Fats: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Fats get a bad rap, but your body actually needs certain fats to survive. In the body, fats provide energy, encourage cell growth, help protect your organs, keep your body warm, absorb some nutrients and produce hormones (2). 

Fats are perceived in a negative light because they are often to blame for weight gain. At 9 calories per gram, fats are the most concentrated source of energy (carbohydrates and proteins both provide  4 calories per gram). 

Fats are divided into three groups: unsaturated fats (the good), saturated fats (the bad), and trans fats (the ugly).

• The Good: The unsaturated fat group contains monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. These types of fats can actually help decrease your risk of heart disease (1). They help lower cholesterol levels and can be found in avocados, olive oil, and nuts. Fats are measured in your blood by cholesterol levels and triglycerides, which is usually a direct reflection of your dietary intake. Keeping your cholesterol  levels within the normal range is important to prevent chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. These fats are often termed “heart healthy” because they help to raise good cholesterol levels (HDL) and decrease bad cholesterol levels (LDL). Researchers found that an increase of 5% in polyunsaturated fat to replace saturated fat intake, resulted in a 10% decreased risk of developing coronary heart disease (3).
• The Bad & The Ugly: Saturated and trans fats, raise “bad” cholesterol and decrease “good” cholesterol levels (1).  These types of fats can be found in meat, fried foods, cakes, butter, biscuits, muffins, and some processed food. How do you know if a food has trans fat? Look for "partially hydrogenated oil" in the ingredients on the food label.

Because fats are a concentrated source of calories, they should be limited, but certainly not avoided.  About 30% of your total calories for the day should come from fats, which equates to about 6-8 teaspoons per day.  For a 2,000 calorie diet, that is about 600 calories or about 65-70 grams. 

So how do you ensure you’re eating enough of the good fats and not too much of the bad fats?  Of course sticking to whole grains, lean protein sources, low fat dairy, and plenty of fruits and vegetables will help you keep your fat intake on tract. 

 

 

Take Home Messages:

• Make most of your fat intake from “good” fat sources such as salmon, olive oil, canola oil, nuts
• Choose low-fat dairy: drink fat-free or 1% milk, choose low-fat cheeses, yogurt and cream
• Choose lean cuts of protein such as turkey, chicken, pork loin, beef tenderloin, lean ground beef, fish and legumes choose meat that is baked, broiled or grilled and not fried
• Switch to low-fat condiments such as low-fat or fat-free salad dressings and mayonnaise
• Limit cream based foods such as alfredo sauce and cream based soups
• Decrease your portion of fried foods; choose baked or grilled varieties instead
• Switch from cooking with butter to cooking with oil, specifically olive, canola oil or peanut oil
• Look at nutrition labels- if most of the fat source is saturated fat, limit your portion.

 

Sources:

1. American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association.  Choose your foods: Exchange list for diabetes. ADA 2008.

2. American Heart Association.  Fats 101. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/FatsAndOils/Fats-101_UCM_304494_Article.jsp.  Accessed on June 26, 2012.

3. Mozaffarian, D, Micha, R, Wallace, S.  Saturated Fat: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.  Plos Medline. 2010: 7(3).