How to Avoid Fat in Your Diet
Read ingredient labels., Keep track of your daily fat intake., Recognize sources of saturated and trans fats.Saturated fats increase your “bad” LDL cholesterol, and trans fats negatively impact your cholesterol in multiple ways., Get your needed fat...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Read ingredient labels.
The best way to avoid fat is to know what to look for on food labels, and check the ingredients of everything you buy.
There are several types of fats, and not all of them are bad for you.
In fact, your body needs some fat to absorb vitamins and minerals, to make many of the hormones in your body, and to keep you healthy.
Choose foods with “good” fats over “bad” fats by reading the labels before purchasing food.
When shopping, compare similar ingredients to ensure that a company’s claim of “light” is accurate based on the nutrition facts provided. -
Step 2: Keep track of your daily fat intake.
If you’re serious about minimizing your dietary fat, you need to be good at reading food labels and keeping a record of what you eat.
Fat should make up less than 30% of your daily calories, with the average caloric need for an adult being around 2,000 calories per day.
Of that 30%, you should get less than 10% of your fat from saturated fats (or 200 calories), and as little fat as possible from trans fats.The rest – or as much as possible – should come from the “good” unsaturated fats.
Start a journal, log, or record.
You may need to get a small scale in order to weigh your portions and calculate your percent of fat from each food you eat based on its nutrition facts.
There are also websites online and phone apps that can help you do this. , Fried food and products listing hydrogenated oil in the first few ingredients are high in bad fats.
Foods with high saturated fat content are dark meats (beef, pork, lamb, veal), chicken and turkey skin, processed meats like hot dogs and bologna, whole milk and dairy, butter, palm and coconut oil, and – due to the butter and oil content – pastries like cookies and pies.Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature.
Try to avoid trans fats as much as possible.
These fats are highly processed to stabilize them so that they will have a longer shelf life.
That is why they are commonly included in processed foods like packaged cookies, crackers, margarine, shortening, powdered and liquid flavored coffee cream, and most processed or pre-packaged snacks and “junk food.”, Unsaturated (mono- and polyunsaturated) fats are not detrimental to your health like saturated and trans fats, and in appropriate amounts are good for your heart.
These occur naturally in nuts like almonds, walnuts, pistachios and cashews, olives, olive and peanut oil, avocado, and some seeds (sunflower, soy, safflower).
Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and herring give you good omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for health in many ways. -
Step 3: Recognize sources of saturated and trans fats.Saturated fats increase your “bad” LDL cholesterol
-
Step 4: and trans fats negatively impact your cholesterol in multiple ways.
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Step 5: Get your needed fat from unsaturated fats.
Detailed Guide
The best way to avoid fat is to know what to look for on food labels, and check the ingredients of everything you buy.
There are several types of fats, and not all of them are bad for you.
In fact, your body needs some fat to absorb vitamins and minerals, to make many of the hormones in your body, and to keep you healthy.
Choose foods with “good” fats over “bad” fats by reading the labels before purchasing food.
When shopping, compare similar ingredients to ensure that a company’s claim of “light” is accurate based on the nutrition facts provided.
If you’re serious about minimizing your dietary fat, you need to be good at reading food labels and keeping a record of what you eat.
Fat should make up less than 30% of your daily calories, with the average caloric need for an adult being around 2,000 calories per day.
Of that 30%, you should get less than 10% of your fat from saturated fats (or 200 calories), and as little fat as possible from trans fats.The rest – or as much as possible – should come from the “good” unsaturated fats.
Start a journal, log, or record.
You may need to get a small scale in order to weigh your portions and calculate your percent of fat from each food you eat based on its nutrition facts.
There are also websites online and phone apps that can help you do this. , Fried food and products listing hydrogenated oil in the first few ingredients are high in bad fats.
Foods with high saturated fat content are dark meats (beef, pork, lamb, veal), chicken and turkey skin, processed meats like hot dogs and bologna, whole milk and dairy, butter, palm and coconut oil, and – due to the butter and oil content – pastries like cookies and pies.Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature.
Try to avoid trans fats as much as possible.
These fats are highly processed to stabilize them so that they will have a longer shelf life.
That is why they are commonly included in processed foods like packaged cookies, crackers, margarine, shortening, powdered and liquid flavored coffee cream, and most processed or pre-packaged snacks and “junk food.”, Unsaturated (mono- and polyunsaturated) fats are not detrimental to your health like saturated and trans fats, and in appropriate amounts are good for your heart.
These occur naturally in nuts like almonds, walnuts, pistachios and cashews, olives, olive and peanut oil, avocado, and some seeds (sunflower, soy, safflower).
Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and herring give you good omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for health in many ways.
About the Author
Judith Adams
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow practical skills tutorials.
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