12/05/2021
Know your fats! 🥑
What are dietary fats?
🤷♀️Depending on the chemical structure, fats can be categorised into saturated, unsaturated and trans fats.
🥓 Saturated fats are typically from animal sources (visible fat on meat, meat products, butter, high fat dairy, cakes, chocolate, biscuits, pastries etc)
🥜Unsaturated fats are further broken down into monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) and typically found in plant and fish sources; Omega 3 and 6 are types of PUFA.
What types of fats do we need?
🍔A high intake of saturated fats is associated with raised blood cholesterol which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Some studies have linked high intake with dementia incidence and have been shown to affect the structure of our brain cells which can impact neurotransmission (nerve messages).
❤️ It is recommended that most of the fats in our diet comes from unsaturated sources, as we know these are beneficial for health (hormone production, heart health, brain function absorption of vitamins).
Why are healthy fats so important for your mental health?
🧠20% of the fat in our brain is made from the essential fatty acids omega-3 and 6. They are termed ’essential’ as they cannot be made within the body, so must be consumed through the diet.
Inadequate intakes of omega-3 and omega-6 fats in the diet, are often associated with a number of mental health conditions including depression or reduced cognitive function (concentration, memory etc)
Where can you find these healthy fats?
🐟 PUFA: walnuts, flaxseed, vegetable oils, fish and oily fish (sardines, salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, kippers) seaweed, algae
🫒 MUFA: Olive/rapeseed/corn/sunflower oil or spreads made from these oils, unsalted peanuts, nuts or nut butters, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, avocado