Part V: Unsaturated fatty acids
Unsaturated fatty acids should predominate in our diets. Why, what does it mean, and how to achieve it?
It's not exactly easy with unsaturated fatty acids. It's one large group, but we can further divide it into monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans-unsaturated fatty acids.
Monounsaturated fatty acids
They have one double bond in their chemical formula and are abbreviated as MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acids). These are fatty acids that have a positive effect on our health - they reduce the level of total and "bad" LDL cholesterol in the blood, especially when they replace saturated fatty acids in the diet. These fatty acids can be found, for example, in vegetable oils (such as olive, rapeseed), peanuts and their products, and in spreadable vegetable fats.
Polyunsaturated (polyunsaturated) fatty acids
They are abbreviated as PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and their chemical formula contains several double bonds. To make things even more complicated, these fatty acids are also further divided, most often into PUFA of the n-6 (ω-6) and n-3 (ω-3) series. These fatty acids have a very positive effect on our health. They reduce blood cholesterol levels, have an anti-inflammatory effect, and are preventive against blood clots and arrhythmias, i.e. irregular heartbeats. In addition, some of them are essential (necessary), i.e. those that our body cannot produce on its own and therefore we must obtain them from the diet. The source of these fatty acids are some vegetable oils and their products, nuts and seeds or fish oils.
The recommendations tell us that unsaturated fatty acids should prevail in the fats in our diet because they are more beneficial for us. These are fats that we can easily recognize by the fact that they are liquid under normal conditions. That is, high-quality vegetable oils are more suitable than butter or lard. Instead of sausages, nuts or seeds are great for salads, and we won't forbid ourselves from eating fatty fish, which also have liquid fat.
Trans-unsaturated fatty acids are a bit different from unsaturated fatty acids, so we will discuss them separately in the next part.
The series was prepared for us by Věra Boháčová, DiS., who is an expert in the field of nutritional counseling. She graduated as a certified nutrition therapist at a higher medical school and has been engaged in nutritional counseling for adults and children for more than 20 years. She also works as a lecturer at a private higher medical school, where she works with future nutritional therapists. You can read about her work on her website.
It's not exactly easy with unsaturated fatty acids. It's one large group, but we can further divide it into monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans-unsaturated fatty acids.
Monounsaturated fatty acids
They have one double bond in their chemical formula and are abbreviated as MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acids). These are fatty acids that have a positive effect on our health - they reduce the level of total and "bad" LDL cholesterol in the blood, especially when they replace saturated fatty acids in the diet. These fatty acids can be found, for example, in vegetable oils (such as olive, rapeseed), peanuts and their products, and in spreadable vegetable fats.
Polyunsaturated (polyunsaturated) fatty acids
They are abbreviated as PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and their chemical formula contains several double bonds. To make things even more complicated, these fatty acids are also further divided, most often into PUFA of the n-6 (ω-6) and n-3 (ω-3) series. These fatty acids have a very positive effect on our health. They reduce blood cholesterol levels, have an anti-inflammatory effect, and are preventive against blood clots and arrhythmias, i.e. irregular heartbeats. In addition, some of them are essential (necessary), i.e. those that our body cannot produce on its own and therefore we must obtain them from the diet. The source of these fatty acids are some vegetable oils and their products, nuts and seeds or fish oils.
The recommendations tell us that unsaturated fatty acids should prevail in the fats in our diet because they are more beneficial for us. These are fats that we can easily recognize by the fact that they are liquid under normal conditions. That is, high-quality vegetable oils are more suitable than butter or lard. Instead of sausages, nuts or seeds are great for salads, and we won't forbid ourselves from eating fatty fish, which also have liquid fat.
Trans-unsaturated fatty acids are a bit different from unsaturated fatty acids, so we will discuss them separately in the next part.
The series was prepared for us by Věra Boháčová, DiS., who is an expert in the field of nutritional counseling. She graduated as a certified nutrition therapist at a higher medical school and has been engaged in nutritional counseling for adults and children for more than 20 years. She also works as a lecturer at a private higher medical school, where she works with future nutritional therapists. You can read about her work on her website.
