
Fat: Saturated, Unsaturated, and Trans-fats. Which is healthy?
Last updated on February 11th, 2025 at 11:47 pm
10 minutes read.

All foods containing fat have a mix of specific types of fats.
Even foods containing healthy fats like chicken and nuts have small amounts of saturated fat, though much less than the amounts found in beef, cheese, and ice cream.
Being concerned about the kind of food that contain healthy fats is a smart way to start a lifestyle that can help you live longer.
The main types of “healthy” fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The main types of “unhealthy” fats are saturated and trans fat.
Saturated fat is mainly found in animal foods, but a few plant foods are also high in saturated fats, such as coconut, coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil.
Unsaturated fats, which are liquid at room temperature, are considered beneficial fats because they can improve blood cholesterol levels and help you maintain a healthy heart.
If you have been wondering what fat is all about and how it affects your health feel free to stay with me to the end because this article was specially prepared for you. But you can skip ahead if you like.

- What’s fat?
- Types of fats
- Sources of Unsaturated, Saturated and Trans-fats
- How do fat affect your health?
- Health Benefits of Unsaturated
- Health Effect of Saturated and Trans-fat
- How do I identify if a food contains bad fat or good fat?
- Why do you need some fat?
- Tips for choosing the best healthy fat
- Conclusion
What is fat?
Fat is any glycerol and various fatty acid derived from organic or inorganic substances. Some of these are solid or jell at room temperature, while some are liquid at room temperature.
They constitute the components of organic substances such as plants and animals.
Or simply say Fat is any oily compound found in plants or animals.
About 40 percent of our daily calories are derived from dietary fats.
Unsaturated fat
Unsaturated fat is a type of fatty acid in which the hydrocarbon molecules have two carbons that share double or triple bond(s) and are therefore not completely saturated with hydrogen atoms. Due to the decreased concentration of hydrogen bonds, the structures are weaker and are, therefore, typically liquid (oil) at room temperature.
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is a single bonded carbon chain that is concentrated with hydrogen atoms, which means the structure is strong and hard to break hence it is usually solid at room temperature.
Trans Fats
Trans-fatty acids, more commonly called trans fats, are made by heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen gas and a catalyst, a process called hydrogenation. Or simply put trans-fats are oils turned into solid fats during food processing.
Types of fats
What are the different types of fat and which are healthy?
Fats are grouped into three categories:
1. Unsaturated fat
2. Saturated fat
3. Trans-fats.
Unsaturated fats come in two forms;
Monounsaturated fat and
Polyunsaturated fat.
These two forms of fat are regarded as healthy days. #good fats.
While saturated fats and trans-fat are regarded as unhealthy days. #bad fats.
Sources of Unsaturated, Saturated and Trans-fats
Sources of Monounsaturated Fat (unsaturated fat)
These fats come from plant-based sources and include:

- Avocados fruits
- Nuts and seeds like almonds, cashew nuts, pecans, peanuts (ground nuts), pine nuts, pumpkins, breadfruits (ukwa) sesame seeds, or sunflower seeds.
- Olive oil and olives, oil extracted from ground nuts/peanuts.
- Vegetable oils like sunflower, safflower, corn, canola, soybean, and cottonseed.
- Peanuts/groundnut butter/spread (ose oji)
Sources of Polyunsaturated fat
(Unsaturated fat)
These fats come from plant-based sources, poultry, and fish, such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
Sources of omega-3 include:
- Oily fish, such as mackerel and salmon
- Eggs
- Seeds such as flaxseed or chia seeds
- Nuts, such as walnuts
- Legumes, such as soybeans
Sources of omega-6 include:
- Meat, fish, and poultry
- Eggs
- Legumes, such as soybeans
- Sunflower oil
- Corn

Sources of Saturated
Saturated fat is mostly found in foods and snacks such as;
Pizza and cheese

Whole and reduced-fat milk, butter, and dairy desserts
Meat products (sausage, bacon, beef, hamburgers)
Cookies and other grain-based desserts
A variety of mixed fast food dishes.
Palm oil (cannel oil, ofe aku)
Sources of Trans -fat
Trans-fat is mostly found in industrially processed food items such as butter, margarine, and ice cream. etc.

However, some small amount of trans-fat occurs naturally in some meat and dairy products, but those found in processed foods tend to be the most harmful to your health.
For instance, partially hydrogenating vegetable oils makes them more stable and less likely to become rancid (meaning they can’t change taste, color, or smell for a long period of time).
This process also converts the oil into a solid, which makes them function as margarine or shortening.

