The honest self-care

Fat is important for our nutrition. On the one hand because fat provides energy, on the other hand because the fats are needed as building material for important body structures.

Now, in simplified terms, we can talk about good fats and bad fat.

The latter are so called saturated fats that are rather harmful to our body. What is unhealthy about these saturated fats, i.e. where the body is damaged, is something I would rather explain in a separate article.

In this article I will answer the question of unsaturated fats are healthy in detail.

1. Unsaturated fats are good for sex and brain
2. What to eat to get unsaturated fats.
3. What does unsaturated mean?

1.Unsaturated fats are good for sex and brain

First of all we need to eat fat because it provides us with energy.

The same amount of fat gives us twice as much energy as sugar (carbohydrates) would do. In other words, we just need to eat a little of it but we get a lot of energy.

When we consume more energy than we use in a day, our body stores the energy as fat tissue. It’s not bad to have a stock for bad times. But let’s be honest- when in your life have you ever had bad times when it comes to food?

However, there are also fats that fulfill other tasks in our body in addition to their function as energy suppliers.

The firs one I want to go into is the importance to our nervous system.

In order for our nerve cells to perform well, they are surrounded by an insulating layer just like the electrical wiring at your home.

Would you use a cable whose rubber layer is damaged? Probably not, because you will get an electric shock.

Well, in order for your nerve cells to function well, your body needs to create a good insulating layer. And this insulating layer, consists mainly of fats- more precise unsaturated fats.

The result of independent studies is therefore not surprising.

Of course, brain performance improves when the body is optimally supplied with unsaturated fats.

There are also studies that show that the risk of dementia is lowered when you eat a lot of unsaturated and low saturated fat. The genetically determined tendency to such diseases can of course not be influenced.

The second one which might be of interest for you, is the effect on your sex drive.

There are molecules in your body that require unsaturated fatty acids to build. Such molecules, are for example hormones (=messenger substances).

The messenger substance testosterone in particular is dependent on the availability of unsaturated fats.

Testosterone is a sexual hormone that occurs more in men and less in women.

Testosterone is responsible for the sex drive.

The more testosterone you have, the stronger your sex drive. So you could say that the more testosterone you have in your body, the more you want to have sex.

As you can see, it is possible to influence your love life with the right diet.

In the table you can see more (not all) possible uses of the different fat types.

Use in the body	Saturated fats	Unsaturated fats
+ Energy	Yes	Yes
+ Nervous system -> better brain performance	Yes	No
+ Cell membrane -> general better function	Yes	No
+ Testosteron -> muscle building, better sex drive	Yes	No
Anti-inflammatory	Yes (omega-3-fatty acids)	No
Affects insulin -> you want to eat less	Yes	No

In summary, it is obviously much more sensible to consume fats, of which the body has more than just energy.

2. What to eat to get unsaturated fats.

Before I go on to the different food sources, I want you to understand one thing.

Your body can produce saturated fats itself. All animals can do. You don’t have to eat them.

And remember that saturated fats are used almost exclusively for energy.

Your body can do much more with unsaturated fats: It uses it for energy production and building material.

Only plants can produce polyunsaturated fats; animals cannot.

In the listing (see link below) you can see that there are nevertheless animals rich in unsaturated fats.This is because they extract these fats from their plant food.

If you want to get the most out of your diet, this link will give you a detailed list with amounts of the various fats in many different foods, both plant and animal.

Here you have a very simple and rough overview with selected foods rich in unsaturated fats.

• Linseed oil
• Hemp seed oil
• Walnuts
• Chia seeds
• Salomon
• Herring

3.What does unsaturated mean?

Attention the explanation is chemical.

I try to keep it as simple as possible.

Unsaturated means that two carbon atoms in a fat molecule are connected with a double bond.

You can see this here by the double line.

Maybe you have heard the words „omega-3“ and “ omega-6″ fats.

The „omega“ describes on which position within a molecule the double bond occurs.

An omega-3 fatty acid has its double bond on position three consequently.

It is healthy to consume the same amount of omega-3 fats as omega-6 fats. So the ratio of the two should be 1:1.

However, this is difficult to achieve with today’s dietary habits. Most of us consume up to 20 times more omega 6 fats.