Fats

Fats are considered one of the necessary food groups, and should make up between 25-40% of consumed foods in humans. It has many important uses in the body.

Structure of fats
Fat consists of the alcohol glycerol and some combination of three fatty acids. These fatty acids are the distinguishing factor between the two main types of fats; they can have single or double bonds, which will have different effects on the cell walls and classify them as saturated fats or unsaturated fats respectively. In the body, the fatty acids are hydrophobic, meaning they don't mix with water. Basic substances detach the glycerol from the fatty acid chains, some of which are absorbed, and some are excreted.

Function of fats in the body
Fats are an energy-giving food group. They help the body absorb and process the vitamins A, D, E and K (which are fat soluble). In addition, fats are building blocks for hormones. Fats also help to protect our vital organs, which would be easier to damage without them, and they function as insulators that help us maintain the correct body temperature.

Consumption of fats
Fatty acids chains become part of the cell membranes upon consumption, and a combination of the stiff single-bonded chains and the fluid poly-bonded chains is needed for optimal cell function. In other words, both saturated and unsaturated fats are very necessary to the body. Despite this, there seems to be a general misconception about the nature of saturated fats and its detrimental effects, owing to the advice of health professionals to avoid this type of fat. In actuality, it is simply the disproportionate amount of saturated fat in processed foods that leads to a virtually guaranteed baseline consumption of saturated fats, and that necessitates actively consuming unsaturated fats.