The idea of ”good” and “bad” fats in food is quite confusing.  At Let’s Dish!, our commitment to our customers is that our monthly menu of dinners will always be trans fat free and contain at least four heart-healthy meals. (During American Heart Month, we had thirteen!)  We can offer such heathful choices because of work by our menu development team as well the fact you prepare your meals in our store using many fresh and unprocessed ingredients.  But there is so much more to understand on the different types of fats - and how to identify them.  We turn to Catherine Joiner, our AHA nutritionist, for a tutorial:

There are three main types of fat in our diet - saturated fat, trans fat, and unsaturated fat.

When you hear someone talking about “bad” fat, they are referring to saturated or trans fat. These are the fats that raise bad cholesterol and increase your risk for heart disease.  “Good” fat refers to unsaturated fat, which can help raise good cholesterol, decrease bad cholesterol, and decrease your overall risk for heart disease. A quick way to tell the difference is by looking at them at room temperature. Saturated and trans fat is solid, while unsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature.

Saturated fat typically comes from animal products such as dairy, eggs, meats, and butter. There are also two plant sources of saturated fat, which include palm oil and coconut oil. You can check the ingredients listed on all food labels to see if these have been added to your food. When looking at the Nutrition Facts panel, it is best to choose foods with less than 3 grams of saturated fat per serving. A general rule is to eat no more than 11 grams for every 1,000 calories consumed. If focusing on the numbers seems overwhelming, don’t worry. Shift your focus towards making better choices.

• Choose 1% or skim milk, lite yogurts, and low-fat cheeses.
• Try to limit your intake of whole eggs to no more than 3-4 per week (the yolk is where all of the fat and cholesterol is contained). Instead, choose egg whites or an egg substitute.
• Choose low-fat meats, such as chicken, turkey, and fish. Just make sure to remove the skin of the chicken and turkey before you cook it.
• Limit red meat to no more than twice a week and trim off as much fat as you can before you cook it.
• Lastly, switch to a tub margarine with zero grams of trans fat rather than using butter. If you must use butter (for things other than baking), try a whipped or light butter. These have air or water, respectively, added to them and in turn decrease the amount of saturated fat per serving.

Trans fat is formed when foods are processed. Put simply, liquid oil is processed into solid fat. This was originally done to provide stability to food, as well as give it a longer shelf-life. Unfortunately, we soon found out that trans fat is just as harmful, if not more harmful, to your heart as the saturated fat. The current recommendation is to get no more than 2 grams per day. All Nutrition Facts panels now list trans fat, so it is easy to spot on packaged food items. If in doubt, you can also look for the words “hydrogenated oil” or “partially hydrogenated oil” in the ingredients list. You will never find it in fresh foods.

Use common sense, though, when you are choosing foods with zero grams of trans fat. Remember that food labels are designed to sell the product, not clue you in on the things that may be harmful to your health. So, next time you are tempted to buy those potato chips with big red letters stating, “0 GRAMS OF TRANS FAT!” take a minute to think. It may not be the best choice for your heart healthy diet…sodium and saturated fat may still be an issue.

Unsaturated fat can be divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats:

• Monounsaturated fats help lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. Sources include olive, canola, and peanut oil, nuts and nut butters, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil, and avocados.
      
• Polyunsaturated fats provide the essential fatty acids, Omega-3 and Omega-6. Omega-3 fatty acids come from foods such as fatty fish (salmon, low-salt canned tuna packed in water, mackerel, herring, and halibut), shellfish, grain products, and some tub margarines and mayonnaises (check the labels to find out). Omega-6 fatty acids are contained in sunflower oil and safflower oil. They tend to increase inflammation in the body, while Omega-3 can decrease inflammation. Polyunsaturated fats as a whole decrease LDL as well as slightly decreaseHDL cholesterol. But, some studies show that they can be protective against insulin resistance, which can help prevent the development of diabetes.

Overall, your aim should be to decrease saturated and trans fats and replace them with a wide variety of mono- and polyunsaturated fat. Remember that whether good or bad, fat is still fat and provides quite a bit of calories in your diet.   Don’t douse your foods with olive oil, just use a moderate amount. And don’t forget that you can always use cooking spray in your pan, so you don’t add anything to your food.   Even with “good” fats, you should always be sensible with your overall intake.

For more information on fats, visit “Know Your Fats” from the American Heart Association. You can also review some fat-sensible substitutions to help you modify a few of those recipes that may be a little too high in fat.

Catherine Joiner
Cardiac Clinical Dietician

Catherine Joiner, a registered dietician and volunteer for the American Heart Association, joined the Food for Thought blogging team as a guest writer as Let’s Dish! focuses on heart health in February.  If you’d like to ask Catherine a question, please email us or add a comment to any one of her posts.

>  Read all of Catherine’s tips on Food for Thought