Dietary lipids include fats, oils, phospholipids and sterols. Lipids are an important source of energy in the Australian diet. There are three major types of naturally-occurring fatty acids – saturated, cis -monounsaturated and cis polyunsaturated.
Fats are an important part of a healthy balanced diet and you should not exclude them. Make sure that you eat less saturated and trans fats – which are the less healthy fats and replace them with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats – the healthier fats. Other dietary fats include phospholipids, phytosterols and cholesterol.
Fats are the most concentrated form of energy for the body (37 kJ/g). They also aid in the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K and other fat-soluble biologically-active components. Chemically, most of the fats in foods are triglycerides, made up of a unit of glycerol combined with three fatty acids which may be the same or different. The differences between one triglyceride and another are largely due to the fatty acids content.
Saturated fats increase the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (bad cholesterol).
⁃ Saturated fats are found in milk, creams, butter, cheese, meats, baked products, deep fried foods, coconut oils and palm oil.
Monounsaturated fats help to lower LDL cholesterol if you are following a healthy balanced diet low in saturated fats.
⁃ Foods containing monounsaturated fats: fish, tahini, avocado, olive oil, canola oil, pine nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, macadamias, pecans and pistachios.
Polyunsaturated fats helps lower LDL cholesterol levels in the blood. There are two types of polyunsaturated fatty acids – omega 3 and omega 6. Both of these are essential fatty acids the body cannot make.
⁃ Foods containing Omega-3: Fatty fish (herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, tuna), flaxseeds, chia seeds, marine algae, nuts, oils (canola, flaxseed) and yeast.
⁃ Foods containing Omega-6: Nuts (pine nuts, walnuts), oils (corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean, salad dressings and seeds (pumpkins, sunflowers).