FitSugar

Fat Talk: Saturated Fats

FitSugar — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:00:06 PDT

My hubby is having an affair, with bacon. He's in love with those crispy, salty strips, so much that he probably eats it every day; with his eggs, on his sandwich, on his dinner salad, heck, he even likes it for dessert. The love affair doesn't end there. He's also having serious relationships with beef, mayo, cheese, and ice cream. Being the health nut and caring wife I am, it's a constant battle with us, as I try to get him to cut back. "It's protein," he argues. "It's saturated fat," I plead.

Saturated fats are "the bad fats." They're often solid at room temperature, like butter, and are in no way essential to your health. Most saturated fats come from animals and are found in meat, eggs, and dairy products. Some are found in vegetable oils such as palm, palm kernel, and coconut oils. The reason they're so unhealthy is because they're hard to digest and full of cholesterol, which clogs your arteries. Clogged arteries increase your risk for high cholesterol, which puts you at risk for heart problems.

The American Heart Association recommends that you limit your saturated fat intake to "less than 7 percent of your total calories." That means, if you're consuming about 2,000 calories a day, eat less than 16 grams of saturated fat.

Since I know a vegetarian diet is out of the question for my meat-loving man, I made up a little chart so he knows how much saturated fat is in the foods he craves. That way, he can still enjoy them without overdoing it. To see the chart

Food	Amount	Saturated fat (g)
Mayonnaise	1 tablespoon	1.5
Unsalted butter	1 tablespoon	7.3
Sour cream	1 tablespoon	1.6
Cheddar cheese	1 oz slice	5.9
Lowfat milk (2%)	1 cup	3.1
Half and half cream	1 tablespoon	1.1
Egg	1 large	1.5
Bacon	1 medium strip	1.2
Hamburger patty	1/3 pound	8
Filet Mignon steak	6 oz.	6
Hot dog	1 frank	6
Pork sausage	2 oz.	9
Pork spare ribs	3 oz.	9.5
Roasted drumstick (with skin)	1.8 oz.	1.6
Beef pastrami (deli meat)	5 slices	3.8
Ham (deli meat)	5 slices	4.1
French fries	Large (5.4 oz.)	3.5
Pepperoni pizza	1 slice	5.3
Vanilla ice cream	1/2 cup	11
Cheesecake	1 slice (1/12 of 9-inch cake)	16

After seeing this chart, do you eat too much saturated fat each day?

Source: Flickr User JOE MARINARO

Man Eating Only Bacon For Entire Month of February

FitSugar — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:00:00 PST

Many people love bacon, but I guess Mike J. Nelson really loves bacon. Or at least he can't turn down a bet. My friend Giggle told me that for the entire month of February, Nelson will be eating nothing but bacon for every meal. Friends of his said that as delicious as bacon is, "no one could eat very much of it and live." So he's attempting to prove them wrong by living solely on bacon for the entire month. Bacon and beer, wine, martinis, and water, of course. Yikes. I guess he didn't get the memo that February is American Heart Month.

Mike is 6'2", 190 pounds, has a 33/34 inch waist, and his blood pressure is pretty consistently 117/65. He said, "I'm willing to bet you my weight will not change (may lose a little, actually), my blood pressure will probably drop a little, and I won’t get any taller."

Are you curious to find out how many calories and fat are in a day's worth of bacon? Me too, so I made a handy chart. To see it

The blog doesn't mention how much bacon he'll eat per day, but based on his height and weight, and minimal activity level, Fit's Calculator says he needs to consume about 2,400 calories in order to maintain his weight. Let's subtract 147 from 2,400, to account for one beer a day, and that leaves 2,253 calories left for bacon consumption. Since one medium strip of bacon contains 46 calories, he needs to consume about 49 strips of bacon a day. Let's see what that means nutritionally.

	Calories	Total (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Sodium (mg)	Protein (g)
Breakfast: 15 strips of bacon	690	54	18	135	2,940	46.5
Lunch: 15 strips of bacon	690	54	18	135	2,940	46.5
Snack: 6 strips of bacon	276	21.6	7.2	54	1,176	18.6
Dinner: 15 strips of bacon and a 12 oz. Budweiser	837	54	18	135	2,960	47.8
Total: 49 strips of bacon and a 12 oz. Budweiser	2,400	174.1	57.2	458	9,641	155.4

Ouch, my heart aches just looking at those numbers. All that fat, cholesterol, and that ungodly amount of sodium. It's so wrong. So unbelievably unhealthy. With a diet like this, I hope Mike gives up and realizes man can't live on bacon alone, before his body goes into coronary arrest.

Source

A Day in the Life With Saturated Fat

FitSugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:00:00 PST

High cholesterol and heart problems run in my family, so I always have an eagle eye out for foods that contain too much saturated fat. This is the type of fat that is unhealthy - the kind your body can live without. It's tough to avoid it though, since so many delicious foods contain it, so take this quiz to find out which foods are the healthiest choices.

Question 1 of 5

It's breakfast time. Which contains the most saturated fat?

