Already the mere word "fat" of many people is horrifying. After all, right there in consciousness there is an association with a fat body and hanging sides. However, dietary fats for our body are the real fuel. Unlike carbohydrates and proteins, they have a high energy intensity.
Fat is the most important food component, which must necessarily come to us from the outside. At the same time, it must be balanced with the required amount of carbohydrates and proteins.
Dietary fats and the fat found in our body, although interconnected, are different concepts. The first of them means a rather valuable product, the role of which is quite difficult to overestimate. The nutritional properties of fats allow them to become active participants in the vital processes taking place in our body. In other words, the normal work of all our organs and systems is impossible without them.
Valuable Product Features
Edible fats are a kind of fuel for the human body. When processing just one gram of them, 9 kilocalories are released, which is two and a half times more than carbohydrates and proteins. This is the expression of the energy function of fats.
In addition, this element is necessary to perform plastic or structural activities.
This is due to the fact that fats serve as an integral part of tissues and cell membranes. Without their required amount, metabolic processes are disrupted in our cells. This negatively affects the body's intake of nutrients. In addition, a deficiency or excessive excess of fatty acids leads to the fact that cells lose the ability to get rid of all the "waste" they have produced. This threatens their slagging, which adversely affects health.
In our body, edible fats also perform the function of a regulator. Without their presence in the cells of tissues and organs, it becomes impossible to assimilate fat-soluble vitamins such as A and C, E K. Moreover, these important components are one of the components of hormones.
Fat also has a transport function. It is expressed in the assistance provided during the movement of various substances throughout the body.
The need for fats lies in their protective function. After all, these components protect our body from temperature effects, and internal organs - from mechanical effects.
Classification
How are dietary fats divided? The classification of these products involves dividing by type of feedstock, as well as by consistency. They are:
1. Based on the starting product:
- animals (dairy, beef, pork, mutton, bone and fish);
- vegetable (obtained from fruits, nuts and seeds of plants);
- combined - produced from various raw materials (margarine, confectionery fat, spreads).
2. Based on the consistency:
- solid (most animal fats, as well as cocoa butter, coconut and palm);
- liquid (the bulk of vegetable oils made from seeds and fruits).
Fats included in the class of lipids, or, as experts call them, triglycerides, are natural organic compounds. They contain full esters and monobasic fatty acids.
It is worth noting that liquid vegetable fats, like butter, are called oils.
The body's need for fats
This product is slowly broken down in the gastrointestinal tract, as it is inaccessible for enzymes in the digestive tract. Then it is deposited in the layers of subcutaneous fat as a neutral reserve. Subsequently, such fat is used as an energy source.
What is the daily human need for this product? It all depends on age and energy consumption. For example, it is enough for older people to include 75-80 grams of fat in their diet.
Of all the existing types of this product, approximately thirty percent should be consumed by vegetable oils. But you must remember that fats are an integral part of the majority of food products. There are a lot of them in fish and meat, cheese and confectionery.
The nutritional value
This indicator has different values depending on the type of fat and its digestibility by the body. And this, in turn, is directly dependent on the melting point of the product. For example, fats having a low melting point (below 37 degrees) are most fully and quickly emulsified in the digestive tract, and, therefore, are easily absorbed. Which products are most suitable for these parameters? This is pork and goose fat, butter, liquid fats and all kinds of margarines.
Products with a high melting point are much worse absorbed by the body. So, if this indicator for butter is 98.5%, then for lamb fat it is in the range of 80-90%. But the human body absorbs beef fat by 80-94%.
The energy value
As mentioned above, dietary fats are a kind of fuel for our body. So, in one hundred grams of cow oil, depending on its type, is from 570 to 750 kcal. The same indicator in margarines is 750 kcal, and in melted animal fats and vegetable oils - 890 kcal.
Benign Fats
How to determine the suitability for the use of such a valuable product for our body? High-quality creamy little has a white-cream or light yellow color. At the same time, he does not have any extraneous odors and tastes. It stands out with a homogeneous consistency. The same characteristics distinguish real homemade oil. The melted product has a soft granular consistency. In this case, upon transition to the molten state, it loses color and is characterized by the absence of impurities.
High-quality sunflower
oil deodorized transparently, without taste and without sediment. The smell of it may be mild or absent altogether. As for unrefined species, they differ in the presence of sediment, which is up to one and a half percent of the total volume of this plant product.
Low-quality fats
Do not eat creamy little that has an unpleasant bitter taste, pungent smell and rancidity (darkening of the surface). The poor quality of this product is evidenced by the taste of stearin suppositories, lard, greening, the presence of mold, etc. Butter with a darkened edge can be smoothed out and eaten.
