Most of what you hear today about fat is "Eat less fat!" While it is true that many fats are detrimental to one's health, there is a group of fats that protect health. They're called "essential fatty acids." These fats are required for health and life and actually lower risk of heart disease.
Rather than condemning all fats, a smarter approach is to choose healthier fats.
Saturated fats raise cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. They come primarily from animal sources such as fatty meats, whole fat dairy products, lard, and shortening. These are the kinds of fats you need to avoid for good heart health.
In the health professional follow-up study, men who ate the most saturated fat (15 percent of calories) had 1.72 times as many fatal heart attacks as men eating the least (five percent of calories from saturated fat). Women in the Nurses' Health Study had similar results with a 38 percent increase in mortality. Eating less saturated fat is obviously important to heart health!
To reduce saturated fat intake:
- Eat primarily plant-based foods: fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads and cereals, legumes (peas, beans, lentils, garbanzos, soy beans, tofu, soy products), nuts, and seeds.
- Eat less high-fat meats (fried chicken, bacon, hamburger, hot dogs, sausage, steak). Skinless poultry and fish are lower in saturated fat.
- Choose nonfat milk, yogurt, and dairy products.
- Limit high-fat baked products and desserts.
- Limit butter, gravy, and sauces made with animal or solid fats.
| Saturated Fat in Common Foods | grams |
| Hamburger, 3.5 ounces | 8 |
| Fries, small, 20 pieces | 5 |
| Hot dog, one | 6 |
| Fried chicken, 3.5 ounces | 5 |
| Beef taco, small, one | 5 |
| Milk shake, 10 oz. | 6 |
| Ice cream, 1/2 cup | 5 |
| Cheese cake, 1 small piece | 9 |
| Whole milk, 1 cup | 5 |
| Cheese, 1 oz. | 5 |
| Fried egg, two | 6 |
| Butter, 1T. | 12 |
| Shortening, 1T. | 3 |
| Salmon, baked, 3 oz. | 1 |
| Skinless chicken, baked, 3.5 oz. | 2 |
| Peanut butter, old fashioned, 1T | 1 |
| Olive oil, 1T. | 2 |
| Canola, 1T. | 1 |
| Nonfat milk | 0 |
| Fruits, vegetables, beans, bread, rice | 0 |
| Source: USDA, released on CD, 2001 |
Unsaturated fats lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Both men and women, in the two studies mentioned above, who ate the most unsaturated fat had the lowest mortality from heart disease. These fats are protective and come primarily from vegetable oils. Examples of healthy fats include olive, Canola, and soy oils. While these fats include the essential fatty acids, they are still high in calories so should be used moderately.
The best sources of unsaturated fats are those found in whole foods such as nuts, unprocessed nut butters, seeds, olives, and avocados. These foods are naturally rich in unsaturated fats but also contribute vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.
In the Adventist health study, those who ate nuts daily had only half the mortality from heart disease as those who seldom ate nuts. Women in the Harvard nut study showed similar results with those women eating the most nuts (five times per week) cutting their risk of dying from heart attacks by 35 percent.
Choose primarily unsaturated vegetable oils:
- In place of animal or solid fats, use unhydrogenated vegetable oils and foods rich in monounsaturated fat. Remember to use all isolated fats moderately as they are high in calories.
- Good vegetable oils include olive, Canola, soy oil, and most other seed oils. Always use oil in place of all-animal fats and solid fats such as shortening.
- Nuts, olives, seeds, and avocado are good sources of monounsaturated fat.
- Choose salad dressings made with pure vegetable oils.
Trans fatty acids are a third group of fats that are rare in unprocessed foods but are formed when vegetable oils are "hydrogenated" or turned into a solid fat such as hard stick margarine, shortening, many deep fat frying oils, and most processed or convenience foods.
Trans fatty acids have a double detrimental affect on the health. They raise blood cholesterol levels (LDL cholesterol) and lower the protective HDL particles in the blood. Even small amounts can significantly increase the rate of heart attacks.
In the Nurses' Health Study, women who ate the most trans fatty acids (1.3 percent of calories) had a 53 percent increased risk of coronary heart disease compared to those who ate the least (2.9 percent of calories). A recent 10-year study showed similar results with men eating the most trans fats having twice the risk of heart attack. These large increases in risk occur for only a very small increase in trans fatty acids, as little as a two to three percent increase in calories or four to six grams of trans fatty acids daily.
To find out whether a food has trans fatty acids in it or not, look at the ingredient list. If the words, "partially hydrogenated oils" are listed, it contains trans fats. The chart below can help you see how much. Keep in mind that these figures may change if the manufacturers change their ingredients. Trans fat is shown as a percent of total fat. For example, if a food has six grams of fat and 33 percent of the fat comes from trans fatty acids, it would have a total of two grams of trans fat.
| Trans Fatty Acid Content of Common Foods | (%) |
| Biscuits, buttermilk, from mix | 5.6% |
| Bread, white | 9.3% |
| Cake with chocolate frosting | 18.3% |
| Cheesecake | 12.0% |
| Cookies, chocolate chip | 24.3% |
| Cookies, chocolate, cream filled | 36.3% |
| Crackers, snack type | 39.7% |
| Pastry, Danish | 39.5% |
| Tortillas, wheat flour | 31.5% |
| Cheese food, American process | 15.3% |
| French fries | 23.9% |
| Potatoes, French fries frozen | 36.2% |
| Granola bar | 17.9% |
| Margarine, hard stick | 29.4% |
| Shortening | 22.2% |
| Popcorn, microwave | 31.7% |
| Unprocessed vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, vegetable oils, legumes, soy milk | 0% |
| Source: USDA, released on CD, 2001 |
To reduce trans fatty acids in your diet:
- In place of butter use olive oil and garlic (like the Italians and Greeks), spreads such as humus and nut butters, and the new trans fatty acid free margarines.
- Limit commercial baked goods (cookies, pastry, crackers). Make your own cookies, breads, and more using an unhydrogenated vegetable oil.
- Limit snack foods and chips. Choose healthier snacks such as an apple, orange, nuts, seeds, or fresh veggies.
- Avoid deep fat fried foods and fried foods at restaurants.
- Limit packaged, convenient foods. Make your own entrees with healthier fats.
| Nutrient | Nutrition Guideline for Heart Health |
| Total fat intake | 25-35% of total calories eaten |
| Saturated fat | limit to less then 7% of calories; less than 5% is ideal |
| Trans fatty acids | avoid trans fatty acids whenever possible |
| Polyunsaturated fat | up to 10% of calories |
| Monounsaturated fat | up to 20% of calories |
| Dietary cholesterol | less than 200 mg/day; ideal is less than 5 mg/day |
| Dietary fiber | at least 20-30 grams/day; water soluble fiber is best, such as found in oat bran |
| Total calories | balance calorie intake to achieve and maintain a healthy weight |
| Source: NIH, National Cholesterol Education Program, Guidelines released 2001 |