Healthy Eating Tip: Saturated Fat Substitutions

FitSugar — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:00:00 PST

Let's remember the basics: Saturated fat is the destructive fat. It's not essential for our bodies like omega-3s, and it is actually rather harmful as it clogs arteries, raises LDL (bad) cholesterol, and can lead to heart attacks. As if that wasn't bad enough, a recent study shows that a diet high in saturated fat can also lead to cancer of the small intestine. With that said, it's best to ditch the saturated fat in your diet, but that doesn't mean you have to give up the foods you love.

To learn about healthier alternatives to foods high in saturated fat,

Instead of	Try this
Whole cream (when baking)	Plain yogurt
Half-and-half (in your coffee)	Silk soy creamer
Whole milk yogurt	Nonfat Oikos Greek yogurt
Butter (when baking)	Earth Balance sticks
Cream cheese (on your bagel)	Lowfat cottage cheese
Dulce de leche ice cream	Stonyfield Farm Creme Caramel frozen yogurt
Butter (when cooking)	Canola oil
Egg	Two egg whites
Mayonnaise	Nayonaise (made from soy)
Cheddar cheese	Mozzarella
Butter (on popcorn)	Nutritional yeast
Pork sausage	Chicken sausage
Hamburger	Veggie burger
Bacon	Lightlife Smart Bacon

If you have a substitution, share it in the comments section below.

Source

You Asked: Is There Anything Wrong With a Fat-Free Diet?

FitSugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:00:00 PDT

You're asking and I'm answering . . .

Hey Fit,
I've been trying to lose these 15 pounds I seemed to have put on in the past year. I'm exercising regularly and have ditched all fat from my diet. So no meat, fried foods, nuts, peanut butter, oil, butter, baked goods, hydrogenated oils, and I only eat fat-free dairy products. I seem to be losing weight, which is great, but is there anything wrong with this kind of diet?

-Fat Free Fiona

I'm sure many people have gone on fat-free diets in an effort to lose weight, so you're not alone. I'm glad you're asking about whether it's a healthy way to slim down and the answer is yes and no. The reason is because there are both healthy fats our bodies need and unhealthy fats our bodies can stand to go without. So you don't want to ditch every amount of fat imaginable. To find out which ones to eat and which ones to avoid

As you can see from the chart below, unsaturated fats and omega-3s are important to include in our diets since they have cholesterol-lowering properties. They also promote healthy skin and some, like nuts, are great sources of fiber and protein. Only 20 to 35 percent of your diet should include fat, so shoot for 44 to 77 grams of fat a day (for a 2,000 calorie diet). You're doing your body right by getting rid of hydrogenated oils and fried foods, but don't skip out on healthy fats such as nuts, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, and olive oil.

Avoid - Trans fat such as hydrogenated oils (found in processed foods such as crackers, dips, frozen foods, baking mixes, and baked goods), some margarine, shortening (Crisco), candy (caramels and some chocolate), and some fast foods such as french fries and biscuits because they can increase your risk of heart disease.

Enjoy in moderation - Saturated fat such as high-fat dairy products such as butter, cream, whole milk, cheese, and sour cream. Also watch out for high-fat meats such as ground beef, bologna, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, ribs, and chicken and turkey skin. Unfortunately coconut and coconut oil and some chocolate contains saturated fat too, so limit these foods because they're hard to digest and full of artery-clogging cholesterol.

Include these - Unsaturated fat since they are essential to your overall health. There are two kinds. The first, monounsaturated fats, can actually lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol), so enjoy foods such as avocado, olives, and olive oil, canola and peanut oil, sesame seeds, almonds, cashews, peanuts, and nut butters made from them. The other kind, polyunsaturated fats, can reduce levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, but too much can also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol, so don't go overboard with walnuts, corn and sunflower oil, certain brands of margarine (Earth Balance), and pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

A necessity - Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish such as albacore tuna, herring, mackerel, rainbow trout, sardines, and salmon, soy products such as tofu, walnuts, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil, and canola oil. These have anti-inflammatory properties, can lower cholesterol, and have been found to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Source

Name That Fat!

FitSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:30:00 PDT

It's time for America's favorite game - Name That Fat. OK, well maybe "favorite" is an exaggeration. There are many kinds of fat in the foods we eat, some healthy, some essential, and some can clog our arteries. It's important to know the difference between them all so take this quiz to see what you know.

Source

Take the Quiz

Cholesterol vs. Saturated Fat

FitSugar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:30:00 PDT

When we talk about health and nutrition, the terms cholesterol and saturated fat are tossed about frequently. We should avoid large amounts of them, but I for one still get confused by the differences between the two. So I thought it might be a good time for a little review.

For starters, cholesterol is a waxy substance made by the liver and it's used by the body to make hormones, vitamin D, and other materials. It is essential to your body to function normally, and your body makes enough. Cholesterol can also be found in food, and then it is called, quite appropriately, "dietary cholesterol," and it's only found in animal products such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy. It is especially high in egg yolks and organ meats such as liver, brains, and kidneys.

Blood cholesterol refers to the cholesterol levels in your body, which can be determined by a blood test. Your total cholesterol should be less than 200 mg/dL - HDL (good) cholesterol levels should be 40mg/dL or greater and LDL (bad) cholesterol should be 130 mg/dL or less.

