With the low-carb trend, a lot of people are now focusing on fats. They consume more of it and consider it to be okay. Fats can either be good for you or bad for you for your health depending on the type and quantity you consume.
Three primary categories of fat exist. They are trans, saturated, and unsaturated fats. Animal products like meat and dairy are the main sources of saturated fats. Saturated fats have a solid state at room temperature. No cholesterol is present in unsaturated fats, which are primarily derived from plant sources like olives and almonds. At room temperature, they are a liquid (oil). Monounsaturated (one double bond) and polyunsaturated (more than one double bond) fats are subdivided further from saturated fats.
You might be wondering what makes a fat saturated or unsaturated. Without going into too much chemistry, a molecule of fat is composed of hydrogen-bonded carbon atoms.
All of the carbon atoms in saturated fats are connected to one another and to hydrogen atoms in a single bond. Unsaturated fats generate double bonds between their carbon atoms because not all of their carbons are hydrogen-saturated. The qualities of a fat depend on which carbon is involved in the formation of the double bond.
Trans fat is created by humans. It is created through the process of hydrogenation, which involves passing hydrogen through an unsaturated lipid. Your health will suffer greatly from trans-fat. Trans fat increases LDL cholesterol and decreases HDL cholesterol, whereas whole saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol and just marginally increases HDL cholesterol.
