The Scoop on Fat – Getting the Right Daily Dose
By Victoria Shanta Retelny, RD, LDN
Americans love fat, and rightly so. Let’s face it - fat makes food taste good. However, the concern is that people eat too much fat, which can lead to weight gain, high cholesterol and heart disease. Fat is in a variety of foods from dairy products to fried foods to meat to nuts. From a health standpoint, the amount of total fat we eat should be limited. If you aim for about 25% of your daily calories come from fat (that’s about 500 calories of a 2,000 calorie diet), you are doing well. Fat is essential, especially for infants and children. For children younger than 2, up to 50% of calories should come from fat. For children older than 2, 30-35% should come from fat. But are some fat sources better than others? Absolutely!
Determining Your Daily Fat Dose
Enjoy an ounce (or a handful) of walnuts, almonds or pistachios daily. These foods contain unsaturated fats – known as the “heart healthy” monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Foods such as walnuts, olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil and avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, whereas soybean, sunflower, and corn oil are high in polyunsaturated fat. Regardless, both types of unsaturated fats have been shown to reduce total cholesterol and LDL “bad” cholesterol when used in place of saturated and trans fats. Also, eat fish twice a week, especially salmon, halibut, mackerel, tuna, and sardines because they contain omega-3 fatty acids – these fats have been found to reduce the risk of heart disease, blood pressure and blood triglycerides levels, too.
Limit foods high in saturated fats like butter, lard, red meat, eggs, milk chocolate, and full-fat dairy products. The risk for heart disease goes up, as well as cholesterol levels, with a highly saturated fat diet. A good rule of thumb to cut the fat is to replace animal products with plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes and nuts. Children under 2 years old need fat for brain development and normal growth, so low-fat or fat-free products are not recommended for this age group. Whole milk is a good source of fat after age 1. You can switch to low-fat milk after age 2 or 3.
Avoid store-bought cakes, cookies, muffins and crackers with “partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil” or trans fats on their labels. A link has been made between a diet high in trans fats and heart disease – trans fats have been shown to increase LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol, lower HDL (‘good’) cholesterol and increase triglycerides and inflammation. Food product manufacturers are required to list the presence of trans fatty acids on the Nutrition Facts panel.
Use the Nutrition Facts panel as your guide:
- Choose foods with 3 grams or less of saturated fat per serving.
- Look for 0 grams of trans fat per serving.
- Avoid foods with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil within the first five ingredients on the food label.
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