Types of Fat in Foods

 

There are two main types of fat.  They have the same amount of calories, so they cause the same amount of weight gain.  Limit your total fat intake to about 60 grams per day. 

 
Saturated Fat
Unsaturated Fat.
  • Clogs arteries (raises cholesterol) causing heart disease (moreso than cholesterol in food)

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  • No more than 20 grams of the 60 grams (daily recommendation) should be from saturated fats

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  • Examples
    • Meat or meat products
    • Red meat (including pork), chicken, turkey, lard
    • Dairy products (low-fat dairy products have less fat, but it’s still saturated)

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  • Any fatty food that is not meat or a meat product

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  • Does not raise cholesterol, but still causes weight gain

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  • Examples
    • Peanuts, peanut butter
    • Vegetable oil, olive oil, sunflower oil safflower oil, canola oil and margarine are all mostly unsaturated
    • Avocado
Types of Saturated Fat:
  • There is only one variety of saturated fat (there are two main types of unsaturated fat)
 Types of Unsaturated Fat:
  • Polyunsaturated fat  (a type of unsaturated fat)
    • Seafood, especially fatty fish (tuna, salmon, sardines, lake trout, mackerel, albacore); may help to reduce your blood cholesterol· American Heart Association recommends eating fish twice per weeko Canned tuna counts as one serving

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  • Monounsaturated fats (a type of unsaturated fat)
    • Canola oil, peanut oil, olive oil are high in monounsaturated fats· Eating monounsaturated fat instead of saturated fat can help prevent heart disease and may help prevent breast cancer

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MAIN POINTS:
 
  • Shoot for 60 grams of fat or less per day; mostly unsaturated fat

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  • Saturated fat comes from meat products (meat and dairy), they are bad for your heart because they raise cholesterol

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  • Unsaturated fats have just as many calories as saturated fats but they aren’t bad for your heart. They still make you gain weight, though

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