The Skinny On Fats

 

Fats and oils are part of a healthy diet and play many important roles in the body. Fat provides energy and is a carrier of important nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, and K and carotenoids. But fat can impact the health of our hearts and arteries in a positive or negative way, depending on the types of fat we eat. Experts recommend getting between 20 and 35 percent of calories from total fat, with most fats coming from sources of "good" fat, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.

• Eat less saturated and trans fats, and cholesterol.
• Be wise about fats by eating fish, nuts, and foods with or prepared with vegetable oils.
• Use the label to choose fats wisely.

Limit saturated and trans fats, and cholesterol. Eating too many saturated and trans fats, or cholesterol, may raise the level of LDL (bad) cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease. A saturated fat, the type of fat that is solid at room temperature, is found mostly in animal-based food products. A trans fat is made when liquid vegetable oil is processed to become solid. And cholesterol is a fatty substance found only in animal-based products like egg yolks and whole milk. It is important to eat less than 10 percent of your calories from saturated fats. How do we figure this out?

Total Calorie Intake	Limit of Saturated Fat Intake
1,600	18g or less
2,000	20g or less
2,200	24g or less
2,500	25g or less
2,800	31g or less

For example, if you aim to eat 2,000 calories per day, your daily allowance of saturated fat would be less than 10 percent of 2,000 calories or 200 calories. There are approximately 9 calories in a gram of fat. OK, OK. To make the math easier, we’ll use 10 calories per gram of fat. This at least gives you the right idea. Therefore, 200 calories/ 10 g/cal. = 20 or 20 grams—which equals 100% DV for saturated fat. The table to the right shows the saturated fat limits for people with various calorie needs. Also, you should keep trans fats as low as possible, and eat less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol each day. These limits are recommended so you will not consume too much saturated fat and too many calories in your healthy eating plan.

Unhealthy fats such as saturated and trans fats, and cholesterol, are found in many foods. So, look for choices that are lean, fat-free, or low-free when selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk products. An easy and quick way to reduce saturated fats is to trim excess fat from meat and poultry and remove the skin from poultry. Additionally, watch out for foods processed or made with certain oils (for example, palm oil, palm fruit oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil) that increase the amount of saturated fats in the food. Examples of foods that tend to have saturated fats are fatty cuts of meat, whole milk products, cakes, cookies, pies, crackers, candy, candy bars, household shortening, and creamers. Limiting these foods can reduce saturated fats in your diet.

trans fats are mostly found in food products made with shortening and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils—liquid oil that is processed to become a solid fat. Most of the trans fats Americans eat come from cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, fried potatoes, household shortening, and hard (stick) margarine. Look for partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredient list—and limit these foods. Limiting consumption of many processed foods is a good way to reduce trans and saturated fats.

Use the label—what to look for and how it adds up.
Use the % DV on the Nutrition Facts label to identify whether total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol are high or low. Remember: 5% DV or less is low and 20% DV or more is high. There is no % DV for trans fat, but you should aim to keep trans fat intake as low as possible. Additionally, the front of many food packages has information called claims that describe a specific level of fat in a food. Some examples of claims to look for are "fatfree," "low saturated fat," or "light."

There are many ways to reduce saturated fats in your diet. The table on the next page shows a few examples of the saturated fat content of different forms of foods you may eat. Compare foods in the same food type (for example, regular cheddar cheese and low-fat cheddar cheese). You can choose the one with less saturated fat and still eat many of the foods you enjoy.

Be wise about fat. Choose fats found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Most of the fat in your diet should come from sources of what are called polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat. You may have heard of polyunsaturated fats such as omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. It’s a mouthful, we know, but a mouthful of these fats is good for you in moderation to replace the saturated and trans fats you have chosen to cut back on. As we mentioned before, experts recommend getting between 20 and 35 percent of calories from total fat, with most fats coming from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. And we’ve made it easier for you to get these amounts of fat by following the food group recommendations.

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