Making Good Food Choices III: Protein Points and Fat Facts

Now that your “carb-awareness” has been raised, it’s time to talk about the two other major types of nutrients — protein and fat.

Protein and fat are headline news these days. But this news may be more confusing than helpful. So if you are in the dark about the best choices to make for your own health and weight loss, this Healthy Eating article will shed light on the mysteries of protein and fat. Here are the main points:

• What foods have protein, why protein is important, and how much you need
• How much fat you should get in your nutrition plan and why a balance of fats from different food sources is important

Healthy diets should contain a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat because all three have important functions in the body. But how much of each is a big question — even to experts. This is especially true of fat. How low should you go? Some nutrition “experts” say that only 10 percent of calories should come from fat. Some say the sky’s the limit. In fact, as you’ll see in this article, the healthy truth lies between these extremes.

Protein Points

Many foods contain protein. Meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, soy products (like tofu), legumes, and nuts are some of the main dietary sources of protein. Like carbohydrates, protein foods provide four calories in each gram.

Basic Building Blocks. Proteins are made from small units called amino acids. Amino acids are sometimes called the “building blocks” of protein. There are 20 kinds of amino acids. Some are made by the body, but others — called “essential” amino acids — are not and must come from the food you eat.

Meat, poultry, fish, and eggs provide all the essential amino acids in the amounts that humans need. Plant foods also contain essential amino acids, but sometimes only small, unbalanced amounts. The good news for people like vegetarians is that they can get the right amounts of all the essential amino acids by combining plant foods over the course of a day.

Protein Does a Body Good. Protein is important because it provides structure to the body’s cells and tissues. Protein is found in hair, nails, skin, muscles, bones, heart, liver, kidneys, and other important organs. Protein also has many functions in the body. For example, protein helps repair tissue, carry iron and oxygen in the blood, and fight infection. Hormones like insulin also are made up of protein.

How Much Do You Need? Protein needs can vary depending on age and health. The amount of protein a person needs can be expressed in different ways. You may have heard of some of these guidelines, like those below:

• About 15 to 20 percent of the total calories a person gets each day should come from protein.

While you’re losing weight to help control your diabetes, it’s important that you get adequate amounts of all the major nutrients — protein, carbohydrates, and fat — to prevent the loss of lean muscle tissue. If you’re not getting enough carbohydrates and fats in the diet, your body may burn protein for energy.

Fat Facts

It’s true that too much fat can increase your calorie intake, but the body needs some fat to provide essential fatty acids and to help the body use the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, and carotenoids.

Fat is a concentrated source of calories in food, and each gram provides nine calories. In the body, fat serves as a storage site for extra calories. So you’ll want to watch your fat intake because too much will give you a lot of unwanted calories and may increase your risk of developing health problems such as heart disease. Just remember that having enough fat is important, too.

What Should You Know About Fat? You can find fat in many foods. Butter. Sour cream. Vegetable oils. Protein-rich foods such as meat, poultry, fish, some dairy foods, and nuts. It’s also found in less obvious places, such as cookies, ice cream, and nachos.

Dietary fat comes from both animal and plant products. The general rule is that animal fats, like those in meat and dairy products, tend to be solid at room temperature. This is because they contain a large amount of saturated fat. Plant fats (oils) are usually liquid at room temperature because they have a high content of unsaturated fat.

There are a few exceptions to this rule:

1. Seed oils, like coconut oil and palm kernel oil, are solid at room temperature because they are naturally high in saturated fat.
2. Trans fats are unsaturated but are like saturated fats in some ways. Trans fats are found in small amounts in some foods, but the major source is through a process called hydrogenation, which makes liquid oils into solid fat. Trans fats increase the shelf life of products and stabilize the flavors of the foods that contain them. Adding trans fats to a product tends to harden fats, and this isn’t good for the arteries and heart health of people who eat them.

Family of Fats. Fat is not a single nutrient, but a whole family of nutrients. You just learned about saturated fat, unsaturated fat, and trans fat above. But some other “relatives” have been in the news lately. They have a variety of names, but you probably heard them called “MUFAs” (monounsaturated fatty acids) and “PUFAs” (polyunsaturated fatty acids). This table gives you helpful information about the main types of fats in the family:

Cholesterol in Food. Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in foods from animal sources only. You will never find cholesterol in any vegetable oil, peanut butter, or margarine. This means that meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, butter, and lard all contain cholesterol. Cholesterol is especially high in eggs and organ meats.

How Much Fat and Cholesterol Do You Need? Not all fats are “bad” fats. Your goal is to get a balance of fats from food sources in your diet for good health, with most of them being healthy fats, such as the omega-3 MUFAs. Moderation is the key. To keep your calories in check, remember that when you use these healthy fats, they should replace less healthy fats and not be used in addition to the fat already in your diet.

Having type 2 diabetes puts you at a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases when compared to people without diabetes. It is important that you watch your saturated fat and cholesterol intake even if you are taking blood cholesterol-lowering medications.

Using Fat Facts

1. Below is a list of the five main types of fat. For each item, think of a food source for this type of fat that is a part of your normal diet. For ideas, refer to the table above.

   Type of Fat	Food Source
   Saturated Fat
   Trans Fat
   MUFAs
   Omega-3 PUFAs
   Omega-6 PUFAs

2. Think of one strategy you will use this week to decrease your intake of “bad” fats (saturated fat and trans fat) and one strategy to increase your intake of “good” fats (MUFAs, omega-3 PUFAs).

   “Bad” Fats

   
   
   

   “Good” Fats

Summary

• Protein is an important part of your nutrition. Protein helps to repair tissues and helps to prevent the loss of lean body mass during weight loss.
• Choose lower-fat protein sources to meet protein needs.
• Select favorable fats and limit saturated fat to promote heart health.