Some amount of fat in your diet is essential, as it contributes to bodily processes like the digestion of vitamins. However, certain fats are better than others--ingesting both saturated and trans fats can raise your body’s cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk for heart disease. Talk to your doctor about limiting or even eliminating these sources of fat from your diet while emphasizing healthier ones.
Saturated Fats
Your body is able to make all the saturated fat it needs; therefore, you do not need to get any more of it in your diet. Common sources of saturated fat include meats, poultry with skin, whole-milk dairy products and seafood, as well as plant foods like coconut and palm oil. When you eat saturated fat, it heightens your LDL or “bad” cholesterol and thereby increases your overall cholesterol levels. This puts you at risk for developing high cholesterol, which may also increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, getting too much saturated fat in your diet can lead to type 2 diabetes. Limit your intake of this type of fat to 7 percent of your total daily calories or less.
Trans Fats
Trans fats, also known as trans fatty acids, occur naturally in animal-based foods, but they are also created through the process of hydrogenating saturated fats. This is how hydrogenated vegetable oils are formed, which are commonly used in fast foods and other processed items. Trans fats are even worse for your cholesterol levels than saturated fats. Not only do they raise your LDL cholesterol, but they also lower your HDL or “good” cholesterol. They can increase inflammation in your body as well, which has been associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Your daily intake of trans fats should be 2 grams or less and preferably zero.
Importance of Good Fats
Just because you need to limit saturated and trans fats does not mean you need to follow a diet completely devoid of fat. Your total daily intake of fat from all sources should be between 20 and 35 percent of your total daily calories. While limiting saturated and trans fats, try increasing the amount of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that you eat. These can improve your cholesterol levels, reduce bodily inflammation and regulate your heartbeat. Good sources of these fats include olive oil, avocados, walnuts, flaxseed oil and seeds.
Additional Considerations
Talk to your doctor about the amount of saturated and trans fats you consume, and ask how you can limit them. If you have high cholesterol or certain other health conditions, you may need to decrease your fat intake further than the typical recommended amounts. Your doctor can help you determine how much and what types of fats you need in a day. Learning to read food labels is imperative when trying to cut back on saturated and trans fats, as they can be found in many common food items, especially processed foods.
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