Fat and Diabetes

Fat is a macronutrient alongside protein and cabohydrates

Along with protein and carbohydrates, fat is one of the main macronutrients. Unlike carbohydrate, and to a small extent protein, the fat we eat does not directly raise our blood sugar levels, whether we have diabetes or not.

Fat is needed by the body for providing energy, keeping hair and skin healthy, helping our cells to function properly and for protecting our body and organs.

Which food is fat found in?

Fats are found in a range of foods which include nuts, avocados, beans, fish, meat, milk, cheese and other dairy products.

What are good and bad fats?

Good fat has typically been used to describe unsaturated fats that are found in nuts, avocados, oily fish, and oils such as sunflower and olive oil.

Bad fats have referred to the saturated fats that are found in meats, butter and other dairy.

The above descriptions are a simplification of things and there is some debate about whether saturated fats deserve to be termed ‘bad fats’ at all.

What are trans fats?

Trans fats can be naturally occurring (in relatively tiny quantities) but generally refers to ‘man made’ fats that have been hydrogenated to chemically change the structure of the fat molecules.

Trans fats have been around for decades but in recent years they have come under scrutiny and are believed to be dangerous to health if consumed in too high quantities.

• Read more on trans fats

Diabetes and low fat diets

The advice of the NHS is for people to reduce the amount of fat, and particularly saturated fat, in their diet. The low fat approach has been strongly recommended for people with diabetes.

Low fat diets have come under a certain amount of criticism in that low fats diets often require a relatively high amount of carbohydrate in the diet which can lead to overproduction of insulin and could therefore lead to increased hunger through the day, weight gain and increased health problems.

Deficiencies of vitamins A and D in low fat diets, which help to prevent the development of osteoporosis, has also been a criticism of the diet.

Fat and cholesterol

When discussing the fat we eat and cholesterol, it is important to recognise the different types of fat as well as the different types of cholesterol.

Saturated fat helps the liver to create LDL (so called ‘bad cholesterol’) and LDL helps the body to repair damaged cells of artery walls. LDL has been termed bad because generally people with high levels of LDL are at a particular risk of coronary heart disease and other health problems.

Saturated fats

There is currently a lot of debate as to how much LDL is an innocent marker of health problems and how much the cause.

Unaturated fats

Unsaturated fat from nuts and avocados (the fats termed good fats) help to increase levels of the so called ‘good cholesterol’ (HDL).

HDL has a key role in helping to remove LDL from healed artery walls and back to the liver.

HDL (good cholesterol) can therefore help to prevent LDL cholesterol from blocking arteries.

For this reason, it is believed to be beneficial to include foods with unsaturated fats, such as nuts, avocados and oily fish within one’s diet.