Less than 30 percent of your calories should come from fat.
Calories |
30% |
20% |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 60 grams | 40 grams |
| 2000 | 67 grams | 44 grams |
| 2200 | 73 grams | 49 grams |
Too much fat increases your risk for coronary heart disease. Saturated fat, especially, raises your blood cholesterol levels. As blood cholesterol levels increase, so does the risk of getting CHD.
Fat is essential for many reasons. It transports the fat-soluble vitamins in your body and without fat these vitamins can not fully nourish your body.
Fat, also supplies energy to your body. The energy that comes from fat gives you the power for physical activity.
Fat gives food satiety value, it makes you feel as if you have eaten and keeps you from feeling hungry right away since it takes longer to digest.
Saturated fats can cause heart disease and/or cardiovascular disease by increasing your LDL cholesterol in your body.
Polyunsaturated fats can lower your LDL and your HDL cholesterol in your body. This type of fat is better for you than saturated fat, but because it lowers your good cholesterol in your body as well as the bad it doesn’t have as great of a benefit as monounsaturated fat.
Monounsaturated fats actually lower your bad cholesterol and increase your good cholesterol. This type of fat actually lowers your risk for heart disease and cardiovascular disease.
The American Heart Association recommends that you use margarine as a substitute for butter. Soft margarine that comes in a tub is a better choice than hard margarine in the stick form because hard margarine has more trans fat than soft margarine. Check the label for a brand which is trans-fatty acid free.
There are many similar characteristics between fat and cholesterol. Cholesterol is actually not a fat, though. They typically are related because they are found in the same types of foods and have similar functions in the human body. Cholesterol can only be found in foods of animal origin, and never in foods from plant sources. Intake of both fat and cholesterol increase your risk for heart disease.
No, just eating fat cannot automatically cause weight gain. It is excessive calorie intake that results in weight gain. We need to think of fat as a part of the calories we all consume on a daily basis. Individuals who severely restrict fat, often reduce the variety of foods that they are able to eat resulting in an inadequate diet.
This type of polyunsaturated fat may lower the risk for blocked blood vessels and heart attack. Omega-3’s may also aid in lowering triglycerides and reducing inflammatory conditions. General recommendations include eating fish high in omega-3’s twice per week.
Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids include:
Yes, as a matter of fact, any food can be included in a healthy diet when you apply the principle of moderation. Many find that ignoring their craving for chocolate leads to overeating or bingeing. Chocolate actually contains the same antioxidant found in red wine. Although chocolate contains saturated fat, more than half this saturated fat is stearic acid which does not increase blood cholesterol.