Partially hydrogenated oils can withstand repeated heating without breaking down, making them ideal for frying fast foods.

For these reasons, partially hydrogenated oils became a mainstay in restaurants and the food industry for frying, baked goods, processed snack foods, and margarine.
Partially hydrogenated oil is not the only source of trans-fats in our diets. Trans-fats are also naturally found in beef fat and dairy fat in small amounts.
I hope you’re getting value.
How does fat affect your health?
Fat is an important nutritional component of your overall health. However, it can affect your health in both positive and negative ways hence the good fat and bad fat.
Here is how:
Health Benefits of Unsaturated (mono and polyunsaturated fat)
- Reducing the amount of saturated fat you consume can be good for your general health. If you can replace saturated fat with good fats, especially, polyunsaturated fats that will go a long way in helping you maintain the kind of lifestyle your desire.
- Eating monounsaturated fats (good fat) in place of saturated fat lowers the “bad” cholesterol-Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL)’ and it improves the amount of “good” cholesterol-High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), and by so doing it lowers the risk of heart disease and reduce inflammation.
- Eating good fats in place of saturated fat can also help prevent insulin resistance, which is the major cause of diabetes.
Though saturated fat may not be as harmful as you thought, observationally most people who feed more on saturated fat from whole natural food do not suffer from the fat-related disease much. however, the evidence clearly shows that unsaturated “good” fat remains the healthiest type of fat.
Health Effect of Saturated Fat and Trans-fat
Here is why you should reduce the amount of Saturated fat and trans-fat you consume through food and snacks;
Overconsumption of saturated fats is one of the leading causes of obesity and related conditions in adults, according to a study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (opens in new tab).
With this in mind, it’s important to be aware of the amount of saturated fat you are consuming.
Trans-fats are the worst type of fat for the heart, blood vessels, and rest of the body because they:
It raises bad cholesterol (LDL) and lowers good cholesterol (HDL).
It creates inflammation, a reaction related to immunity which has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions
It contributes to insulin resistance.
It can actually have harmful health effects even in small amounts for each additional 2 percent of calories from trans-fat consumed daily.
The risk of coronary heart disease increases by 23 percent.
Saturated fats and trans-fats have been linked to negative health outcomes, including metabolic syndrome (a combination of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure) and cancer.
How do I identify if the food that contains bad fat or good day?

