1. Introduction

Fat makes up a larger caloric portion of the American diet than any other foodstuff. The average American's food intake is 40% fat. He eats animal foods rich in fat; he tosses his salads in fat; and he spreads his bread with fat. When he eats out, he patronizes fast food restaurants that deep-fry and grill-fry most of their food in fat.

He lives off the "fat of the land" and "high on the hog," and he suffers from some of the most serious health problems in the world. His arteries become clogged with cholesterol, his breathing becomes short and he dies in what should be his prime years.

Fat is not the only culprit in the American diet, and indeed fat is not "bad," just as proteins and carbohydrates are neither good nor bad. Fat is needed in the diet. It is present in every food we eat—even cucumbers, watermelons and apples have fat.

It is the particular sources from which people get their fat and the way in which fat is utilized in the diet that is "bad," or at least unhealthy.

What you will learn in this lesson is what fats are, how the body uses them, how they are digested and how they should be obtained in the diet. This is the type of understanding we need to evaluate intelligently the role of fats in the human diet.