Videos circulate on social media in which some doctors advise eating butter or ghee instead of soybean and mustard cooking oil, arguing that animal fat is more beneficial. Nutritionists say the opposite.

Professor Md Sayedul Arefin, director of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Dhaka, told BBC Bangla: "In a word, plant fat is always far better than animal fat. Animal fat also has to be eaten, but in moderation. All the research done so far proves this."

In nutritionists' terms animal fat is regarded as bad fat, while plant fat has consistently tested as healthier. Eating more red meat than a moderate amount — the meat of mammals such as cattle, buffalo and goats — raises the likelihood of various physical complications.

How harmful it is depends on quantity: what matters is exactly how much animal fat a person is eating, nutritionists say. Many people reason at Eid-ul-Azha that a single day of eating more meat does no harm, but the calculation lies precisely there.

Fat does not come only from animals — plants and vegetables contain it too. And the body needs fat: in small amounts it is an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet.

A report by the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom says fat acts as a source of energy and helps the body absorb vitamins A, D and E along with other nutrients. Those vitamins are fat-soluble, meaning they cannot be absorbed without fat.

Fat also plays an important role in producing hormones and in the formation and function of the body's cells. The comparison matters for the farm economy as well, because demand for mustard and soybean is tied directly to this consumer argument.

Source: BBC Bangla