If you eat too much dietary cholesterol (over 300mg a day) the extra will accumulate in the walls of the blood vessels, making your LDL (bad) blood cholesterol levels rise. Over time, your arteries will become narrower, which can cut off the blood supply to your heart (causing a heart attack) or your brain (causing a stroke).

So that is the skinny on cholesterol, and to review a few facts on saturated fat

Saturated fat is not essential to your body. It is found mainly in animal products such as meat, poultry, and dairy. All of these foods also contain dietary cholesterol. Palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil also contain saturated fats, and a lot of processed foods like cookies and crackers contain these oils. On the box it may say "No Cholesterol," but if you check the nutritional info, it may still contain saturated fat from those hidden oils. How sneaky. Saturated fats raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels more than dietary cholesterol itself, so they're the ones to watch out for. The RDI of saturated fat is 20g or less.

Fit's Tip: I'm not saying you should ditch the foods you love that contain cholesterol or saturated fat, just make sure you're staying below the recommended daily level.

Source

Fat Confusion: Which Ones Are Healthy Again?

FitSugar — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:00:00 PDT

We all know that trans fat and saturated fat are major things to avoid, but what's the difference between the two? And what about unsaturated fats, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Are they bad too? What foods contain them? Are you confused about all these fats too? Let's get these fats straight once and for all.

Trans Fatty Acids: Commonly called trans fat, these are "The chemically-altered fats." Most trans fat is a side effect of partial hydrogenation of plant oils (companies use them to increase the shelf life of their products). Trans fat are neither required nor are beneficial to our bodies, and eating trans fat can increase your risk of heart disease, among other health related problems.

Some trans fats can occur naturally (in small quantities) in meat and dairy products that come from ruminants (hooved animals that digest their food in two steps such as cows, goats, and buffalo). These aren't considered as bad for you as the chemically-altered kind.

Look out for:

Processed foods like crackers, snacks, breads, chips, and baked goods
margarine
shortening like Crisco
candy like caramels and chocolates (Ghirardelli)
dips
Some fast foods such as French fries and biscuits
frozen foods

If you want to check out the others, then

Saturated fat: "The bad fats." These are often solid at room temperature, like butter. Saturated fats are not essential to your health. Most come from animals and are found in meat, eggs, and cheese. Some are found in vegetable oils such as palm, palm kernel and coconut oils. Saturated fats are harder to digest and full of cholesterol, which clogs your arteries.

Foods that contain saturated fat are:

lard
butter
high fat dairy products such as cream, whole milk, cheese, and sour cream
high-fat meats like ground beef, bologna, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, and spareribs
coconut oil
skin from chicken and turkey
chocolate

Unsaturated fat: "The good guys." These are often liquid at room temperature, like olive and sunflower oil, and are essential to our overall health. They are thought to reduce our risk of heart disease, enhance memory, and other mental functions. They are derived from vegetables and plants.

Monounsaturated fats are one type of unsaturated fat. These are liquid at room temperature, but solidify at cold temps. Some studies have shown that these kinds of fats can actually lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol.

Foods that contain Monounsaturated fat are:

avocado
olives and olive oil
canola oil
almonds and almond butter
cashews and cashew butter
peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil
sesame seeds

Polyunsaturated Fats are also healthy fats. This type of fat has also been shown to reduce levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, but too much can also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol.

Foods that contain Polyunsaturated fat are:

walnuts
corn oil
some tubs of margarine like Earth Balance
sunflower oil
pumpkin and sunflower seeds
some salad dressings

Fit's Tip: Even if you are only eating the good fats, remember that 30 percent or less of your diet should come from fat. That equals to about 44 to 77 grams of fat a day if you are consuming 2,000 calories a day

Source

Which Oil Is Highest in Saturated Fat?

FitSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:15:00 PDT

We all know trans fat is bad for us, but many other oils used in products we buy are heavy in saturated fat, which can increase blood cholesterol levels if consumed regularly. So do you know which oil contains the highest amount of saturated fat? Take this short quiz to find out.

Source

Take the Quiz

Palm Fruit Oil vs. Palm Kernel Oil

FitSugar — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:30:00 PST

I was food shopping the other day, reading labels as usual, and I came upon the ingredient palm fruit oil. I kind of assumed that it was the same as palm kernel oil, but I was wrong. Palm fruit oil (also called palm oil) is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm tree while palm kernel oil comes from the palm seed found inside the fruit. Eighty-six percent of the fat in palm kernel oil is saturated (the not so healthy fat), while only 50 percent of the fat from palm fruit oil is saturated, which makes it a healthier choice for your arteries. Even though it's high in saturated fat, some research suggests that the fatty acids in palm oil can actually raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels in your body. I haven't found any substantial medical evidence to prove this though.

So when you're checking labels, be on the lookout for these oils since they're found in margarines and many processed foods. If the saturated fat content is high, you may want to skip out on certain products, especially if you have issues with high cholesterol or your heart.

Source and Source