Use canola oil for cooking. It has a mild flavor and contains omega-3 fats. Canola oil also works nicely for making your own salad dressing such as this flavorful Ginger Salad Dressing. Soy oil is another good choice.
Use olive oil. It contains a healthful fat called oleic acid that has been shown to be good for your heart and cardiovascular system. Olive oil is good for cooking and for use as a salad oil.
Eat walnuts and pumpkin seeds at snack time. They contain omega-3 fats and walnut oil also has a wonderful flavor. Sprinkle them on top of your favorite green vegetables or salads.
Grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder. Flax seeds contain omega-3 fats. Buy the seeds whole and grind them at home so you can sprinkle them on salads, or vegetables. Flax seed oil can be used cold on toast or as a dressing, but don't cook with it. Flax oil is too delicate and breaks down quickly at high temperatures needed for cooking.
Eat fish. Oily ocean fish contain the most omega-3 fats. Bring a tuna sandwich on whole grain bread to work instead of salami or bologna. Take it easy on the mayo or use a light mayo made with an omega-3 fat. Just look on the label. Salmon or tuna with colorful vegetables and a big salad will fill you up and give you those healthy omega-3 fats without lots of calories.
Buy "omega eggs." Hens fed a diet enriched with omega-3 fats lay eggs with high omega-3 content. Look at the labels -- they will state that the eggs are high in omega-3 fats.
What About Bad Fats?
Avoiding unhealthy fats is just as important and eating the good fats. The bad fats, primarily trans-fats and saturated fats, are common in a typical Western diet. Saturated fats are found in meat, with the largest amounts found in fatty red meat like beef. Trans-fats are created by the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils and can be found in stick margarine, processed foods, pastries and frying oils. Read the labels of packaged foods when you shop for groceries. The FDA requires that the amount of trans-fats be recorded there.
Saturated fats are found mostly in meats, but also in coconut oil, palm oil and dairy products. A diet high in saturated fat is bad for your cardiovascular system so if you eat red meat, be sure to choose lean cuts and keep your consumption of about three small servings (about three to four ounces) per week. Drink low-fat or non-fat milk instead of whole milk or cream and choose low-fat cheese instead of regular cheese.
Chicken, turkey, and game meat such as venison and grass-fed beef are lower in total fat and saturated fat so choose more of these meats and less fatty red beef. It is even better if the animals were raised organically.
Some foods with the highest amounts of unhealthy fats include processed lunch meats, sausage, bacon, pastries, packaged snacks, cookies, canned pasta and ravioli meals, fried foods and many frozen dinners. Read labels and choose the foods with the lowest amounts of these fats, or better yet, skip them altogether. Choose roasted chicken instead of fried, baked fish instead of breaded fish sticks and eat pretzels or baked whole grain crackers instead of greasy chips.
The types of fat you eat impact on your health. Choose foods with healthy fats and use the right oils and fats for cooking. Here are some common foods and their fat content:
- one cup low fat milk - 2.4 grams total fat, 1.5 grams saturated fat, 12 mg cholesterol
- three ounces canned tuna - 0.7 grams total fat, 0.2 grams saturated fat, 0.24 g omega-3 EFA, 26 mg cholesterol
- one batter-fried chicken leg - 25.5 grams total fat, 6.8 grams saturated fat, 142 grams cholesterol
- one ounce (14 halves) walnuts - 18.5 grams total fat, 2.5 grams monounsaturated fat, 13.4 grams polyunsaturated fat
- one-half cup navy beans - 0.56 grams total fat, 0.3 grams polyunsaturated fat, 0 cholesterol
- one broiled sirloin steak - 33 grams total fat, 12.8 grams saturated fat, 248 mg cholesterol
- one-half cup avocado cubes - 11 grams total fat, 1.6 grams saturated fat, 7.3 grams monounsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol
- one half-cup roasted chicken breast meat - 2.5 grams total fat, 0.71 grams saturated fat, 60 mg cholesterol
- three ounce salmon fillet - 10.5 grams total fat, 2.1 grams saturated fat, 1.8 grams omega-3 EFA, 54 mg cholesterol
- one teaspoon flax seeds - 4.3 grams total fat, 2.9 grams omega-3 EFA, 0 mg cholesterol
- one three ounce pork chop - 11.1 grams total fat, 4.1 grams saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol
- one piece of apple pie - 19.4 grams total fat, 4.7 grams saturated fat, 5.0 grams polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol
This Week's Assignment
Many people do not get enough omega-3 fats from the foods they eat. This week your assignment is to choose a food with some omega-3 fats every day. Some examples include a serving of fish, flax seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, canola oil or omega eggs.
This Week's Quiz
You can test your knowledge of fats with this quiz: Quiz Six - Fat Digestions and Choosing Healthy Fats
This is lesson six. The last lesson of the basic nutrition - macronutrients e-course. You may sign up for the whole e-course at Basic Nutrition - Macronutrients
Sources:
USDA. "National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference." Release 20. September 2007.
Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL. "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism." Fourth Edition. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth Pub Co. 2005.
Otten JJ, Hellwig JP, Meyers LD. "Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements." IOM, 2006.
Harvard School of Public Health. "Fats & Cholesterol." 2007.
