- Support and Protection.Stored fat offers physical sup-
port and protection to vital body parts, including the
organs and glands. Fat acts as a natural, built-in shock
absorber, cushioning the body and its various parts from
the wear and tear of everyday life, and helps prevent
organs from sinking due to the downward pull of gravi-
ty. Fats also may protect the body against the harmful
effects of X-rays. This occurs through physical protection
of the cell, and by controlling free-radical production,
generated as a result of X-ray exposure. In addition to
medical X-rays, we are constantly exposed to X-rays from
the atmosphere. This cosmic radiation penetrates most
objects, including airplanes. The average person gets
more cosmic radiation exposure during an airline flight
from New York to Los Angeles than from a lifetime of
medical X-rays. - Vitamin and Mineral Regulation.Most people know
that vitamin D is produced by exposure of the skin to the
sun. However, it is actually cholesterol in the skin that
allows this reaction to occur. Sunlight chemically changes
cholesterol in the skin through the process of irradiation
to vitamin D-3. This newly formed vitamin D is then
absorbed into the blood, allowing calcium and phospho-
rous to be properly absorbed from the intestinal tract.
Without the vitamin D, calcium and phosphorous would
not be well absorbed and deficiencies of both could occur.
But without cholesterol, the entire process would not
occur. Besides vitamin D, other vitamins, including A, E
and K, rely on fat for proper absorption and utilization.
These important vitamins are present primarily in fatty
foods, and the body cannot make an adequate amount of
these vitamins to ensure continued good health. In addi-
tion these vitamins require fat in the intestines in order to
be absorbed. So a low-fat diet could be deficient in these
vitamins to begin with and also could further restrict
their absorption. Certain fats are important for transport-
64 • IN FITNESS AND IN HEALTH