What is the difference between monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats?
Both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats come from vegetables and plants They are easier for your body to digest than saturated fats. Besides being heart-healthier than saturated fats, they are thought to reduce our risk of heart disease, enhance memory, and other mental functions. Monouns ...
How much trans fat can I eat in a day?
The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of trans fats you eat to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories. That means if you need 2,000 calories a day, no more than 20 of those calories should come from trans fats. That’s less than 2 grams of trans fats a day. ...
What is trans fat?
Trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. Another name for trans fats is “partially hydrogenated oils." Look for them in the ingredient list on food packages. Companies like using trans fats i ...
Are all fats bad?
Fat is an essential nutrient.We all need fats from our food.Fat is a source of energy and it helps our bodies to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K and minerals from our food.Fat is needed for nerve signals to travel from our brain to other parts of our bodies.Some fats are good for our health while ...
How do trans fats affect my health?
A mostly man-made form of fat used by food manufacturers to increase flavor lengthen the shelf-life of foods. Trans fats raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Eating trans fats increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. It’s ...
What foods contain trans fats?
Trans fats can be found in many foods – but especially in fried foods like French fries and doughnuts, and baked goods including pastries, pie crusts, biscuits, pizza dough, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and shortenings. You can determine the amount of trans fats in a particular ...
What is trans fat?
Trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. Another name for trans fats is “partially hydrogenated oils." Look for them in the ingredient list on food packages. Companies like using trans fats i ...
What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat?
Saturated Fats - Are fats derived primarily from animal sources such as beef and similar products. These fats are solid at room temperature, such as the fat ring on the outer edge of a nice T-bone or New York strip steak. Saturated fats are the type you generally would like to avoid. They can s ...
Why are fats important in my diet?
Fats are a source of energy in foods. They belong to a group of substances called lipids, and come in liquid or solid form. All fats are combinations of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Fat is one of the three nutrients (along with protein and carbohydrates) that supply calories to the bo ...
Why are trans fats used in foods?
Companies like using man-made trans fats in their foods because they’re easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time. Trans fats give foods a desirable taste and texture and they also extend the shelf-life of processed foods, an important feature of trans fats. Many restaurants ...
Butter or margarine---Which one is better for my health?
Regular stick margarine and stick butter contain the same number of calories: about 36 per teaspoon. Butter, as an animal fat, contains both saturated fats and cholesterol. Butter’s biggest trouble is its saturated fat content. Saturated fats raise LDL (“bad”) blood cholesterol ...