The main effects of fat on our health are as follows:
(a) Important body parts, which provide and store energy for the body.
Fat accounts for 14%- 19% of normal people's body weight, and it is an important substance that constitutes body composition. Fat is an important energy source for human body. 20%-30% of reasonable dietary energy is provided by fat, and oxidation in one gram of fat can produce 9 kilocalories. Therefore, fat is the nutrient with the highest energy density in food. When the human body consumes too much energy and can't use it in time, it will be converted into fat and stored in the body. When the body needs it, the fat stored in adipose tissue can be mobilized for energy supply. For example, when the human body is hungry, we should first use the body fat to generate energy to avoid it.
(b) promoting the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
Fat is a good carrier of fat-soluble vitamins, which often coexist with fat in food, such as vitamin A rich in animal liver fat and wheat germ oil rich in vitamin E. Fat can stimulate bile secretion and assist the absorption of finger-soluble vitamins. Dietary fat deficiency or fat absorption disorder will cause insufficient or lack of fat-soluble vitamins in the body.
(3) maintaining body temperature and protecting organs
Fat is a bad conductor of heat, which can prevent the body from emitting heat and keep the body temperature constant. In addition, body fat can also prevent and buffer the damage of vibration to organs, tissues and joints, and protect organs.
(4) provide essential fatty acids
The essential fatty acids linoleic acid (n-6) and α -linolenic acid (n-3) must be provided by dietary fat. The derivatives of essential fatty acids have many physiological functions, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, n-3), which is the highest fatty acid in brain, nerve tissue and retina, so it plays an important role in the development of brain and visual function. PG2, TX2, LT4 produced by ARA(n-6) and PG3, TX3, LT5 * * produced by EPA(n-3) are involved in the regulation of immunity, inflammation, heart rate, coagulation and vasoconstriction in vivo, but the products from different sources are quite different in function, even antagonistic to each other, such as TXB2 dilating blood vessels and TXB3 constricting blood vessels; PG2 causes arrhythmia, while PG3 is antiarrhythmic, PG2 promotes inflammatory response, and PG3 is considered as an inflammatory dissipation factor. EFA can also significantly reduce the levels of TG and VLDL, and play a role in regulating blood lipids.