What are "fats"?

What are "fats"?

Fat is important to our health, it's what we call a macronutrient, we cannot live well without fat. Fats are important for energy, for our cellular membranes, for the integrity of our nerve system and in order to help our hormone balance. There are a number of different types of fats. The two big classes are saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats come largely from the animal sources, and they tend to promote disease, whereas the unsaturated fats largely come from the plant sources, and they tend to be protective of disease. Now once we look at the unsaturated fats, many people have heard of omega 3s and omega 6s and omega 9s. They're important too. Foods are generally combinations of those fats, but foods that are very high in omega 3s can really support our immune systems. Foods that are high in omega 6s are tending to suppress our immune systems, and the omega 9s are generally neutral, neither enhancing nor supressing immune function.