- Find out foods that contain healthy fats by reading authentic articles on nutrition and lifestyle like the one you’re reading now.
- Look out for saturated and trans-fat on the nutritional label of every oil, snack, or food you buy from the grocery.
This will guide to help you determine which fats are beneficial, and which are harmful.
However, in some developing countries, food nutrition is not regulated as a result the manufacturers may not care to specify the detailed nutritional information on the label.
Why do you need some Fat?
Generally, you need some amount of fat to stay healthy.
A small amount of fat is an essential part of a healthy and balanced diet. Fat is a source of essential fatty acids, which the body cannot make itself.
Fat helps the body to absorb vitamins.
For instance, monounsaturated fats help us to absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Which means they can only be absorbed with the help of fats.
Even saturated fat, especially from whole-natural food, is a good source of vitamin A. For example red oil from palm trees.
Polyunsaturated fats, particularly omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, are needed for the proper function of our brains and bodies.
Any fat that’s not used by your body’s cells or turned into energy is converted into body fat. Likewise, unused carbohydrates and proteins are also converted into body fat.
The omega-3 acids in oily fish are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid),”
Although the human body can synthesize EPA and DHA but our bodies are not efficient at doing this. Therefore the levels produce by our body tend to be low.
So, making sure you take in enough omega-3, either through the diet or by having an omega-3 supplement, is important.
Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to help prevent the onset of heart disease by helping to lower levels of triglycerides (fat in the blood), lowering blood pressure, and improving blood circulation.
Omega-6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids obtained from the diet, which are mainly used to give you energy.
A review in the Journal of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy tells us that omega-3 and omega-6 need to be consumed in balance with one another.
All types of fat are high in energy. A gram of fat, whether it’s saturated or unsaturated, provides 9kcal (37kJ) of energy compared with 4kcal (17kJ) for carbohydrates and protein.
In general, unsaturated fats such as avocados, olive oil, nuts, and seeds are the “good” fats we need to include in our diet.
These help to support heart and brain health, among other functions. Saturated fat, on the other hand, should be eaten in small quantities because the excessive level will affect your health negatively.
Tips for choosing the best healthy fats
If you really want to maintain a certain lifestyle as it regards diet consider the below tips;
- To avoid trans-fat, look on nutrition labels for ingredients such as “partially hydrogenated” oil or shortening.
- Also look for “trans-fat” in the nutritional information of products, such as commercially baked cookies, crackers, and fried foods.
- Choose leaner cuts of meat that do not have much visible fat. Leaner cuts include round cuts and sirloin cuts. Trim visible fat off meats before eating.
- Sauté with olive oil or canola oil instead of butter.
- Use avocado or peanuts/ground nut spread instead of butter.
- Use olive oil in salad dressings and marinades.
- Use canola oil when baking.
- Don’t overheat any cooking oil.
- Try to make vegetable and fresh tomato stew or sauce instead of canned tomato stew or ofe aku (palm fruit soup)
- When reheating soups or stews, skim the solid fats from the top before heating.
- Sprinkle slivered nuts or sunflower seeds on salads instead of bacon bits.
- Snack on a small handful of nuts rather than potato chips or processed crackers.
- Try peanut butter or other nut-butter spreads (which do not contain trans-fat) on celery, bananas, or low-fat crackers.
- Add slices of avocado rather than cheese to your sandwich.
- Once or twice a week prepare fish, such as salmon or mackerel, instead of meat.
Other vital Tips include:
Foods High in Saturated Fat/Trans-fat. #bad fat Instead of this | Food high in Mono/Polyunsaturated Fat. #healthy fat Go for this |
Butter, lard, shortening, coconut, coconut oil, palm oil | Margarine (look for 0 grams of trans fat on the label), vegetable oil spread, olive oil, canola oil, corn oil, canola oil cooking spray |
Whole milk, 2% milk, half & half, cream | Skim, 1%, fat free half & half |
Red meat, ground beef, sausage, bacon, organ meats (such as liver, kidney) | White meat chicken, turkey, pork chop with fat trimmed, ground beef sirloin, fish, soy products, nuts/seeds or beans |
Poultry skin, visible meat fat | Skinless and trimmed meats |
Fried or pan-fried foods | Grilled, baked, roasted, steamed, broiled, boiled |
Deli meats like bologna, pepperoni, salami | Deli ham, turkey, chicken breast, or extra lean roast beef |
Whole eggs or egg yolks | Egg substitute or egg whites |
Ice cream | Frozen yogurt, sherbet, low-fat ice cream |
Cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, whipped cream | Fat-free or reduced-fat version |
Chocolates, pies, doughnuts, brownies, buttered popcorn | Sugar-free pudding made with 1% or skim milk, vanilla wafers, animal crackers, low-fat microwave popcorn |
Conclusion
Since most fats and oils contain both saturated and unsaturated fats in different proportions
.
As part of a healthy diet, you should try to cut down on foods and drinks that are high in saturated fats and trans-fats and replace some of them with unsaturated fats.
Use locally processed red oil that remains liquid under room temperature instead of industrially processed oil that turns solid (congeal) under room temperature.
When preparing palm fruit soup or stew (ofe aku), try to cook it for about 30 to 40 minutes, allow it to cool, then carefully skim the red oil on the surface, before adding the ingredients and spices you want to use however, bear in mind that red oil you’re skimming is actually a good source of vitamin A.
Limit the amount of fried food you eat. Such food can expose you to excessive consumption of trans-fats and saturated fat.
Don’t overheat any type of cooking oil you choose to use.
Repeatedly heated cooking oils (RCO) can generate varieties of compounds, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), some of which have been reported as carcinogenic.
When cooking your stew, noodles, soup, fried rice or jorrof rice limits the amount of oil you add.
While eating saturated fat in excess can have negative health outcomes, consuming small amounts of saturated fat in moderation is fine, so there’s no need.
I hope you get the value worth your time, I appreciate the time you spend with me. Leave a comment below if you find this article helpful and don’t forget to drop your question, opinion, or criticism if any. Cheers!
——————————————————————————————————————–
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
