Skip to main content

Fat and Cholesterol

Measuring fat and calories we get from the food.

Fat is an important element of the body and it's necessary for our life. Vital organs would not have any protection without it. Fat regulates the temperature of the body in extreme weather conditions. It is an important fuel for the body and it is burned to provide energy and safety mechanism against famine / hunger /malnutrition. We eat three to four times more fat than we need per day. We need a teaspoon of fat per day but in fact we consume 6 to 8 teaspoons.
How can we avoid this? There is a way to measure fat we get from the foods. When you buy food you can find out how much fat is in that food with simple arithmetics. As you already know, the calories contained in the ingredients are:
Fat = 9 calories / gram Protein = 4 calories / gram Carbohydrate = 4 calories / gram
On the label of the product you buy you'll find the weight of all the components (usually per 100ml) and total calories of the product. Follow the following procedure to find a percentage of fat contained in the product.
Grams of fat per serving / quantity usually at 100 x 9 = A
"A" divided by the total calories of the product. In the same way you can find the percentage of carbohydrates and proteins of the product.
Grams of carbohydrate / serving x 4 = B
Grams of protein / serving x 4 = C
Difficult? Not really. See the following example

Milk (Light)
Nutritional information per 100 ml of a ready for consumption milk
Calculation at 100 ml
ENERGY Kj-205,0 Kcal-49,0 CALCIUM g-110,0
PROTEIN g-3,2 PHOSPHORUS mg-110,0
CARBOHYDRATES g-4,8 Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12
FAT g-1,8 Net Weight-170g
Thus we have:
Protein: 3.2 x 4 = 12.8 calories from protein
Carbohydrates: 4.8 x 4 = 19.2 calories from carbohydrates
Fat: 1.8 x 9 = 16.2 calories from fat
Divide 16,2 / 49 Kcal (calories on the label) and is approximately 4% (3.3%) fat. This is the actual amount of fat you get from that food.

Popular posts from this blog

Fat and Cholesterol

Fat is the second source of energy. Fat acids are important for the development of the brain. Fat is a structural utility, providing thermal and mechanical protection to the body. It also regulates the metabolism. There are types of fat (good fats) that are needed and should be taken with the nutrition and some types of fat (bad fats) which are very bad for our health because of the influence they have on cholesterol levels. Saturated fats-bad fats . They are found in animal sources of protein such as beef, pork, ham and dairy products like full cream milk, ice cream, cheese. Many saturated fats raise the chances of heart disease by increasing blood cholesterol levels. Monounsaturated fats-good fats. They are found in olive oil, olives, almonds, walnuts, pistachios. They lower the bad cholesterol (LDL) without affecting the good cholesterol (HDL). We should consume olive oil in moderation and replace butter in our diet. Polyunsaturated fats . They are found in vegetable oils like corn...

Aerobic, strength, flexibility. Train the whole body

The importance of exercising the whole body is really huge. We have to exercise the front and the back side of it proportionally. When we workout the front of the thigh we should workout the back side as well in order to balance the result. The schedule in the gym should include a variety of exercises to practice all the parts of the body.  Without muscle balance, problems such as humps (strong chest - weak back), spine problems (dorsal strong - weak abs) may appear. This can happen as a result of a bad workout but also because of the fact that we don't workout at all. Our modern sedentary lifestyle leads to such imbalances. If we finally decide to include some action in our lives we must do it right... The workout should be stable, progressive and specific (it should be continuous, change progressively and be in accordance with our needs). Frequency (how many times a week), intensity (how much burden on the body), duration (how long) are required if we want to see the results. T...

Why don't we exercise? Reasons and excuses

The most common excuse not to go to the gym is lack of time. Are you really so busy that you can not consider putting exercising in your schedule? Did you spend your time on things that are not priorities? If you often use lack of time as an excuse for your absence from the gym, here are some ways to see what really happens: 1. Complete a list of 10 things that are very important for you (things you love in order of importance) 2. Write down 10 things you spend your time on. 3. Look at the second list and note the activities (like waiting in line, talking on the phone, stuck in traffic, watching TV etc) from which you can steal 10 minutes during the day. 4. Next to each one, write how much time you spend on it and make a third list with the time you lose every day. 5. Sum the time and get your daily total average. 6. Compare the first with the second list. Do you dedicate most of your time on what is important for you? Do you catch yourself spending time on things that are not that imp...