Author misinformed about saturated fat and coconut oil.

How To Reduce Saturated Fat
Nikhil Jain

Author's email:nikhiljain89@hotmail.com

October 23, 2007

To reduce the amount of saturated fat in their diets, many people choose foods and snacks whose labels say they are made with "100% pure vegetable oil" or "pure vegetable shortening." The assumption is that because it is a pure vegetable oil, it is free of saturated fat and healthier.

Several vegetable oils are more highly saturated than lard and beef fat. Coconut oil and palm kernel oil are the worst. They contain 86% and 81 % saturated fat, respectively, and they are widely used in snack items, such as crackers, chips, cookies, cake mixes, and granola bars. Individuals should look beyond the "vegetable oil" banner displayed prominently on many snack packages and scan the ingredients list for the words "coconut," "palm kernel," and "palm oil." Many items outside the snack aisle also contain palm or coconut oil. For instance, cool whip contains both palm kernel and coconut oils, making it more highly saturated than real whipped cream.

Experts recommend a diet that achieves a total fat intake of 30% of total calories or less, with 10% coming from each type of fat (saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated), and a cholesterol in take below 300 milligrams per day. For a person on a 2200 calorie diet, 73 grams of fat are allowed. Average levels of fat consumption of 116 grams per day for men and 75 grams per day for women are substantially higher than the DRV.

Because many foods, such as vegetables and fruits, have little or no fat, other foods can provide more than 30% fat and still fit into a healthy diet. Fortunately there is no need to calculate the percent of fat in each food item consumed. an occasional moderate serving of a high fat food favorite with low fat foods. Remember, the 30% fat-calorie recommendation is a maximum; aim for less fat grams, on average.

Suggestions for meeting these recommendations are as follows:

Limit meat, seafood, and poultry to no more than 5 to 7 ounces per day.

Use chicken or turkey (without the skin) or fish in most meals.

Choose lean cuts of meat, trim all the visible fat, and throwaway the fat that cooks out of the meat.

Substitute meatless or low meat main dishes for regular entrees.

Use no more than 5 to 8 teaspoons of fats and oils per day for cooking, baking, and preparing salads.

Choose foods that contain less than 3 grams of fat per 100 calorie serving.

Use low fat dairy products.

To control cholesterol, the following can be used as guidelines:

Use no more than four egg yolks per week, including those used in cooking.

Limit consumption of shrimp, lobster, sardines, and organ meats.

Avoid fried foods, substitute a cooking method other than frying (baking, grilling, broiling, roasting).