Good Fat vs. Bad Fat - Part IV

Dietary Fats: Know Which Types to Choose
By Mayo Clinic staff

Most foods contain several different kinds of fat, and some are better for your health than others are. You don't need to completely eliminate all fat from your diet. In fact, some fats actually help promote good health. But it's wise to choose the healthier types of dietary fat, and then enjoy them — in moderation. 

What about very low-fat diets?
 
If watching fat content is a good strategy, is it even better to try to eliminate all fat from your diet? Not necessarily. First, your body needs some fat — the healthy fats — to function normally. If you try to avoid all fat, you risk getting insufficient amounts of fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids. Also, in attempting to remove fat from your diet, you may wind up eating too many processed foods touted as low-fat or fat-free rather than healthier and naturally lower fat foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Instead of doing away with fat in your diet, enjoy healthy fats in moderation. 

Tips for choosing the best types of dietary fat:

So now that you know which types of dietary fat are healthy or unhealthy, and how much to include, how do you adjust your diet to meet dietary guidelines?
First, focus on reducing foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol. Then emphasize food choices that include plenty of monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs). But a word of caution — don't go overboard even on healthy fats. All fats, including the healthy ones, are high in calories. So consume MUFA-rich and PUFA-rich foods instead of other fatty foods, not in addition to them.

Here are some tips to help you make over the fat in your diet: 

• Read food labels and ingredient lists and avoid products with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil listed among the first ingredients.
• Saute with olive oil instead of butter.
• Use olive oil in salad dressings and marinades. Use canola oil when baking.
• Use egg substitutes instead of whole eggs when possible.
• Sprinkle slivered nuts or sunflower seeds on salads instead of bacon bits.
• Snack on a small handful of nuts rather than potato chips or processed crackers. Unsalted peanuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios are good choices.
• Try nonhydrogenated peanut butter or other nonhydrogenated nut-butter spreads. Spread them on celery, bananas or whole-grain toast.
• Add slices of avocado, rather than cheese, to your sandwich.
• Prepare fish such as salmon and mackerel instead of meat twice a week. Limit sizes to 4 ounces of cooked seafood per serving.