Did you know that all fats contain nine calories per gram, almost twice the calories in protein and carbohydrates? And that one tablespoon of fat contains approximately 120 calories. To help you cope with fat in your diets start thinking in terms of teaspoons. Dietary guidelines suggest limiting high fat food to six teaspoons per day.
The recommended guidelines for fat: A healthy adult should consume no more than 30 percent of total daily calorie intake from fat. Fats come from both animal and vegetable sources and include such foods as butter, lard, shortening, margarine and vegetable oils. All meats, poultry, fish and shellfish and whole milk dairy products contain fat. Most saturated fat is from animal sources. The exceptions are tropical oils such as palm, coconut and palm kernel oils used in processed foods is high in saturated fat. Polyunsaturated fat comes from vegetable sources, such as safflower, corn, cottonseed, and sunflower oils. Monounsaturated fat comes primarily from vegetable sources. Some examples include canola, peanut and olive oil. Some studies have shown that consumption of monounsaturated fat can lower blood cholesterol. Fat is not cholesterol, cholesterol is not fat: Fat and cholesterol are not the same. Dietary cholesterol is found only in animal foods such as whole milk dairy products, egg yolks, meats, poultry and seafood. Vegetable fats such as corn oil, do not contain cholesterol but are still high fat foods.
The key to fats is basically to eat a wide variety of foods in moderate amounts. Limit total fat to 30% of calories per day and try to choose foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol.