Oils and Fats (তেল ও চর্বিজাতীয় পণ্য)

Why fats and oils are essential?

• The human body requires dietary fats and oils in sufficient amounts to caary out basic etabolic functions. They provide essential fatty acids (EFA) EFA, as their name defines, are absolute essential nutrients required by the body. EFAs are linoleic acid and a-linolenic acid. α-Linolenic acid (ALA) is known as omega-3 and linoleic acid is called as omega-6 essential fatty acids. Both linoleic acid (omega-6) and α-linolenic acid must be present in the diet at a ratio of 5:1 to 10:1.
• The important derivatives of α-linolenic acid are ecosa-pentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosa-hexaenoic acid (DHA). 1-3% of calories should come from EFA. Deficiency of EFAs results in impaired brain growth, mental retardation and learning difficulties, dermatitis (dryness of skin), hair loss, and poor wound healing.
• The four fat-soluble vitamins namely vitamin A, D, E and K are, in fact, require fats and oils in the food to be absorbed through the gut. Inadequate fats may results in the deficiency of these vitamins leading to serious metabolic derangements with subsequent manifestations like night blindness, osteoporosis, bleeding from skin and mucosa, dry skin (phrenoderma), and susceptibility to infections.
• Furthermore, vegetable oils are an ideal source of plant sterols, especially ß-sitosterol and campesterol. The FDA has approved the following claim for phytosterols:- “Foods containing at least 0.4 gram per serving of plant sterols, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 0.8 gram, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” Phyto-sterols competitively inhibit cholesterol absorption across the gut and thereby can reduce cholesterol levels by 10% to 15%.
• Fats are also high in calories. On an average 100 g of cooking oil provides 900 calories. Fats are functions like reserve energy that is readily available for use during the times of starvation, illnesses and cold-weather conditions.
• In fact, fats and oils high in mono-unsaturated fats as in olive, canola, peanut, sesame, etc., help lower LDL-cholesterol in the blood.