As a society, we are trained to believe that fat of any kind is bad for us. Bad because fat increases your caloric intake as well as cholesterol levels, right? Not so fast. All fats are not created equal, and some are actually good for you. For example, omega-3 fatty acids, which are abundant in superfoods such as salmon and tuna, can actually help decrease cholesterol levels, blood pressure and triglycerides.
Cooking with Fat
When you are cooking, you should avoid bad fats, such as saturated fats and trans fats. Your body makes all the saturated fat and cholesterol it needs on its own, which is why you should limit your intake of saturated fat to less than 7 percent of your daily calories and trans fat to less than 1 percent.
You’ll find saturated fats in some of the most common cooking ingredients such as butter, whole milk and cream, as well as fatty meats, cheese, ice cream, baked goods and fried foods. Cooking ingredients such as stick margarine and shortening contain trans fats, as do baked goods, fried foods and snack foods that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Meanwhile, there are two types of unsaturated fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which differ in structure, but both are considered “healthy” fats because they help decrease “bad” LDL cholesterol and increase “good” HDL cholesterol. Unsaturated fat in the form of oil is the type you should use for cooking when possible. Popular cooking oils include olive, sesame, peanut and canola oil (all monounsaturated) and safflower, soybean and corn oil (all polyunsaturated). Other foods that are common to many recipes and that are high in unsaturated fats include
- Peanut butter
- Avocado
- Olives
- Almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, cashews
- Sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds
- Flaxseed
Read the Nutrition Label
When grocery shopping for prepared foods and cooking ingredients, be sure to read the nutrition label, which clearly lists saturated fats and trans fats. Some go further and provide a break down of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. If not, you can simply subtract the grams of saturated and trans fat from total fat to determine the amount of unsaturated fat.
Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, you should limit your daily intake of total fat to 65 grams and saturated fat to less than 20 grams, each of which equates to 100% of the daily value of fat allowance. Nutrition labels state a % daily value for total and saturated fat, but not for trans fats. When comparing products, compare the % daily values of fat, and also be sure to take into account the serving size.
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