Fat is not the enemy.
Your heart actually needs fat — just the right kind, in the right proportion.
What matters is how different fats behave inside your bloodstream and how they influence cholesterol, inflammation, and long-term arterial health.
Here’s the physiological breakdown in simple terms.
1. Good fats support heart protection
Unsaturated fats — found in nuts, seeds, fish, cold-pressed oils, and some plant foods — help raise HDL (the “clean-up” cholesterol) and reduce inflammation.
They keep blood vessels flexible, improve cell function, and lower the tendency for plaque buildup.
Your body uses them efficiently and they support long-term metabolic balance.
2. Bad fats drive plaque formation
Saturated fats (ghee, butter, cream, full-fat dairy, red meat) and trans fats (fried snacks, packaged foods, bakery items) raise LDL, the type that enters artery walls and triggers inflammation.
Trans fats are especially harmful: they increase LDL and lower HDL — a double hit to heart health.
Saturated fats aren’t “poison,” but in excess, they accelerate narrowing of arteries.
3. The Indian challenge: mixed-fat cooking
Indian meals often combine oil, ghee, cream, and fried add-ons in a single plate.
This cumulative fat load pushes LDL upward even when individual portions seem small.
The issue is not a single spoon of ghee — it’s how many other fats silently sit in the same meal.
4. The correction is balance, not elimination
Use cold-pressed oils.
Limit deep-frying.
Add nuts, seeds, and omega-3 sources.
Reduce daily saturated fat, not cultural foods.
Your goal is to shift the ratio — more protective fats, fewer inflammatory ones.
