Fats in the diet can be of two kinds,
- Visible fat
- Invisible fat
Visible fats are those derived from animal fats like butter, ghee which are solid fats and those derived from vegetable fats like groundnut, mustard, coconut, sunflower, til which are liquid fats. Other foods that contain visible fats are pickles, salad dressings, margarine etc. Animal fats like ghee and butter contain vitamin A and D. These vitamins are not present in vegetable oils. Vegetable oils on the other hand contain Vitamin E, which protects the oil from oxidation. Hydrogenated vegetable oil known as “vanaspati†is a solid fat.
Invisible fat is the fat that is present in foods such as cereals, pulses, nuts and oil seeds, milk , eggs, baked foods, cream, cheese, ice-cream etc. This invisible fat contributes significantly to the total fat and the essential fatty acid content of the diet depending upon the food stuffs present in the diet. Diets containing nuts , oilseeds, soybean and avocado pears, and animal foods have higher amount of the invisible fat.