Hello and welcome to Zoe Shorts, the Bite Size Podcast where we discuss one topic around

science and nutrition. I'm Jonathan Wolf and as always I'm joined by Dr Sarah Berry.

And today's subject is Saturated Fats.

So if you're confused about the health effects of fats you're not alone, you've probably

read headlines in the paper claiming that fats are killing us all, only to find another

week later claiming actually they're really healthy for us.

So no surprise, we're all confused and saturated fats seem to be chief among the villains,

right? Everything else? Well, maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. No one ever says anything

good about saturated fats. But are they really the super villain that we've all been led to

believe?

Yeah, so let's try and clear this up, Jonathan.

Luckily we have an expert with us. So Sarah, we know that our bodies need fat, right?

It's a key energy source. It helps absorb vitamins and minerals. It's involved in building

cells. In fact, it's safe to say that we would die without eating fats.

Absolutely. So dietary fats are a real important part of our diet. They provide us with energy,

really importantly they make our food taste great. And most importantly they provide us with

the essential fatty acids, which we call the omit or three in the omit, the six fatty

acids, which our bodies actually can't produce, but they're essential for a whole vast range

of biological functions.

So Sarah, there's a bunch of different fats. And before this you said, well, I need to

explain all of that. And I said that my challenge to you is, can you explain the different fats

in a way that doesn't confuse me or make me just switch off and decide it's time for a cup

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