Fat

There are two types of fat – saturated fat and unsaturated fat.

Unsaturated fat can be either monounsaturated fat or polyunsaturated fat.

The body needs fat for a number of reasons:

for energy – 1g of fat gives the body 9kcal of energy
to protect the vital organs
to provide an insulating layer which helps the body to maintain a constant temperature
fat is a source of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
fat is an excellent source of the essential fatty acids omega 3 and omega 6

Unsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature, for example rape seed oil or olive oil.

Unsaturated fats come from plant sources and therefore are better for us than saturated fats.

Monounsaturated fats have one double bond ('mono' meaning one)

Polyunsaturated fats have more than one double bond ('poly' meaning many)

Saturated fat is usually solid at room temperature, for example butter.

Saturated fats come from animal sources and therefore tend to be very unhealthy.

We can get saturated fat from the following sources:

We can get unsaturated fat from the following sources:

polyunsaturated fat is in margarine, vegetable oil and oily fish (e.g., mackerel)
monounsaturated fat is in nuts, nut oil, avocado, olives and olive oil