Natural Health September 2017

SPECIAL
Saturated and
trans fats
Eat less of me
Too much unhealthy saturated and trans
fat increases your risk of heart disease.
Limit saturated fat, and avoid trans fat.
World Heart Day
September 28
Saturated fat
Eating a lot of saturated fat
increases your blood cholesterol,
in particular increasing the bad
(LDL) cholesterol. Choosing foods
with healthier fats instead helps to
balance your blood cholesterol,
by increasing the good (HDL)
cholesterol and lowering the bad
(LDL) cholesterol, which reduces your
risk of heart disease.
Saturated fat mainly comes from
the fat you can see on meat and
chicken, from dairy products and
from some plant foods like palm
and coconut oil. It can be found
in processed foods like biscuits,
pastries and takeaway foods that
have used ingredients like butter,
palm oil (often simply called
vegetable oil), cheese and meat.
For heart health, it is recommended
saturated fat be only 7% of your
total energy intake. For example, for
an average adult intake of 8700
kilojoules, 7% is about 16 grams of
saturated fat.
Trans fat
To reduce the risk of heart disease,
limit trans fat as much as possible.
Trans fat increases our risk of heart
disease by increasing the bad (LDL)
cholesterol and lowering the good
(HDL) cholesterol in our blood.
Small amounts of trans fats naturally
occur in dairy products, beef, veal,
lamb and mutton. The way some
fats and oils are processed during
manufacturing produces artificial
or ‘industrially produced’ trans fats.
They’re in foods that use partially
hydrogenated vegetable fats, like
deep-fried foods and baked foods like
biscuits, cakes, pastries and buns.
For heart health, it is recommended
that less than 1% of total energy
should come from trans fat.
Trans fat on food
labels
In many countries manufacturers
don’t have to list trans fat on the
nutrition information panel. So if you
want to reduce trans fat in your food
supply, take a closer look at the
labelling of trans fat.
Tips for eating less
saturated and trans
fats
• Choose reduced fat milk, cheese
and yoghurt.
• On packaged food products
in the supermarket, check the
ingredients list for ‘hydrogenated
oils’ or ‘partially hydrogenated
vegetable oils’ and avoid foods
with these.
• Eat less bought cakes, biscuits
and pastries. Also limit takeaway
food like hamburgers, pizza and
hot chips. These foods should
only be eaten sometimes and in
small amounts.
• Trim all the fat you can see off
meat, and remove skin from
chicken.
• Avoid processed meat (e.g.
sausages and salami).
• Eat fish instead of meat 2–3
times a week, and choose
legume or bean-based meals
twice a week.
Natural Health * September 2017 VOL 83
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