The content provided in living Good Blog is for informational and educational purposes only. It’s not intended to provide medical advice or take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal doctor. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Living Good Blog takes no responsibility for possible health consequences of any person(s) reading or following the information in this educational content. Viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medication, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement, or lifestyle program.
Mine opens fast please check your network.
Hey! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where
I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours
and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!
Enquete, check your network because the pictures opens fast here in my device, but some of the images are not clear when zoomed. Author thank you for this wonderful piece but please take note of the blurred images.
Okay thanks for your observations I will work on it as quickly as possible. Cheers! Living Good love you
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site?
My blog site is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would certainly
benefit from some of the information you present here.
Please let me know if this ok with you. Appreciate it!
That’s okay please. Go ahead. Thanks for your precious time and feedback.
Okay no problem. Go ahead
Alright 👍
It’s my pleasure to have you 💕
Interesting, I have learnt alot here. 3.7 Stars
Hello! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to
check it out. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will
be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and superb style and design.
Ok no problem go ahead. I look forward to seeing you grow. Cheers! Living Good love you
Okay
I appreciate your nice observations, however, my ICT officer will check it out and work on it as quickly as possible once is from the website.
Cheers! Living Good love you
I love what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever work and reporting!
Keep up the very good works guys I’ve added you guys to blogroll.
Thanks we do appreciate.
Cheers!
It’s really a nice and useful piece of information. I’m satisfied that
you simply shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this.
Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful article! We are linking to this particularly great post on our site.
Keep up the great writing.
I am not sure where you’re getting your information, but good topic.
I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more.
Thanks for wonderful info I was looking for this information for my mission.
Thanks for your feedback. You really don’t need a coding experience to start your own blog.
What you need is passion and desire to create contents and the knowledge of content creation.
You can learn a bit of any of the popular blogging platforms like WordPress
Then you can hire a freelancer to set up your blog sure for you and you can just hope in and start creating amazing contents with your user ID and password. With AI technologies you can write faster and better.
Our technical team can also help you setup your blog whenever you wish to start and if you wish us to help you.
Thanks once more for your precious time.Living Good loves you.
Thanks for your precious time and feedback Gabriel..we @Living Good loves you. Cheers
Great article! That is the type of info that are supposed to be shared
across the internet. Shame on the search engines for now not positioning this publish higher!
Come on over and discuss with my web site . Thanks =)
Howdy this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors
or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding skills so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be enormously appreciated!
The short answer, for probably the vast majority of people (in most circumstances), is “no”.
Most people use specialized blog software (the most popular of which, these days, seem to be WordPress) for their blogs.
Many of these programs are installed on the website itself, and the bloggers typically log into their blog from their browsers and type their articles (often referred to as “posts”)
WYSIWYG editors and structured content don’t go hand in hand
If you want your page layout to stay consistent, look pretty and not get messed up by clients but at the same time want to structure your content logically – elements going in their correct locations across the page and so on you simply cannot use a WYSIWYG editor. There is just too much room for error.
Is this feedback helpful?
Yes blog use WYSIWYG editors, but you can still manually code with HTML if you so wish and can.
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks! https://www.binance.com/en/register?ref=OMM3XK51
Magnificent items from you, man. I have take into accout
your stuff previous to and you are simply too great.
I really like what you have got here, certainly like what you are stating and the best
way wherein you say it. You make it entertaining and you still
care for to keep it wise. I can not wait to read far more from you.
This is actually a tremendous site. I saw similar here:
najlepszy sklep and also
here: sklep online
Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one
and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam remarks?
If so how do you reduce it, any plugin or anything you can advise?
I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any support is very much appreciated.
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with
SEO? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but
I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share.
Cheers! You can read similar text here: Najlepszy sklep
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search
Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my site to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains.
If you know of any please share. Cheers! I saw similar article here: Backlinks List
Check Neil Patel.com for this
Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after browsing through a few of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m definitely happy I stumbled upon it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back often!
I used to be able to find good information from your blog posts.
You are so interesting! I don’t think I’ve read through anything like that before. So great to find someone with some unique thoughts on this subject matter. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This web site is something that is required on the internet, someone with some originality.
Hi, I do think this is an excellent blog. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to return yet again since i have saved as a favorite it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.
Amen
Thanks for stopping by……
Outstanding post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more
on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more.
Thank you!
Thankfulness to my father who told me about this weblog, this web site is truly amazing.
Hello There. I found your blog the use of msn. This is
a very smartly written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and return to learn more of
your helpful info. Thanks for the post. I will definitely return.