Most people, when they hear the word “fat”, will have the assumption to avoid it immediately. As if fat is a harmful substance, it's different when they hear about the protein content. People tend to want to collect a lot of protein because it is considered a useful substance.
The assumption that fat is a scary substance is indeed based on the fact that so many diseases are caused by fat. Obesity in society is considered normal, even though obese people are not healthy because they are targeted by many diseases. Every time they meet fried food or thick and oily gravy, people call it fat. Furthermore, fat is associated with the cause of high cholesterol levels. Fat becomes the first target when someone is exposed to the disease.
However, have you ever thought about this way? What if someone lacks fat in the body? Will, they be okay? Before judging fat, let’s read the following reviews about fats!
What Is Fat?
Fats are organic compounds composed of the elements Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen such as carbohydrates. However, the ratio of oxygen to carbon and hydrogen is smaller in fats when compared to carbohydrates.
Although fat contains less oxygen than carbohydrates, it provides twice as many calories as carbohydrates in the same amount (1 gram of fat provides 9.3 calories).
What Is The Function of Fat
- Energy Source
The main function of fat is to provide energy to the body. One gram of fat can be burned to produce nine calories (cal) of energy needed by the body. While one gram of carbohydrates produces four cal of energy.
- Solvent for Vitamins
Fat becomes a solvent for several vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K to be absorbed by the body. That is, this fat-soluble vitamin requires fat as a medium to be absorbed and transported in the body.
- Unsaturated Fats
Unsaturated fats can be found in liquid form at room temperature. Unsaturated fatty acids:
- Increase levels of good cholesterol in the blood.
- Reduce inflammation
- Stabilize heart rhythm
- Lower risk of diabetes
The excess fat that is 'off duty', will be converted into body fat. This is why everyone should take a note of how much they consume fat per day, and make sure there is no 'off-duty' fat.
Body Fat Indicator
It is very necessary to calculate the fat body, there is an indicator of body mass index (BMI) to see how much fat is 'off duty' based on a person's height and weight. However, the actual BMI indicator does not represent a significant amount of 'off-duty' fat.
There is a method whose results are close to the calculation of the amount of fat in the body :
- Quantitative Method
This method is applied daily, approximate, or by weighing the amount of food consumed in a day. Furthermore, an analysis of the nutrients of all foods consumed by referring to the list of food ingredients is carried out.
- Qualitative Method
The method used at a certain time, namely by extracting information in the past consists of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and dietary history and is based on individual perceptions of eating habits over a certain period of time.
So, for those who are on a diet, don't forget not to avoid consuming fats Ladies!