Fat intake

There are two main types of fat, saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are the ones we should try to avoid as the more saturates we eat the more cholesterol the body produces. This builds up in our blood and can increase the risk of developing heart disease and other health problems.

Saturated fats are mostly found in animal products such as meats and some dairy produce. They can be found in some vegetable oils like coconut oil or palm oil, in hard margarine and cooking fats. Sometimes they can be found as "hidden fat" in cakes, biscuits, chocolate and puddings. They may be listed in some ingredients as hydrogenated vegetable oils / fats, so check the labels!

A good tip to remember is saturated fats are usually hard at room temperature, just look at a cold frying pan after cooking sausage or bacon!

Unsaturated fats are essential to the body although only in small amounts. They include polyunsaturated oils and monounsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats are found in vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn, rapeseed and olive oils. They can also be found in nuts, soft margarines labelled "high in polyunsaturated oils", also oily fish such as sardines, herring, trout and pilchards contain high levels of polyunsaturated oils.

The difference between the types of fats and oils above is that some are non-essential like saturated fats and therefore are not needed at all by the body, and some are essential like linoleic and alpha-linoleic acids found in foods high in polyunsaturated oils such as safflower, sunflower oils and some oily fish. From a health point of view we should avoid the saturates and probably consume more fish, however one thing these types have in common is they both contain the same number of calories so in terms of weight control we should be limiting our fat intake no matter which type it may be.