Monounsaturated Fats
In monounsaturated fats, all but one (mono) carbon atom are bonded to a hydrogen pair, hence the term "monounsaturated". From a pH standpoint, monounsaturated fats are useful for the following reason.

One of the ways your body moves acids out of the body, and keeps you more alkaline, is to bind acids with fat. With saturated or trans fats, acids do not bind with these kinds of fats because they are saturated with hydrogen. So they do not work as acid buffers. With monounsaturated fats, however, the acids can bind with this fat and be moved out of the body.

Monounsaturated fats are also the most stable of fats and can be heated to 118 degrees without being transformed into trans fats. So if you are going to cook with oils, use a monounsaturated fat. Fats found in avocados and olives are examples of monounsaturated fats.

Even though these kinds of fats are more resistant to heat, you should still avoid cooking with them if possible. Add them to your food AFTER you have cooked your food. And make sure to get these oils in a "cold pressed" form where you know that heat has not been used to extract the oils.

Polyunsaturated Fats
Going back to the chemistry, polyunsaturated fats consist of carbon chains where more than one pair of hydrogen atoms are missing. Because of this, polyunsaturated fats are electron rich and therefore can bind to more acids in the body. You may have heard that these kinds of fats help lower cholesterol. Well, that's because with more than one pair of hydrogen atoms missing, these kinds of fats can bind with acid and buffer them. The result is that less cholesterol is produced in your body.

A subset of polyunsaturated fats are essential fatty acids. They are called essential because your body can't make them so you need to get them in your diet. The most common type of essential fatty acids that you probably have heard of are the Omega 3s and the Omega 6s. Omega 3s and Omega 6s have been shown to dramatically reduce LDL cholesterol (that's the bad kind) and triglycerides in numerous studies.

Omega 3 animal sources include fatty, cold water fish and krill. Plant sources for Omega 3s include soybean, flaxseed, hemp and walnut oils with flaxseed being the highest source.

Omega 6s have similar properties to Omega 3s. The most important Omega 6 fats are linoleic acid (LA) and gamma-linoleic acid (GLA). Good sources of Omega 6 fats are safflower, soybean, sesame and pumpkin seeds, nuts and oils.

So there you have it. Now you know the differences between bad fats and good fats. Click on over to the Fat Resources page where you will find a summarized list of good fats.

Make sure your body gets the fat is needs,

- Andy

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