do you see how fat is important to your body?
Now that we have looked at how the intake of fat is important to our bodies, it is also good you know how much fat you need to consume. A deficiency or an increase in your intake of fat can harm your health. So what should you do?
Good, you need to know the amount of fat that is right for your body. You can determine this by using the fat in-take calculator.
What does the fat in-take calculator do?
The fat in-take calculator is a simple tool or calculator that helps you estimate the amount of daily fat that you need based on your details. This fat intake calculator will require you to input details like your gender, age, weight, and height to deduce the exact amount of fat that is right for your body.
Do you need to fill in other details to calculate your fat intake?
Yes, you need to input/select your mode of exercise based on your lifestyle:
- Sedentary exercise (minimal or almost no workout in a week).
- Light exercise (2-3 times workout in a week).
- Moderate exercise (4 times workout in a week).
- Active exercise (5 times workout in a week).
Do you know that as an adult you are to take 20-30% of your daily calorie intake from fat? The type of fat and oil that you take is even more important than the amount of fat that you consume. Therefore, what are the types of fat?
There are three main groups of fats:
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is a type of fat that contains a high proportion of fatty acid molecule without a double bond. This type of fat is not healthy for you to include in your daily diet. Do you know that your body can produce the saturated fat that it needs to function effectively?
Yes, this means that there is no need for you to include saturated fat in your diet. It may not be easy for you to avoid taking them totally because they are included in some food product as unsaturated fats. The following are examples of foods that contain saturated fat:
- Coconut oil
- Palm oil
- Margarine
It is also included in junk foods like:
- Burger
- Pies
- Cookies that are high in sugar
- Unsaturated fat
Unsaturated fat is a type of fat that contains a high proportion of fatty acid molecules double bond. This type of fat is healthier than saturated fat. This type of fat decreases the level of cholesterol level in the body when they are replaced with saturated fat and trans fat, they are known to prevent heart disease.
This kind of fat is present in foods like avocados, olives, or nuts.
- Trans fat
This is the third kind of fat. This fat is created during food processing and it is the least healthy of all the types of fat. Trans fat increases the LDL cholesterol level (unhealthy cholesterol) and decreases the HDL cholesterol level (healthy cholesterol). This fat is commonly found in snacks like chips, etc.
How to use the fat in-take calculator
It is easy to use this fat intake calculator. You just have to follow these steps:
- Select your preferred unit of measurement (imperial or metric).
- Input your age, weight, and height in the appropriate box.
- Select how active you are.
Once you make the last selection, the calculator will display how much fat you should consume. It will display the minimum, optimum, and maximum fat intake for you.