PMID: pubmed. J Am Coll Cardiol. Nutrition's interface with health and disease. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Mozaffarian D. Nutrition and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. FoodData Central, Accessed July 1, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Updated December Accessed January 25, Editorial team.
Facts about saturated fats. Too much saturated fat in your diet can lead to heart disease and other health problems. Saturated fats are bad for your health in several ways: Heart disease risk. How Much you can Eat. For a 2, calorie diet, that is to calories or 16 to 22 grams g of saturated fats a day. As an example, just 1 slice of cooked bacon contains nearly 9 g of saturated fat. If you have heart disease or high cholesterol, your health care provider may ask you to limit saturated fat even more.
Reading Nutrition Labels. Making Healthy Food Choices. Saturated fats are found in all animal foods, and some plant sources. There are two main types of polyunsaturated fats: omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. The numbers refer to the distance between the beginning of the carbon chain and the first double bond. Both types offer health benefits. Eating polyunsaturated fats in place of saturated fats or highly refined carbohydrates reduces harmful LDL cholesterol and improves the cholesterol profile.
It also lowers triglycerides. Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines, flaxseeds, walnuts, canola oil, and unhydrogenated soybean oil. Omega-3 fatty acids may help prevent and even treat heart disease and stroke. In addition to reducing blood pressure, raising HDL, and lowering triglycerides, polyunsaturated fats may help prevent lethal heart rhythms from arising. Evidence also suggests they may help reduce the need for corticosteroid medications in people with rheumatoid arthritis.
Studies linking omega-3s to a wide range of other health improvements, including reducing risk of dementia, are inconclusive, and some of them have major flaws, according to a systematic review of the evidence by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Omega-6 fatty acids have also been linked to protection against heart disease. Foods rich in linoleic acid and other omega-6 fatty acids include vegetable oils such as safflower, soybean, sunflower, walnut, and corn oils.
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The truth about fats: the good, the bad, and the in-between December 11, Print This Page Click to Print. Staying Healthy. Free Healthbeat Signup Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox! Adding more of these healthy fats to your diet may also help to make you feel more satisfied after a meal, reducing hunger and thus promoting weight loss.
Trans fat. Artificial trans fats can also create inflammation, which is linked to heart disease, stroke, and other chronic conditions and contributes to insulin resistance, which increases your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. In the U. However, products made before the FDA ban may still be available for sale. If your country still allows the use of artificial trans fats, remember that no amount is considered safe, so aim to eliminate it from your diet.
Saturated fat. For decades, doctors, nutritionists, and health authorities have told us that a diet high in saturated fats raises blood cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
However, recent studies have made headlines by casting doubt on those claims, concluding that people who eat lots of saturated fat do not experience more cardiovascular disease than those who eat less. For example, swapping animal fats for vegetable oils—such as replacing butter with olive oil—can help lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk for disease.
Limiting your intake of saturated fat can still help improve your health—as long as you take care to replace it with good fat rather than refined carbs. Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat and are especially beneficial to your health. For the rest of us, the AHA recommends eating at least two 3. Despite the health benefits, nearly all seafood contains traces of pollutants, including the toxic metal mercury.
The concentration of pollutants increases in larger fish, so avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel. Most adults can safely eat 12 oz. For women who are pregnant, nursing mothers, and children under 12, choose fish lower in mercury, such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, Pollock, or catfish.
You can also protect yourself by varying the types of fish that you include in your diet. While omega-3s are best obtained through food, there are many omega-3 and fish oil supplements available. Fish oil contains no mercury mercury binds to protein, not fat and very low amounts of other contaminants. For some, fish oil capsules can be hard to swallow and may leave a fishy aftertaste. Keeping the capsules in the freezer before taking them can help or you can look for odorless or deodorized capsules.
Oils such as corn, sunflower, safflower, and soybean contain omega-6, a type of polyunsaturated fat that may help to reduce insulin resistance and inflammation. The food industry likes to tout the benefits of tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil, while dietary guidelines shun them for being too high in saturated fat. So, who is right? Tropical oils can have aa complex effect on blood cholesterol levels. Instead of obsessively counting fat grams, aim for a diet rich in a variety of vegetables, fruit, nuts, and beans, with two or more weekly servings of fatty fish, moderate amounts of dairy, small amounts of red meat, and only occasional fried or processed meals.
This might mean replacing fried chicken with grilled chicken, swapping out some of the red meat you eat with other sources of protein such as fish, chicken, or beans, or using olive oil rather than butter.
Limit your intake of saturated fats by replacing some of the red meat you eat with beans, nuts, poultry, and fish, and switching from whole milk dairy to lower fat versions. Eat omega-3 fats every day. Include a variety of fish sources as well as plant sources such as walnuts, ground flax seeds, flaxseed oil, canola oil, and soybean oil. Cook with olive oil. Use olive oil for stovetop cooking rather than butter, stick margarine, or lard.
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