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| can be averted by choosing the right kinds of fat rather than eliminating it altogether. |
| One problem is that because fat tastes so good it's tempting to eat way more than you should. Your body quickly takes any excess fat and stores it as body fat, which can lead to obesity, and in turn to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers. |
| Even if you've got a terrific metabolism and don't gain an ounce from fatty foods, a high-fat diet can still be deadly. The fats found in meats, snack foods, and fatty dairy products clog the arteries of thin as well as heavy people, and put everyone at risk for disease. |
| SMART DEFINITION |
| Essential fatty acids |
| Two polyunsaturated fats, linoleic acid and linoleic acid, are needed to keep the body functioning. They're found in leafy green vegetables, walnuts, sunflowers seeds, and canola, corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean, sunflower, and walnut oils. |
| The RightAnd WrongKinds of Fat |
| Some fats do your body good; others do just the opposite. The difference comes down to fatty acidsthe basic chemical units in fat. Fatty acids are molecules made up mostly of carbon and hydrogen. The more hydrogen they contain, the more saturated they are. Saturated fats contain the most hydrogen; polyunsaturated fats contain the least. |
| The Fats to Avoid |
| Saturated fat is found in meat, high-fat dairy foods, tropical oils (such as coconut oil and palm kernel oil), and hydrogenated (solidified) vegetable oils. You should strive to minimize this type of fat because it promotes the formation of cholesterol in the body, and therefore is linked to cardiovascular disease. |
| Scientists have recently targeted another kind of |
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