Also called: Also called: Lipids, Monounsaturated fat, Polyunsaturated fat, Saturated fat
Fat is a major source of energy and aids your body in absorbing vitamins. It's important for proper growth, development and keeping you healthy. Fat provides taste to foods and helps you feel full. Fats are an especially important source of calories and nutrients for infants and toddlers. Dietary fat also plays a major role in your cholesterol levels.
But not all fats are the same. You should try to avoid
- Saturated fats such as butter, solid shortening, lard and fatback
- Trans fats, found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils
Try to replace them with oils such as corn, canola, olive, safflower, soybean and sunflower. Of course, eating too much fat will put on the pounds.
Food and Drug Administration
- Dietary Fat(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/nutrition_for_everyone/basics/fat.htm
- Know Your Fats(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=532
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005: Fats(Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Health and Human Services) - http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter6.htm
- Fatty Acid in Olive Oil Wards off Hunger(10/07/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_70159.html
- Eating Fish, Breast-Feeding Boost Infant Development(09/29/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_69829.html
- Omega-6 Fatty Acid Intake Tied to Breast Cancer(09/26/2008, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_69748.html
- More News on Dietary Fats http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alphanews_d.html#dietaryfats
- Fats and Oils to Choose(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbisupport.com/chd1/Tipsheets/tipsheet-satfat.htm
- Olive Oil: What Are the Health Benefits?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/food-and-nutrition/AN01037/METHOD=print
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Trans Fat Now Listed with Saturated Fat and Cholesterol on the Nutrition Facts Label(Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition) - http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/transfat.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/stransfa.html
- Trans Fats(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3045792
- Butter vs. Margarine: Which Is Better for My Heart?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/butter-vs-margarine/AN00835/METHOD=print
- Fat Substitutes(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4633
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What Are "Oils"?(Dept. of Agriculture) - http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/oils.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/sp-oils.html
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What Are "Solid Fats"?(Dept. of Agriculture) - http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/discretionary_calories_fats.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/sp-discretionary_calories_fats.html
- Count Your Fat Grams Worksheet(Women's Heart Foundation) - http://www.womensheart.org/content/Nutrition/counting_fat_grams.asp
- Fats & Cholesterol(Harvard School of Public Health) - http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/index.html
- Bad Fats Brothers(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3055398
- Better Fat Sisters(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3055399
- Cut Down on Fat - Not on Taste!(Healthy Roads Media) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/english/Files/flv/engfat.htm
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Fatty Acids(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Fatty+Acids%22
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Fatty Acids, Omega-3(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Fatty+Acids,+Omega-3%22
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Dietary Fats(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=dietary+fats
- Most Americans Don't Know "Better Fats" Benefit Heart Health(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=479
- Article: Have the heart for fish oil? - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18822526&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Cold comfort. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18788130&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: The relationship of dietary omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intake... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18779490&tool=MedlinePlus
- Dietary Fats -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=dietary+fats[majr]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+systematic[sb])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Nutrient Lists(Dept. of Agriculture) - Links to PDF - http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=15869
- American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
- Food and Drug Administration - http://www.fda.gov/
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
- Fats and Your Child(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/food/general/fat.html
- Learning about Fats(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/food/fat.html
- Figuring Out Fat and Calories(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/fat_calories.html
- Importance of Dietary Fat and Cholesterol: A Guide for Teens(Children's Hospital Boston) - http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/cholesterol.html
- Cholesterol - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cholesterol.html
- Heart Diseases--Prevention - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartdiseasesprevention.html
- Nutrition - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/nutrition.html
- Triglycerides - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/triglycerides.html
- Food and Nutrition - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodandnutrition.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Dietary Fats is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
Dietary Fats - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/dietaryfats.html