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| Start your Diet Profile here... It's FREE! |
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| Fats - Where It's At |
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| How much fat can I have? |
It depends on your calorie needs. The Dietary Guidelines recommend
that Singaporeans limit fat in their diets to 20-30 percent of
calories. This works out to no more than 53 grams of fat in a
1,600-calorie diet, 73 grams of fat in a 2,200-calorie diet, and 93
grams of fat in a 2,800-calorie diet.
You will get up to half this fat even if you pick the lowest fat
choice from each good group and add no fat to your foods in
preparation or at the table.
You decide how to use the additional fat in your daily diet. You may
want to have foods from the four major food groups that are higher in
fat--such as whole milk instead of skim milk. Or you may want to use
it in cooking or at the table in the form of oils, spreads, or toppings.
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How to check your diet for fat
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If you want to be sure you have a low-fat diet, you can count the
grams of fat in your day's food choices using the Pyramid Food Choices
Chart, and compare them to the number of grams of fat suggested for
you calorie level.
You do not need to count fat grams every day, but doing a fat checkup
once in a while will help keep you on the right track. If you find you
are eating too much fat, choose lower fat foods more often.
You can figure the number of grams of fat that provide 30% of
calories in your daily diet as follows:
A. Multiply your total day's calories by 0.30 to get your calories
from fat per day. Example: 2,200 calories x 0.30 = 600 calories from
fat.
B. Divide calories from fat per day by 9 (each gram of fat has 9
calories) to get grams of fat per day. Example: 660 calories from
fat ÷ 9 = 73 grams of fat.
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| Are some types of fat worse than others? |
Yes. Eating too much saturated fat raises blood cholesterol levels in
many people, increasing their risk for heart disease. The Dietary
Guidelines recommend limiting saturated fat to less than 10 percent of
calories, or about one-third of total fat intake.
All fats in foods are mixtures of three types of fatty acids -
saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated.
Saturated fats are found in largest amounts in fats from meat
and dairy product and in some vegetables fats such as coconut, palm,
and palm kernel oils.
Monounsaturated fats are found mainly in olive, peanut, sesame
and canola oils.
Polyunsaturated fats are found mainly in safflower, sunflower,
corn, soybean, and cottonseed oils and some fish.
How do I avoid too much saturated fat?
Follow the Healthy Diet Pyramid, keeping your total fat within
recommended (See the table for the number of grams suggested at
various calorie levels). Choose fat from a variety of food sources,
but mostly from those foods that are higher in polyunsaturated or
monounsaturated fat.
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| Here are some selection tips: |
»Use lean meats
and lowfat dairy products.
»Use unsaturated
vegetable oils and margarines that list a liquid vegetable
oil as first ingredient on the label.
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»Read nutrition and
ingredient labels on food packages to check the kinds and
amounts of fat they contain.
»Limit use of
products that contain a large amount of saturated fats.
Examples are coconut milk and rich baked products such as pie
crusts and other pastries, cakes, and cookies.
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| Cholesterol |
What about cholesterol?
Cholesterol and fat are not the same thing.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance present in all animal foods -
meat, poultry, fish, milk and milk products, and egg yolks. Both the
lean and fat of meat and skin of poultry contain cholesterol. In milk
products, cholesterol is mostly in the fat, so lower fat products
contain less cholesterol. Egg yolks and organ meats, like liver, are
high in cholesterol. Plant foods do not contain cholesterol.
Dietary cholesterol, as well as saturated fat, raises blood
cholesterol levels in many people, increasing their risk for heart
disease. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that dietary cholesterol be
limited to 300 mg or less per day. To keep dietary cholesterol to this
level, follow the Healthy Diet Pyramid, keeping your total fat to the
amount that is right for you.
It's not necessary to eliminate all foods that are high in cholesterol.
You can have three to four egg yolks a week, counting those used as in custards,
baked goods and omelettes. Use lower fat dairy products often and occasionally
include dry beans and peas in place of meat.
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Where's the Cholesterol?
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