Understanding Dietary Fat

There are different kinds of fats in the foods you eat. Fats can be saturated or unsaturated. When choosing fats, try choose unsaturated fats more often than saturated fats. Eating too much saturated fat can raise the risk of heart disease.

Unsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature. They are healthier choices than saturated fats. There are two types of unsaturated fats:

• Polyunsaturated fats. These are found in fatty fish such as salmon and trout, as well as walnuts, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, and vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn, and safflower oil.
• Monounsaturated fats. These are found in avocados, nuts, and oils such as olive, canola, and peanut oil. Some margarines and spreads are made with these oils.

Saturated fats are found in animal-based foods and some tropical oils, such as coconut and palm oil. Eating too much saturated fat can increase your risk of heart disease. Foods high in saturated fat should be limited. Foods that contain a lot of saturated fat include:

• Fatty cuts of meat (lamb, ham, beef).
• Cookies and cakes.
• Cream, ice cream, sour cream, cheese, butter.
• Desserts with butter and cream.
• Sauces with butter and cream.
• Salad dressings with saturated fats.
• Foods that contain palm or coconut oil.

Like saturated fat, trans fat is linked to heart disease. Trans fats are primarily created through hydrogenation, a process that turns liquid oils into solids like hard margarine and shortening. Some animal-based foods have small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats.

The FDA has banned adding partially hydrogenated oils to foods. Partially hydrogenated oils are the main dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods.