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 Fats and
Oils
You can help
to lower your blood cholesterol when you replace saturated fats with
unsaturated fat. Just be sure to limit the total amount of fats or oils
to keep calories in check.
When buying
fats and oils, remember to:
- Choose liquid
vegetable oils that are high in unsaturated fats -- like canola, corn, olive,
peanut, safflower, sesame, soybean, and sunflower oils.
- Buy margarine
made with unsaturated liquid vegetable oils as the first ingredient. Choose
soft tub or liquid margarine or vegetable oil spreads.
- Limit butter,
lard, fatback, and solid shortenings. They are high in saturated fat and
cholesterol.
- Buy light or
nonfat mayonnaise and salad dressing instead of the regular kind that are high
in fat. For example, two tablespoons of regular Italian dressing can add as
many as 14 grams of fat.
For tips on
how to prepare low fat, low cholesterol foods on the TLC Diet, check out the
Heart Healthy Cooking tip sheet.
Also see the tipsheet on which fats
and oils to choose.
| Quick Check
Fats and Oils - Try It!
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| Try one of
the things below. Do it today!
 Instead of
using butter to spread on my toast, I’ll switch to a soft tub
margarine.
To cut
back on fat and calories, I’ll try to use a reduced fat or nonfat salad
dressing or mayonnaise or naturally lowfat lemon juice, vinegar, or
herbs.
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| A Word About Margarine
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| You may
have heard that margarine has a type of unsaturated fat called
"trans" fat. "Trans" fats appear to raise blood cholesterol
more than other unsaturated fats, but not as much as saturated fats.
"Trans" fats are formed when vegetable oil is hardened to become
margarine or shortening , through a process called "hydrogenation."
The harder the margarine or shortening, the more likely it is to contain more
"trans" fat. There are now margarines available that contain no
"trans" fats. You can also read food labels and choose margarines
that contain liquid vegetable oil as the first ingredient (rather than
hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil) and the least amount of saturated
fat.
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