Ready for a little Biochemistry?

The fats we eat in food or oils are all made up of Fatty Acids. They're called that because they have a fat bit, and an acid bit. Chemically, they're just carbon chains of different lengths made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Simple, right?

We use fat in our bodies for a whole bunch of functions, we NEED fat to survive. But, and here's the important part… to be of any use to us, it has to "hook up" with hydrogen molecules from other substances.

When I think of fats, I visualize two types of fences: one is a picket fence, the other is privacy fence.

Saturated fats are like the privacy fence. All their carbon atoms are already "saturated" with hydrogen atoms, so there are no "empty spaces" for hydrogen atoms of other substances to "hook up" with for use in the body somewhere. So, they serve no other purpose in the body than to stored as fat for energy.

Well, what's wrong with that, you're thinking.

I'll tell you. Your body already has enough stored fat to use as energy. In fact, it has more than you could EVER use up at any one time. So any saturated fat you eat is going directly to your ass, or any other area on your body where you seem to have a collection going on.

Unsaturated fats on the other hand have spaces at the top like a picket fence. This allows hydrogen atoms from other substances to "hook up" with them. From there, they will be used for some vital function in the body.

With the processing we have going on today, it's almost impossible not to eat saturated fats. Just do whatever you can to keep your intake down. Read the labels on everything. When you have to decide between 2 brand names for the same product, or you're thinking about what to eat in general...always go with the least amount of saturated fat. Avoid it like the plague!