Healthy Fats and Oils to Eat
Dietary fats are classified into four groups: saturated, mono-saturated, and poly-saturated and Trans fats. Saturated fats increases blood cholesterol levels while mono and poly- saturated fats tend to lower blood cholesterol, where poly saturated fats have a greater impact than mono saturated fats.Trans fatty acids formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oils or hydrogenated and hardened to form margarines.
Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as the “good fats” because they are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your overall health
GOOD FATS
Monounsaturated fat- Olive oil
- Canola oil
- Sunflower oil
- Peanut oil
- Sesame oil
- Avocados
- Olives
- Nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews)
- Peanut butter
- Soybean oil
- Corn oil
- Safflower oil
- Walnuts
- Sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds
- Flaxseed
- Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines)
- Soymilk
- Tofu
BAD FATS
Saturated fat- High-fat cuts of meat (beef, lamb, pork)
- Chicken with the skin
- Whole-fat dairy products (milk and cream)
- Butter
- Cheese
- Ice cream
- Palm and coconut oil
- Lard
- Commercially-baked pastries, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough
- Packaged snack foods (crackers, microwave popcorn, chips)
- Stick margarine
- Vegetable shortening
- Fried foods (French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, breaded fish)
- Candy bars
- Total fat intake should be 20-35%
- Limit saturated fats to less than 10 % of your total calorie intake
- Limit trans-fat to 1 % of calorie intake
- Dietary fat contains more than double the amount of kilojoules per gram than carbohydrate or protein.
- Animal products and some processed foods, especially fried fast food, are generally high in saturated fats, which have been linked to increased blood cholesterol levels.
- Replacing saturated fats with mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats tends to improve blood cholesterol levels.
