Caution: just because something is labeled “trans fat free” does not mean that it’s healthy for you to eat! Have you heard about the deep fried Oreo cookie? How about the deep fried Snickers bar or the deep fried Twinkie?
A few years ago the Indiana State Fair banned the use of oils that contained trans fats. That’s a great step for health and wellness, but it still doesn’t make those deep fried candies healthy.
To try and clear up any confusion, let’s take a look at the different types of fats.
The American Heart Association’s website has a cartoon that does a great job illustrating which fats are better for you and which are bad. The cartoon is called the Fats Family. There are two sisters, the “Better Fats Sisters”, Mon and Poly (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats), and the “Bad Fats Brothers”, Sat and Trans (saturated and trans fats). You do not want to be friends with the “Bad Fats Brothers”. They will break your heart – literally!
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can be found in fish, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, guacamole and cooking oils such as olive, canola and soybean (which can be used as salad dressings or marinades).
On nutrition labels, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are sometimes hidden. But if you subtract saturated and trans fats from total fat, you would roughly get the combined amount of the two better fats. Both fats may help lower the bad cholesterol (LDL) and reduce the chance of heart disease. But keep in mind that although these are the better fats, they should be consumed in moderation.
Saturated and trans fats are the two to stay away from. They will clog your arteries which could cause heart disease. They also raise your bad cholesterol. Trans fats are especially bad because they actually lower your good cholesterol!
Saturated fats can be found in animal products such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, lard and butter. Trans fats are a form of unsaturated fat that has hydrogen atoms added to it. They are mainly manufactured fats that are found in deep-fried foods, baked goods and processed foods made with “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.”
It is recommend that fat make up no more than 35 percent of your daily calories. So if you eat 1,800 calories a day, have no more than 70 grams of fat daily. (Multiply 1,800 by 0.35 to get 630 calories, then divide by 9, the number of calories in a gram of fat, to get 70 grams of total fat.)
Mayo Clinic has the following recommendations for replacing bad dietary fats with good ones:
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Sauté with olive oil instead of butter.
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Use olive oil in salad dressings and marinades. Use canola oil when baking.
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Sprinkle slivered nuts or sunflower seeds on salads instead of bacon bits.
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Snack on a small handful of nuts rather than potato chips or processed crackers. Or try peanut butter or other nut-butter spreads — nonhydrogenated — on celery, bananas, or rice or popcorn cakes.
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Add slices of avocado, rather than cheese, to your sandwich.
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Prepare fish such as salmon and mackerel, which contain monounsaturated and omega-3 fats, instead of meat one or two times a week.
Do you have other suggestions on substitutions for the bad dietary fats? Please share!