Good Fat versus Bad Fat
By: Gretchen Bolander
Updated: September 13, 2012
JOPLIN, MO-- "There's really three types of fats. Monounsaturated, polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat. The mono and the poly unsaturated are the good fat or heart healthy fats. And the saturated fat we mostly find in animal fats and high fat dairy products. These are the ones that raise cholesterol levels." And Diabetes Educator Heather Boline says a balanced diet will have a mix of all three. But higher amounts of mono and polyunsaturated fats will improve your heart's health.
Said Boline, "They can help lower cholesterol levels. They also protect the HDL which are the good cholesterol." That means to cook with oils instead of butter or margarine and to choose lean cuts of meat. "About a 1/4 of a cup of nuts would give you about 15 grams of polyunsaturated fat, a tablespoon of olive or canola oil would give you about 15 grams of fat from the mono unsaturated fat. And typically around 4 ounces of meat gives you about 8 grams of unsaturated fat."
In all, it should add up to about 30% of your daily calories.
