Fats are found in foods of both animal and plant origins. The fat content of food is always reported in grams. Fat is the densest form of food we eat. Each gram of fat, whether it is saturated, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated, contains nine (9) calories, while carbohydrates and proteins contain only four (4) calories per gram. If you limit the amount of fat in your diet, you will also most likely lose weight.
There are three types of fat that comes from food. All three are found in foods that come from animals or plants, but the amount varies. As a rule, more saturated fat is found in animal than vegetable foods, where more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are found in vegetables than animal foods.
Saturated Fats
Cholesterol is also found in foods from animals. Saturated fat is mainly found in foods of animal origin, but some vegetables also have large amounts. These are called saturated vegetable fats and are often found in processed bakery goods and nondairy milk or cream substitutes. These are:
As a rule of thumb when shopping, saturated fats are solid at room temperature. When you have a lot of saturated fat in your diet, your liver responds by making more cholesterol. This raises your blood cholesterol level. It is the most harmful type of fat you can eat.
Polyunsaturated Fats
Polyunsaturated fats come mainly from plants. They are liquid at room temperature. Eating polyunsaturated fat can reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Monounsaturated Fats
Monounsaturated fats are mainly found in foods that come from plants. They are liquid at room temperature and can reduce blood cholesterol levels, but less than polyunsaturated fats do. They can, however, raise HDL cholesterol (the "good" kind of cholesterol) levels. See Risk Factor section in this book.
Examples of food high in fat:
Saturated
Beef
Brazil Nuts
Butter
Cheese
Chocolate
Coconut
Coconut Oil
Lard
Macadamia Nuts
Milk
Palm Oil
Pistachios
Poultry
Monounsaturated
Avocado
Canola Oil
Cashews
Olives
Olive Oil
Peanuts
Peanut Butter
Peanut Oil
Polyunsaturated
Almonds
Corn Oil
Cottonseed Oil
Filberts
Fish
Margarine
Mayonnaise
Pecans
Safflower Oil
Sesame Seeds
Sesame Oil
Soybean Oil
Sunflower Oil
Sunflower Seeds
Walnuts
Hydrogenation / Trans Fats
When hydrogen is bubbled through polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and oils, they are changed from their natural liquid form to a more solid form. This makes them saturated, in a process called hydrogenation. These oils may be partly or almost completely hydrogenated or saturated, and thus partly or completely solid at room temperature. This process also causes the oil to develop trans fats, also called trans fatty acids.
Trans fats are what make vegetable margarines have a butter-like texture, and prolong the shelf life of packaged foods. The effects of trans fats are still not known, but it is believed that they, like saturated fats, cause blood cholesterol levels to increase.
Try to limit your use of hydrogenated products. Because manufacturers are not required to list how much trans fats are included in a product, you need to read the list of ingredients carefully. As a rule, you will reduce your intake of trans fats in products using oil if liquid vegetable oil is ranked high in the list of ingredients and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil is listed toward the middle or end. For example, soft tub spreads list water and liquid vegetable oil first, whereas solid margarines list it later.