Trans Fats or Saturated Fat? Neither!

Posted May 12th, 2009 by Brett | Filed under: Eating Better, Quick Tips | No comments

Trans fat seems to be everywhere these days - in the news, on product packaging and on the radio. It seems that it’s the new rage to avoid trans fat which I 190% agree with.

What are trans fats? According to the American Heart Association:

Trans fats are unsaturated, but they can raise total and LDL (”bad”) cholesterol and lower HDL (”good”) cholesterol. Trans fats result from adding hydrogen to vegetable oils used in commercial baked goods and for cooking in most restaurants and fast-food chains.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of trans fats you eat to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories.  That means if you need 2,000 calories a day, no more than 20 of those calories should come from trans fats.  That’s less than 2 grams of trans fats a day.

While you are avoiding trans fat it is important to remember that your old enemy, saturated fat, isn’t good for you either. There is a rising trend of people to only avoid trans fat and neglect to check the label for saturated fat.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of saturated fats you eat to less than 7 percent of total daily calories.  That means, for example, if you need about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 140 of them should come from saturated fats.  That’s about 16 grams of saturated fats a day.

The more balanced your diet is the better you are going to feel, so remember - check for both trans fats AND saturated fats.