Good Fats. Bad Fats. Sometimes it is difficult to remember which is which. Below are some guidelines on FATS on the labels.
Unsaturated Fats
Unsaturated Fats are liquid at room temperature and are considered beneficial fats.
There are monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.
Daily recommended allowance is 10 to 15% of daily calories or 20 to 30 grams per day on a 2,000 calorie a day diet.
1 oz of walnuts (approximately 14 halves) = calories 170, saturated fat 1.5 grams, monounsaturated fats 6 grams, polyunsaturated fats 8 grams.
Unsaturated fats are predominantly found in foods from plants, such as vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds.
Monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados, almonds, pecans, pumpkin and sesame seeds.
Polyunsaturated fats found in sunflower and flaxseed oil, walnuts, flaxseeds, and fish.
Omega 3 fats are found in fish, flax seeds, and walnuts and added to other foods.
Saturated Fat
- The average person on a 2,000 calorie diet should consume <14 grams of saturated fat per day.
- A serving of bacon contains 35 to 45 grams of saturated fat.
- Dairy is high in saturated fats.
- One pad of butter contains 36 calories and approximately 4 grams of fat.
- A single slice of cheese contains approximately 5 grams of saturated fat.
- Saturated fats are found in Pizza, cheese, whole and reduced fat milk, butter, dairy, meat products, cookies, deserts and fast food dishes
Trans Fat
- Trans Fat is the fat we want to stay away from.
- Trans Fat helps food stay fresh longer and taste better.
- Daily recommendation of Trans Fat is about 20 calories. There are about 9 calories in a gram of fat, so about 2 grams of Trans Fat per day.
- Trans Fats are found in shortening, margarine, crackers, cookies, snack foods, many fried foods, potato/corn/tortilla chips, microwave and packaged popcorn, and refrigerator dough.
- Trans Fats increase the risk for heart attacks, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
- Trans Fats increase LDL (bad) cholesterol and decrease HDL (good) cholesterol.