Rancid, burning or pungent taste and smell will tell about the poor quality of vegetable oils. It is strongly discouraged to eat such products. After all, they accumulate in themselves the elements of the breakdown of fats, and also lose vitamins and essential acids.
Application
Where are the fats obtained from raw materials processed? They find their application in the following areas:
- Food Industry;
- pharmaceuticals;
- the manufacture of cosmetics and soaps;
- production of lubricants.
The main use of animal fats occurs in the culinary field. Here they are used as food. Among them are mutton, pork and beef. But from the tissues of fish and marine mammals they produce not only edible fats, but also veterinary (fodder), medical and technical ones. What is the use of fats of this kind? As for the veterinary product, its main purpose is to feed farm birds and animals. What is the use of technical fats? They are used in the perfumery and chemical industries, as well as in other areas of the national economy with the aim of developing defoaming and washing agents, treating leathers, making lipsticks and creams.
Cooking use
All chefs are well aware of the fact that the taste of cooked dishes largely depends not only on the quality and type of the main product, but also on the fat used for it. If this component is inconsistent, the quality of the dishes is significantly reduced.
For example, ghee from beef or lard is not suitable for baking pancakes with jam. Such a combination can only be used by an inept and inexperienced cook.
To give a delicate and delicate taste to many dishes, butter is used in their preparation. Most often, this product is used for sandwiches. Ready-to-eat dishes made of gourmet and dietary products are watered with its melted look. Oil is also used for dressing sauces.
For meat hot dishes, as well as when frying some varieties of flour products, pork and beef fat is used. Lamb fat is successfully used in Central Asian and Caucasian cuisines.
Cook's vegetable oils are taken in cases where the recipe requires the use of non-freezing fat.
Need to use
Without fats, one of the most important culinary processes is impossible - frying. Only with its help can a cook bring the initial product to a high temperature. At the same time, meat, fish or vegetables are protected from ignition and combustion. During the frying process, a thin layer of fat is created between the product and the bottom of the cookware. This contributes to uniform heating.
When frying, another useful quality of fat becomes apparent. It dissolves some aromatic and
coloring substances found in vegetables. This greatly improves the smell and appearance of the food.
Palm oil use
This product is used in Russia relatively recently. Oil production is established from the fruits of the palm tree, which is called oilseed.
Where is this edible fat used? This plant product is most often used for baking, as well as in the manufacture of confectionery products intended for long-term storage.
Palm oil has interesting physical and chemical properties. That is why it was included in the list of the most common types of vegetable fats produced on our planet. This is due to its low cost and availability. Palm oil has another attractive quality. Due to its good oxidation stability, it can be stored for a long time.
The most common use of this vegetable fat is in the food industry. It is used in the manufacture of biscuit rolls and wafers, creams and cakes. Use it when frying semi-finished products. The calorie content of this vegetable fat is 884 kcal.
Many products are not without palm oil . So, it is part of the condensed milk and cream cheese, add it to the curd and curd desserts. This oil is also a substitute for milk fat. In addition to the food industry, the product finds its application in the manufacture of soaps and candles, as well as in cosmetology (to moisturize and soften the skin).
Using confectionery fat
This product is made mainly from plant materials. However, it may contain pork or beef tallow. Contains confectionery fat and whale salomas. Coconut or palm oil is also one of the ingredients in the product.
Confectionery fat is a white solid with a slight yellowish tint. As for its taste and consumer characteristics, they, first of all, depend on the composition. For example, confectionery fat used for bakery products includes up to 65 percent vegetable and whale salomas, as well as up to 22 percent vegetable oil. Sometimes in the recipe is also palm oil, which gives the final product a specific taste.
The use of confectionery fat allows you to bind together the components used. In addition, products made on its basis have improved nutritional characteristics. The calorific value of such fat is 897 kcal.
Margarine
This product belongs to the group of combined fats. It is produced with the participation of constant technochemical and laboratory control. The main raw materials for the manufacture of margarine are various types of vegetable and animal fats. The first of these are soybean, sunflower and cottonseed oils. And as animal fats, whale fat is often used .
The prepared raw material is brought to a solid state and a homogeneous mixture is achieved.
Use margarine for cooking various types of dishes, as well as for baking some flour products. Add it to vegetable and minced meat.
Margarine is also suitable for deep-frying. Indeed, even with very strong warming, it does not acquire the aftertaste of bitterness and the smell of child. Calorie content of the product is 570 kcal.