Low Saturated Fat and Low Cholesterol Diet

Learn About the Fat in Our Food

Current guidelines for fat consumption state that no more than 25 percent of total calories should come from fat in our daily diets. For example, consuming a diet of 1500 calories in a day would mean consuming 40g of fat per day including the invisible fat in foods such as milk, nuts, meat, eggs and visible fat such as oil, ghee, butter, cream, and cheese. We know that the fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient supplying 9 calories per gram. As fat gives the food its textural properties and makes it extremely palatable, we all tend to go overboard. The excess fat gets stored in our body making us susceptible to various lifestyle related conditions. Fat levels of our body of males should be between 18-25 percent in men and between 25-31 percent in women. Beyond these limits one tips toward being obese.

Narrowing it further, we should stick to not more than 20 to 25 g of total visible fat intake per day. This barely comes to 4 teaspoons a day. Such are the strict guidelines set for healthy eating. But, most of us tend to go much above this set recommendation.

As the quantity of fat consumed is of prime importance, the quality of fat selected for daily intake should also be treated with equal respect. Think for yourself! What if you keep a tight check on 4 teaspoons of fat consumption per day but all of it comes from just one source, say, ghee (clarified butter). Does this makes any sense to you? The answer should be No.

Following the basic principles of a 'low saturated fat and low cholesterol' meal plan would definitely take care of at least one of the preventive dimensions of a healthy and weight loss diet regime.

References:

1. Kuller LH. Nutrition, Lipids, and cardiovascular Disease. Nutrition Reviews. February 2006; 64(2) : S 15 - S26
2. Isharwal S, Misra A, Wasir J.S, Nigam P. Indian J Med Res. May 2009; 129:485 � 499
3. Abete A, Astrup A, Martinez JA, Thorsdottir I, Zulet MA. Nutrition Reviews. April 2010; 68(4) : 191 � 255

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