How to control fat intake

 

When we talk about the presence of fats in the daily diet, we can distinguish two main groups: visible fats and hidden fats. When we consider the structure and health appearance of fats, we talk about saturated fats and unsaturated fats. When fats have to be limited, we firstly examine the quantity of fats present in the diet currently consumed. We therefore look into the hidden fats and the visible fats. So not only is the amount of fat intake important, but also the quality of the fats absorbed in the interest of good health.

 

Fats are a concentrated source of energy.

 

1g of fat provides 9 kcal.

As a comparison: 1g of carbohydrates and 1g of protein each provide 4 kcal.

 

Visible fats vs hidden fats: it is important to have the right proportion.

 

Visible fats:

Visible, hidden…. No, this hasn’t got anything to do with magic, but rather what you can see on your plate and what you can learn from a package label. A pork chop with a wide strip of white fat at the edge, bacon that is more white than red, a large pat of butter on your peas, the oil that you combine with vinegar to make your salad dressing are examples of visible fat. They are there on your plate easy to see, and, for the health conscious consumer, they are easy to avoid. It is not so simple for the hidden fats.   It is important here to know that we do have a need for fat in order to remain in good health.  In a healthy diet, 30% of calories consumed will come from fats. Restricting your ingestion of fats too much is not good for your health. The important thing is to choose healthy fats: fats of plant origin which have no negative impact on your cardiac and blood vessels. We must therefore consume these, naturally in moderation.

 

Hidden fats:

This is where we often make mistakes. People who pay attention to their consumption of fats often ingest many fats without realising it, through hidden fats. These are found particularly in cheese, biscuits, cakes, chocolate, ice cream, ready meals, crisps, nuts, sandwich fillings, olives, fast food, etc.  These are fats which we do not actually see, or that are eaten without realising.  Many people do not take them into account.