On the labels I always see something like
Total Fat 18g
Saturated fat 3g
Trans fat 0g
What does that mean? If 3 grams out of 18 is saturated fats then what type of fat is the rest? Do I determine it based on what product I am buying?
To answer your question, let’s say a container of peanuts has a label describing what you’ve given:
Total Fat 18g
Saturated fat 3g
Trans fat 0g
This would mean that out of the 18 grams total fat that is in your product, 3 grams, of whatever serving size is associated with it, would be allocated to saturated fats. Now, this leaves 15 extra grams that are not labelled, so where does the rest of the fat come from?
Since there is no trans fat, the rest would likely either be monounsaturated fat, or polyunsaturated fat. These types of unsaturated fats are ones that are generally more healthy for you to consume than saturated fats. This is because they can improve blood cholesterol levels, ease inflammation, stabilize heart rhythms, and play a number of other beneficial roles. Unsaturated fats are mostly liquid at room temperature, contrasting with saturated & trans fats, and come from plants or more “organic” origins. They are not as likely to clog your arteries.
Trans & Saturated fats will raise your LDL cholesterol, which is bad. Unsaturated fats will raise your HDL cholesterol, which is deemed to be “good cholesterol”.
*LDL: Low-Density Lipoprotein
*HDL: High-Density Lipoprotein
I hope this helps you understand the labels better. 🙂
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This article by Harvard gives a really good explanation on dealing with different types of fats.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-truth-about-fats-bad-and-good
As for why unsaturated fats are not required to be labeled, this article delves into that issue:
https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/fats-not-listed-nutrition-labels-8019.html
Background info:https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/food-labels.htmlhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21041432/