Diet, But Know Your Fats!
Jerry Hall Leo
Margarine, butter, other spreading fats and low fat spreads,
cooking oils, oil-based salad dressings, mayonnaise, cream,
fried foods including fried chips, chocolate, crisps, biscuits,
pastries, cake, puddings, ice-cream, rich sauces and gravies are
all in this food group because they contain fat.
Like carbohydrates, fats contain the elements Carbon, Hydrogen
and Oxygen. Fats are used as a source of energy: they are also
stored beneath the skin helping to insulate us against the
cold. Do not think that by avoiding fat in your diet you will
stay thin and elegant! If you eat too much carbohydrate and
protein, you will convert some of it into fat, so you will put
on weight. You must balance the amount of energy containing
foods with the amount of energy that you use when you take
exercise
Soft drinks (not diet drinks), sweets, jam and sugar, as well
as foods such as cakes, puddings, biscuits, pastries and
ice-cream.
It is essential to have a small amount of fat in the diet, but
eat foods containing fat sparingly as they are high in energy.
Look out for reduced fat or low fat alternatives (by law any
food labelled as low fat must contain no more than 3g of fat
per 100g). Fats can be divided into saturates, monounsaturates
and polyunsaturates.
Limit consumption of saturates, associated with animal
products, cakes, biscuits and pastries, to reduce risk of heart
disease. To cut down on saturates, make use of the information
on nutrition panels on food products, cut off visible fat from
meat and poultry, choose lower fat meat and dairy products, and
where fat is needed in cooking use it sparingly.
Choose fats and oils containing monounsaturates (e.g. olive and
rapeseed oils) and polyunsaturates (e.g. sunflower, corn and
rapeseed oils) instead of saturates. In moderation these are
not associated with an increased risk of heart disease – but
still use them sparingly. There are two types of essential
fats, which must be supplied by the diet in small amounts:
omega-3 fatty acids (e.g. found in oily fish, walnuts, omega-3
enriched eggs, and rapeseed and soya oil) and omega-6 fatty
acids (e.g. found in vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn and
soya oil and spreads made from these).
About The Author: A good diet is important for good health.
Find out more about Balance Diet at
http://www.smartreviewguide.com/balancediet
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