Fat Nutrition Basics - How Foods Fight Cancer

Fat is the most concentrated source of calories. Any sort of fat—chicken
fat, fish fat, beef fat, or vegetable oil—has 9 calories per gram, more than
twice the calorie content of carbohydrate or protein. Most health authorities
recommend that fat intake not exceed 30 percent of our calories. This
means that a person consuming 2,000 calories per day should have less
than 60 grams of fat per day.

However, research has shown that the lower your fat intake, the better
your chances of warding off heart disease and cancer and keeping your
waistline slim. A healthier goal is to limit fat to about 25–35 grams per day.

Fats are made up of a combination of fatty acids, which can be monounsaturated,
polyunsaturated, or saturated. All fats contain some of each of
these three, but health authorities have long recommended minimizing saturated
fats because of their tendency to raise cholesterol levels. Animal
products are generally very high in saturated fatty acids, whereas vegetable
oils are generally much lower in this type of fat. There are a few exceptions:
coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil are quite high in saturated fat.

Fat is necessary for the structure and maintenance of cells and hormones,
healthy skin and hair, and the metabolism of fat-soluble vitamins (A,
D, E, and K). As long as we consume enough calories, we can synthesize fat
from surplus protein and carbohydrates. However, there are two essential
fatty acids that we need to obtain from our diet. They are alpha-linolenic acid
(an omega-3 fatty acid) and linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid). Both are
important in the normal functioning of all tissues of the body. Deficiencies are
responsible for a host of symptoms and disorders, including abnormalities in
the liver and kidney, changes in the blood, reduced growth rates, decreased
immune function, and skin changes, such as dryness and scaliness. Adequate
intake of the essential fatty acids results in numerous health benefits, including
reduced incidence of heart disease and stroke and relief from the
symptoms associated with ulcerative colitis, menstrual pain, and joint pain.

Most people consume too many omega-6 fatty acids and too few omega-3
fatty acids. It’s important to maintain a balance of these two. Omega-6 fatty
acids are present in higher concentrations in many foods, whereas omega-3
fatty acids are not as widespread. Beans, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains
do contain omega-3 fatty acids, but the most concentrated plant sources
include canola oil, flaxseeds, wheat germ, soybeans, and walnuts.