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The functional role of fat in the diet is at least threefold.
- Fat provides calorie density to the diet. One gram of fat gives 9 Kcal of energy. Carbohydrates and proteins, provides only 4 Kcal of energy per gram. Hence fat provides calorie density to the diet.
- Fats are essential in the diet for the absorption and mobilization of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E, & K and fat-soluble antioxidants.These vitamins are not utilized by the body, if fat is not available in the diet. Thus fat is a vehicle carrying the fatsoluble vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants in the body.
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- Fat from some vegetable oils are the good sources of essential fatty acids to the body. Essential fatty acids (EFA) are thosefatty acids, which the body cannot synthesize and need to be supplied through diet, they are Linoleic acid and Linolenic acid. EFA’s are the precursors for a group of chemically related compounds, known as prostaglandins that are synthesized in the body from EFA. If EFA is not supplied through diet to the body,the body cannot synthesize prostaglandins. Prostaglandins play a key role in regulating many physiological processes in the body, such as controlling blood pressure, vascular damage in the brain and the heart, preventing blood clot in the arteries, lowering cholesterol, uterine contractions during childbirth and menstrual cycles, inflammation and other conditions.
- Fat in the diet impacts certain textural qualities, taste and palatability to the food.
Fat molecules consist of three fatty acids linked to a glycerol backbone, resulting in triglycerides. The fatty acids consist of varying carbon chains ranging from 12 carbon atoms to 18 carbon atoms, and with unsaturation ranging from 0 to 3 double bonds.These triglycerides are termed as fat or oil.Depending on the nature of fatty acids, the fat can be a solid fat or liquid fat at room temperature.The solid fat will have more percentage of saturated fats in the triglycerides and the liquid fats will have more unsaturated fats.The term important to stability and health relate to the degree of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids present in oil or fat.
Saturated fatty acids have all the hydrogen the carbon atoms can hold. Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature,and they're more stable -- that is, they don't combine readily with oxygen. Saturated fats and trans fats are the main dietaryfactors in raising blood cholesterol. The main sources of saturated fat in the typical foods are from animals and some plants.
At the same level of fat, coconut cream contains around 90.5% saturated fat while 4Care Cereal Cream contains only 32%; around 3 times less than coconut cream.
What are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids?
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids are two types of unsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fats have at least one unsaturated bond -- that is, at least one place that hydrogen can be added to the molecule. They're often found in liquid oils of vegetable origin.
Polyunsaturated oils are liquid at room temperature and in the refrigerator. They easily combine with oxygen in the air to
become rancid. Monounsaturated oils are liquid at room temperature but start to solidify at refrigerator temperatures.
Polyunsaturated fats tend to help your body get rid of newly formed cholesterol.Thus, they keep the blood cholesterol level down and reduce cholesterol deposits in artery walls. Recent research has shown that monounsaturated fats may also help reduce blood cholesterol as long as the diet is very low in saturated fat.
International dietary recommendation
The American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Research Council (NRC), Washington DC, recommend that 30% of
total energy should be derived from dietary fat. The ratio of SFA, MUFA and PUFA as per AHA is 10:10:10. NRC recommends the use of PUFA at the level of 7 to 8% instead of 10% and to adjust the rest with MUFA. The World Health Organization (WHO)recommends PUFA/SFA ratio of 0.8 to 1 and linoleic acid (LA)/ alpha linoleic acid (ALNA) ratio of 5-10 in the diet. Japan’s Ministry of Health & Welfare suggests fatty acid ratio of saturated/ monounsaturated/polyunsaturated as 1:1.5:1. 4Care - Optimum fatty acid ratio Coconut cream contains around 90% saturated fat, 7% monounsaturated fat and 3% polyunsaturated fat. While 4Care Cereal Cream contains 32.3% saturated fat, 34.8% monounsaturated fat and 32.9% polyunsaturated fat or 1:1:1 ratio.
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