Fats: Food energy in stored form
Mar 4th, 2007 by Susan
Concentrated calories - Since stored food energy must be carried around, it needs to be in a concentrated form. That is, it must pack as much energy as it can into as little weight and as little space as possible. A single pound of body fat, for instance, contains calories. It takes a long time to store up a pound of fat, and a long time to get rid of it. When eat fat, therefore, you are getting calories in their most concentrated form.
What fat adds to food - You may think of fat as just a part of the meat that you cut off and don’t eat, but it’s much more than that. A lot of your favorite fods contain fat that you can’t see. Fat makes a lot of food taste and “chew” better. It carries a lot of the flavors and smells that make some foods, such as peanut butter and chocolate, so appetizing. The “invisible” fat in meats makes them more tender and juicy.
Fat takes longer to digest than other nutrients, so you don’t feel hungry again right away. Some important vitamins comes dissolved in the fats and oils found in various foods.
Foods that contain fat - Oil, such as the kind used in cooking foods or in salad dressings, is simply liquid fat. Butter, margarine, and mayonnaise are mostly fat. So is bacon. Many other foods - such as nuts, potato chips, candy bars, cheese, and eggs - contain quite a bit of fat. Many of the foods that contain fats and oils - such as meat, milk, nuts, cheese and eggs - are also good sources of protein.
