What is Omega-3?

Fat and Fatty Acids

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Fat has a bad reputation. It is a word associated with obesity, heart disease and many other disease states. However, not all fats are bad fats.

The different types of dietary fat fall into three main groups: saturated; mono-unsaturated; and polyunsaturated.

Saturated fats are the animal-derived 'hard' fats such as butter, lard and fat in meat (and used in many processed foods). Chemically-speaking, saturated fats are a chain of carbon atoms jointed by single links, which means that the maximum amount of hydrogen is present. These are the fats to reduce in the diet.

Of the unsaturated fats (so-called because extra hydrogen atoms can be inserted chemically) monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) are made up of a chain of carbon atoms containing one double bond. They characteristically have a lower melting point than saturated fats and so are generally liquids (oils) rather than solids (fats). Olive oil is the best-known example of an oil which contains predominantly monounsaturated fatty acids.