Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines (PDF, 3MB) - Eat For Health

3.1 Limiting intake of foods and drinkscontaining saturated and trans fat3.1.1 Setting the sceneLike protein and carbohydrate, fat is a macronutrient which contributes to dietary energy intake.‘Fat’ is a broad term which can apply to foods such as butter, margarine and oils, and to fatty acidswhich are food components. Fats add palatability and texture to the diet, can be a vehicle foressential nutrients, and have high energy value (fat delivers about 37 kJ/g, compared to around 17kJ/g for protein and carbohydrate). The proportion of fat in a diet influences its energy density,which is important for weight management (see Chapter 4). Different fats have different healtheffects, so both the amounts and types of fat need to be carefully considered in a diet.Most fats in foods are in the form of triglycerides, which are made up of a unit of glycerolcombined with three fatty acids which may be the same or different. The differences between onetriglyceride and another are largely due to the fatty acids attached to the glycerol unit. Otherdietary fats include phospholipids, phytosterols and cholesterol [9].Fatty acids can be saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) or polyunsaturated (PUFA). Thetype of fatty acid depends on the chemical bonding within the fatty acid molecule, specifically thenumber of double bonds between the carbon atoms. This gives them different chemical propertiesthat cause different biological effects. MUFA and PUFA with one or more double bonds in thetrans configuration are known as trans-fatty acids (TFA) [488]. Omega fatty acids (omega-3 andomega-6 PUFAs) are sub-classes of PUFA. The most common omega-9 is the MUFA called oleicacid. Staple foods with a relatively higher fat content, such as nuts, seeds, some grains (forexample, oats), dairy foods and meats have various combinations of fatty acids. Fish is thepredominant source of omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic (EPA) (20:5) and docosahexaenoic(DHA) (22:6). Grass-fed meat, kangaroo and offal also contain these fatty acids as well as theomega-3 fat docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) (22:5). EPA, DHA and DPA (and some other minorfatty acids) are referred to as long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 LCPUFA.The Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand recommend total fat should account forno more than 20–35% of energy (kilojoule) intake. Total SFA and trans-fats should comprise nomore than 10% of energy intake [9]. As humans do not make essential fatty acids, 4–10% of energyshould come from linoleic acid(omega-6 PUFA) and 0.4–1% from α-linolenic acid (omega-3 PUFA)[9]. Given that total energy intake reflects the sum of the energy value of all foods consumed,these fatty acid targets can only be met through careful dietary selection, so food choices andculinary practices can have a substantial impact on the ability to meet these targets [10].DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 76