Fat is a nutrient that is essential, though eating too much is harmful. Understanding and categorizing all the dietary fats can be as difficult to remember as your passwords, so here is an easy way to remember the breakdown:
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Saturated Fat- Increases cholesterol buildup |
Unsaturated Fat – Lower your LDL cholesterol |
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Solid at room temperature |
Liquid at room temperature |
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Animal: butter, cheese, whole milk, cream, ice cream and fatty meats |
Mono-unsaturated fats: olive and canola oil |
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Vegetable: coconut, palm and palm kernel oils. |
Polyunsaturated fats: safflower, sunflower, corn and soy oil. |
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Trans Fats |
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Naturally-occurring in some animals. |
Created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. |
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· Look for trans fats, also called hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats in the ingredient list on packages of processed foods. · Can be found in fried foods like doughnuts, and baked goods including cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers and stick margarines and other spreads.
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