REDUCING YOUR RISK OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE: EATING FOR BETTER HEALTH – BASIC EATING GUIDELINES – Use FATS SPARINGLY—NO MORE THAN 6 TO 8 TEASPOONS OF SPREAD-ABLE OR POURABLE FAT IN YOUR DAILY DIET
The most obvious way to cut fat from your diet is to reduce the amount of pure fat—butter, margarine, shortening, and vegetable oils—you add to food during cooking or serving. Teaspoon for teaspoon, all types of spreads (except for the “diet” varieties) and oils contain about the same amount of fat.
Although they are similar in calories, there are meaningful distinctions between butter and margarine, for example. First, only animal fats such as butter or lard contain cholesterol. No vegetable fat contains cholesterol. Another distinction among fats is their degree of saturation. Saturated fats tend to raise total blood cholesterol levels. Unsaturated fats, classified as mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated, do not raise total blood cholesterol levels. In fact, when you eat monounsaturated fats in limited amounts, they tend to raise the “good” type / of cholesterol—high-density lipoproteins (HDLs).
No fat is 100 percent saturated, mo-noun saturated, or polyunsaturated. For example, olive oil is called a monounsaturated fat because it is predominantly monounsaturated, but it also has smaller proportions of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The first strategy to keep in mind is to reduce the amount of any type of fat that you use. Then, the next strategy is to make selections that are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol. Avoid hydrogenated fats—common ingredients in commercial baked goods and other processed foods—to decrease your saturated fat intake. You can also reduce the amount of fat in your diet by selecting lower-fat alternatives to mayonnaise, salad dressing, and sauces that are made with fat and oils.
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