To all those who get often confused between trans-fats, saturated fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, here’s a funny story to help you once and for all memorize the role of each fat!

Once upon a time, Mr.&Mrs. Fat got married and gave birth to 4 sons. The first 2 were named respectively: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat and recognized later as the good fat brothers. Whereas the 2 others recognized as the bad fat brothers were named respectively: saturated and trans-fat.

Trans-fat is a funny and sociable boy who always likes to meet new people. As he was growing up in his good family, he got partially hydrogenated (in order for him to become more stable and have a longer shelf-life) and since then, he developed a bad reputation of raising the bad cholesterol level (LDL) and lowering the good one (HDL).

He is powerful enough to: clog arteries and cause heart diseases. Also, increase  inflammations and cause the tissues to lose omega-3.Trans can be found most of the time in his fried-foods castle under the sweet and salty categories: doughnuts, cookies, French fries, fried chicken strips, chicken nuggets, chicken wings, etc.

Saturated fat, wasn’t as sociable as his bad fat brother, trans and thus decided at an early age to chose the animal kingdom as his refuge. Since then, he developed a bad reputation of raising both the bad cholesterol (LDL) and the good cholesterol (HDL) levels. Today saturated fat is only found in animal sources such as beef, bacon, butter, and only in two vegetable sources that are the coconut oil and the palm oil.

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are the good fat brothers. They are liquid at room temperature and are derived from vegetable sources (plants or nuts). Monounsaturated fats are found in: nuts, olives, olive oil, canola oil, avocados, chickpeas, etc. They help increase the good cholesterol levels (HDL). Polyunsaturated fats are found in nuts, grains and seeds. They are rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that protect against cardiovascular diseases.

Moral of the story: Read it before you eat it!

Whenever you are at the supermarket, make sure to read the list of ingredients of any product you wish to purchase and whenever you find:

-hydrogenated oil

-partially hydrogenated oils

-Palm oil

-Coconut oil

Remember that the product is high in trans fats and as good as it might taste, it will be very bad for your health!

Dietitian Nicole Maftoum