What Is A Low-fat, Healthy Diet?

Start with healthy foods and whittle away the fat to reach your weight-management goals. While your body needs some fatty acids, trans fats, which exist in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, are not essential, and saturated fats should be limited for your arterial health. Unsaturated fats benefit your metabolism but carry high calories. A low-fat diet keeps these nutrients within bounds by combining nutritious foods from each food group that have 5 percent or lower daily values, or about 4 g or less, of total fat.

Grain Foods

Grains include oats, wheat, rye, corn and barley, with oats having the greater fat content. One cup of oatmeal falls under the FDA's low-fat content mark of 4 g, while some granolas contain more. Most whole-grain breads have 1 g of fat or less per slice. Additional low-fat, healthy grain dishes include brown rice, 2 g; pearled barley, 2 g; and whole-wheat noodles, 1 g, per cup of cooked food. Totals increase if you add butter or oil during cooking.

Vegetables and Fruits

The vegetable and fruit groups should be mainstays of your low-fat diet. These nutrient-dense foods contribute significant daily values of minerals, vitamins and fiber in relatively few calories. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that most foods in these categories are low in fat before any additions you might make in preparation. Their fiber content is also filling, so you won't miss the fat.

Vegetables such as tomatoes, fresh cooked spinach, sweet potatoes and carrots have less than 1 g of total fat, while corn and beans contain slightly more than 1 g. Nearly all fruits, including apples, kiwis, melons and bananas have less than 1 g of fat per 1 cup, with avocados being the high-fat exceptions. A comparable serving of avocados contains 22 g of fat, so the USDA suggests limiting servings to 1 oz., to stay near the 4-g range.

Dairy Foods

Low-fat dairy products are easy to identify, thanks to their classification by fat content on package labels. The American Heart Association advises choosing 1-percent or fat-free milk, yogurt and cheese, which fit the low-fat definition per suggested serving.

Protein Foods

Many protein foods have large amounts of fat, much of it saturated fat, so servings should be limited to 3 oz. The AHA distinguishes lean beef portions such as eye of round, 4 g, and roasted chicken and turkey breast, 3 g, as protein sources that are low in fat. Fish have less fat and similar good nutrition, with cod, sole, perch, rockfish and tuna canned in water containing 2 g or less of fat per serving.