Fats are important in our body. Our body needs protein, carbohydrates and fats for proper functionment. There are 3 types of fats ie saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Saturated fats can be in the form of animal fats such as beef, poultry, lard, milk, cheese, butter but in other forms as well like coconut oil, palm oil, chocolate, macadamia nuts, pistachios and they are not good for health as they are the primary cause for cardiovascular diseases.

On the other hand, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are healthy fats and they come primarily from plants. One of the major benefits of these type of fats is that they can reduce blood cholesterol levels(main reason for heart attacks) and increase the good kind of cholesterol.

Some sources of monounsaturated fats are olive oil, canola oil, peanuts, peanut butter, olives, cashews and avocado and some sources of polyunsaturated fats are corn oil, almonds, salmon, trout, sardine, herring, sesame oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and walnuts. Most of these fats contain omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids which are essential for human health because they can reduce the risk of heart diseases, strokes and help prevent hypertension and depression. They are beneficial mentally as well as physically.

When you're exercising for muscle gains and mass, fats play a fundamental role in body growth. If you're bulking up and you aren't getting the desired muscle gains, you might not be taking sufficient amount of fats in your body. You need to take fats but not just any type of fats. You need healthy fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated to help your body to grow.

So now that you know how healthy fats are important for your body, don't neglect it in your nutrition.

About the author

Jean Lam is the webmaster of Body Building Resource which provides articles on weight training, nutrition and fitness, body building book and DVDs.