THE IMPORTANCE OF FATS AND OIL

Contrary to popular belief, fats are an important part of eating a healthy diet. The play many vital roles in our bodies including providing energy. In fact, fat is your muscle’s primary source of fuel when they are at rest and during light activity. It also insulates your body and protects your organs, such as the kidney, from injury. This nutrient is also necessary to help absorb vitamins A, D, E and K. in addition, fat in a meal helps the food to digest more slowly, maintaining satiation longer. It also adds flavor and texture to foods.

Now that you know how important fat is to a balanced eating plan, you may be wondering why it is left out of some weight loss programs. That is because fat is more calorically, dense than carbohydrate and protein: one gram provides nine calories, whereas carbohydrate and protein supply four calories per gram. A tablespoon of fat (solid or oil) contains 120 calories.

Since fats and oil are also sources of essential fatty acids, an important dietary requirement, they provide energy and act as stores for energy.

In animals, adipose tissue or fatty tissue is the body’s means of storing metabolic energy over extended periods of time, the adipocytes (fat cell) store fate derived from diet and from liver metabolism (glycogenolysis). Under energy stress these cells may degrade their stored fat to supply fatty acids and also glycerol to the circulation (gluconeoenesis). These metabolic activities are regulated by several hormones such as insulin, glucagon and epinephrine.

Fats and oil is responsible in digestion, absorption and transportation of some vitamins which are vital in living organisms, such vitamins are soluble in fats therefore the include; vitamin A(retinol), vitamin D(calciferol), vitamin E(tocopherol) and vitamin K(phylloquinol)

Fats serve as a useful buffer towards a host of diseases. When a particular substance whether chemical of biotic reaches unsafe levels in the bloodstream, the body can effectively dilute or at least maintain equilibrium of the offending substance by storing it in new fat tissue. By this it helps to protect vital organs until such time as the offending substance can be metabolize or removed from the body by means of excretion, urination, accidental or intentional bloodletting, sebum excretion and hair growth.

Fats play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature and promoting healthy cell functions. Maintaining of healthy skin and hair is made possible because of one of the fat soluble vitamin, (tocopherol). Talking of healthy skin, tocopherol which is a wonderful antioxidant helps in trapping free radicals from the cell which is as a result of metabolism and by so doing makes the skin supple and prevents aging. No wonder most of our body creams and lotions today is made up of vitamin E which is a fat soluble vitamin. Some pigment in our body such as the melanin and keratin are as a result of vitamin E and these pigments are responsible for healthy hair texture, hair colour, and for nail growth and palm texture.