Saturday, November 19, 2011

Stop! Consuming So Much Saturated Fat by NYC Robert


Our nation is in an epidemic with regards to our health.  I’m really not much of a sugar-coater so I’ll tell you the things they don’t. Before I begin I have to pick an area because there’s way too much to put in one post… After pondering I’ve got it. Saturated fat, have you heard of it? I’m sure many of you have. But do you know why it is bad for you?
Saturated Fat (SF) is a very bad type of fat. I like to call it one of the "silent killers" because of what it does to your insides. SF clogs your arteries, which makes it hard for blood to transport. Extra amounts, greater than seven grams per day, of saturated can cling to your arterial walls. Okay, from that one sentence it should be clear why SF is harmful. But if you don’t see it I’ll lay it out. Blood carries oxygen, and as you know our bodies need oxygen to function. If your arteries are being clogged from saturated fat blood can’t transport the needed amount in the given time. Thankfully, our hearts don’t just give out on us, or pause to be filled to their desired amounts.


Hopefully by now you see the problem with SF. If you care about yourself and want to do something about consuming unnecessary amounts of SF here are some tips. First, only consume a maximum of seven grams per day of saturated fat in your diet. Second, stay away from foods that are high in saturated fat. Those types of foods are heavy meats, such as beef, lamb, pork, poultry with skin, and beef fat. The other type is dairy products like cream, butter, cheese, whole, and 2 percent milk. In addition, read food labels for plant foods such as palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil. 

I earlier said that SF is a silent killer. The reason I said that is because there’s no limit to the amount of clogging SF can do to your arteries, and you general don’t show many symptoms other than being fatigued from strenuous active. But people who are less active or out of shape can show those same types of fatigued symptoms. In addition, the more SF you consume in high amounts will just continue to clog and clog your arteries. To get an example, imagine a room, and then someone fills the rooms with balloons slowly, okay not a problem. But soon enough this person likes the way the balloons look and fills the room with more, and more, and more sooner or later the balloons are all over and the person can no longer move around the room. That is similar to the clogging in your arteries. They fill and fill and fill to the point where blood has to find the cracks and crevices just to get through, which makes it harder to travel through.

Many people say, “The hell with it I’m going to eat whatever I want”, which is fine on occasion. If you suffer from eating foods high in SF and don’t think you will suffer you’re wrong. And to be honest why do you want to put your body through that? Slow and painful deaths can’t feel good. 

To get an idea of how much saturated fat you consume daily check your food labels.  Also let me know if this has helped you understand SF better.

5 comments:

  1. I think this topic is important, but it should also be noted that the majority of people whose diets contain high levels of SF are those who can only afford to buy cheap, processed, ready made foods, such as Mcdonald's and others like it. Perhaps the thinking should change towards finding a way to make healthy alternatives cheaper.

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  2. @Sart Interesting take, but I wouldn't direct it to less fortunate individuals. There are many other factors that come in to play. The number one is "person, or lifestyle." Not many parents are eager to get the healthiest type of food for their child,reason being there are many other things that are appear important to them. Secondly, that yelling child screaming "Mcdonalds" in the backseat will soon get to the parent, and they'll cave-in. Yeah, growing up we have decisions of our own, but culture also plays another affect. The way your family eats can persuade you to eat in a similar or same manner. Family can also be incorporated into community. For instance, statistics show that many Southerners eat heavier foods than others. But then take a look at their environment, which shows why they eat that way. However, that doesn't portray anything about their economic status, just preference. The key is to swayed people to eat better types of foods they already like, because there are always better selections.

    Certain stores do carry healthier selections at decent prices like target, shop rite, and wal-mart. But for metro areas, such as New York, that's not very convenient. Many city people don't drive so lugging bags of groceries cross town isn't going to happen. And again financial issues aren't always the case many city people have money, but just don't want a car. So they result to the most convenient things deli's, and other stores, but mostly deli's.

    I can go on and on.Lastly, I'll say this it's easy to say or give advice about eating properly, but you have to keep in mind that everyone doesn't have the same access to better selection as everyone else, which sucks but that life. One last example, picture a mother with three kids, one has diabetes, and they live in a metro area. She works mon-fri long hours. So long she can't even cook dinner at night. The deli's don't sell proper foods that her diabetic child needs. Her availability to buy groceries is only on Sunday. What advice would you give her?

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  3. the last part of your comment is more to the heart of what i'm getting at. giving diet advice to those who CHOOSE to eat unhealthy is a bit like telling smokers they shouldn't smoke. everyone knows things like saturated fat and smoking are bad but people still can choose to do what ever they want to their own bodies. educating people more about such things isn't really the issue, i think it's really only an issue for people who don't have the choice. if people want to eat shit, let em eat shit.

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  4. Yeah, I got to the middle and asked myself why am I writing all this. Then I was just to lazy to erase it. I explain all this in depth in my thesis, which I'm working on. But it's all about the strong surviving. And that case study I through-out the answer is it's a lost cause, because of the mom. She isn't willing to put in time to actually help her child. Okay, then sadly her child will suffer. Tough world.

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  5. and businesses will never cut into their bottom line in order to make healthier foods more available. as for the diabetic case, its a tough one, and i'm sure things like that happen everyday but there is still a fair amount we could do to make cafeteria menus more diabetic friendly and healthier. also there could be a state run service providing diabetic meals by deliver or something like that. of course thats all very pie in the sky

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