The abc of fats

Moments in which many sellers and producers of food in the United Kingdom undertake to reduce the levels of food saturated fat, BBC World asks how much we know in fact of different types of fat that are in our diet.

In addition to saturated fats, which are so natural and artificial food are not saturated and trans.
And not all fat is bad; in fact, a bit of fat in the diet helps the body to absorb certain nutrients.
Fat can also be a source of energy and something that provides some essential fatty acids the body and some vitamins A and D.
Then, what type of fat we eat more and what we should try to avoid?
Saturated fat
According to NHS Choices, a British national health system online counselling service, reduce some foods rich in saturated fat is an important part of a healthy diet.
These foods include butter, butter, chocolates, cakes and cookies, and meat products as sausages or meat pies.
Most people eat too much saturated fat: about 20% more than the maximum recommended, as they collect the British Dietetic Association studies.
The British Department of health recommendations say that the average man should not eat more than 30 grams of saturated fat per day, while for women the figure should not be more than 20 grams per day.
A diet rich in saturated fats may increase levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol or bad cholesterol in the blood over time, which also increases the likelihood of cardiovascular disease.
But that risk has been called into question recently.
The cardiologist Aseem Malhotra wrote recently in the British Medical Journal that saturated fats have been "demonized for decades" by linking them with diseases of the heart, something which, it says, has not been able to be fully tested with scientific evidence.
According to Malhotra, the food industry has offset lower fat saturated with sugar rising.
Unsaturated fats
Having a diet rich in unsaturated fats can help lower bad cholesterol levels in the blood and increase in high density lipoprotein, the so-called good cholesterol.
Saturated fats can be replaced in a balanced diet with healthier fats monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which are found in many foods such as "blue" fish such as salmon, sardines or mackerel; nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables, including avocado.
Oily fish are rich in fatty acids Omega-3, the richest source of this type of fat polisaturada.