Saturated Fat & Cholesterol

Australian Saturated Fat & Cholesterol Documentary

So, were we wrong about saturated fat?

Are we seeing the cholesterol myth in a scientific free-fall?

Have we been wrongly advised to avoid saturated fat and cholesterol, despite no evidence of harm?

Most of us were raised being told that options like red meat, fried eggs and bacon will raise our cholesterol levels.

But…was this idea so deeply ingrained in our cultural psyche that we believed it without even questioning it?

The video above is the Australian documentary that got everyone talking about this specific….myth?

Saturated Fats: Should I Eat Them or Avoid Them????

Watch the documentary and make your own mind up!

So, consuming meals that contain saturated fats raises the level of cholesterol in your blood. This high level of cholesterol can lead to heart disease and stroke.

So what is our daily allowance of saturated fat?

American Heart Association Recommendations

You should be for a dietary pattern that achieves 5% to 6% of calories from saturated fat.

For example, if you need about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 120 of them should come from saturated fats.

That’s about 13 grams of saturated fats a day.

Fats – The Good & The Bad

Do You Want To Eat Less Fat?

  1. Always take the time to check out nutrition labels when you are shopping – make sure you are not loading up the cart with high-fat options.
  2. When purchasing meat, make sure you are choosing the bits that have visibly less fat on them. If you shop at a local butchers – ask him/her to trim down the meat you choose (ask for lean cuts of meat).
  3. Grill, bake, poach or steam food rather than deep frying or roasting.
  4. If you are using an oil for cooking, try measuring out each amount with a teaspoon. Pouring out from the bottle is never a good idea!
  5. Meat tastes GREAT when fried – but how often do you try grilling it? Use that grill pan – it’s a lot healthier!
  6. Casseroles and stews tend to hold a lot of meat – why don’t you try cutting down some of that meat and adding and extra bean or vegetable substitute instead?
  7. Try reduced-fat spreads, such as olive oil or sunflower spreads (a new manufacturing process solved past concerns about their trans fat content).

What Foods Contain What Fat?

So what foods should we be aiming to stay away from if we want to cut down on our fat intake? Below is a rather interesting diagram showing the levels of fat in more ‘popular’ food choices…