Fat & Cholesterol: A Matter Of Balance

Today, many people say they most often look at information about fat when reading food labels. Why? Dietary guidelines suggest that total fat in the diet should be between 10% and 30% of total daily calories - this is about 23 - 68 grams of fat for a person who eats 8400 kilojoules a day.  In other words, the combination of foods eaten over the course of several days should average no more than 30% of kilojoules from fat.  Individual foods, some with higher levels of fat and others with lower levels of fat, can be combined in a diet that meets the guideline for 30% of kilojoules from fat.

Food Focus

Fat contributes to the taste and texture of foods.  In cheese and chocolate, for example, fat carries flavour and is partly responsible for the smooth texture and meltability.  The amount and type of fat in foods varies.  Fat is comprised of saturated monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids.  This refers to the chemical structure of the molecules.  Fat-containing foods are often classified by the type of fatty acid that predominates, even though foods are actually mixtures of all these types of fat.  For example, fatty meats and some full fat dairy products are often called ‘saturated’ sources of fat and corn oil is often called ‘polyunsaturated’, even though these foods contain all three types of fatty acids.  Cholesterol is another type of fat.  Cholesterol is present only in animal products, such as meat, poultry, milk products e.g. cream and cheese, and egg yolks.  Lower fat dairy products usually contain less cholesterol than whole milk products.  Milk is relatively low in cholesterol compared with meat, cheese and cream.  Always consider portion size when eating food containing cholesterol.

Nutrition Focus

Some fat in the diet is necessary for good health.  In general, people eat more than the recommended 10 - 30% total kilojoules from fat.  Cholesterol is a building block of cells, vitamins and hormones in the body and is transported in the bloodstream.  High blood cholesterol levels can be related to a number of factors.  For some people, lifestyle factors that may contribute to the development of high blood cholesterol levels are, being overweight and inactive, having too much saturated fat in the diet, and to a lesser extent, too much dietary cholesterol.

Reference:  Food Facts.

Health Connection

Populations with low fat diets tend to have a lower occurrence of health conditions like heart disease, obesity and some types of cancer. The relationship between dietary fat to health status is not entirely clear, and scientists realise that the development of diseases depends on many factors. Therefore, health professionals advise people to eat a diet that is: 

• Lower in fat, particularly saturated fats and cholesterol.
• High in fruits, vegetables and grain products that contain fibre and vitamins A and C. 

Balancing Food Choices

Foods that are labelled ‘low fat’, ‘reduced fat’ and ‘fat free’ are lower in fat than the traditional versions of foods. These foods can make it easier for people to improve their diets without sacrificing favourite foods or making drastic changes to routine eating habits. There are three basic ways to include lower fat foods in your diet:

1. Substitute lower fat foods for traditional versions of foods. For example, use KRAFT FREE* dressing on a tossed salad instead of regular.
2. Use lower fat foods to help balance the fat content of another type of food. For example, if you like Bolognese, try fat free cheese or non fat salad dressing to help ‘balance’ the fat in the meal.
3. Try lower fat products in recipes. For example, use fat free sour cream or yoghurt in your favourite dip recipe or to top your fresh fruit salad.

Fat On The Label

The Nutrition Information panel on food packages lists information about the amount and type of fat in foods.  Per serving Total Fat and Saturated Fat (in grams) tells you how much is in 100g  of the food.