You're probably aware of some of the fat in your food. You spread it on bread, pour it on salad, and trim it from steak. But the fat you can see may account for only a portion of the fat you eat. The rest is often found in foods which you may not expect it to be in, like biscuits and crackers, or things like egg yolks, nuts and avocados.

Fats I Can Pour

Polyunsaturated Fat
Like saturated fat, polyunsaturates come from both animal and vegetable sources. But in the case of polyunsaturates, the animal source is limited to oily fish (e.g. canned tuna and canned sardines). 

Monounsaturated fat
Monounsaturated fat is derived mostly from fruits and nuts, but traces can also be found in meat. Like polyunsaturates, monounsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature.

Fat I Can't Pour

Saturated Fat
You might think of saturated fat as fat you can't pour. It comes from a variety of animal and vegetable products, and is usually solid at room temperature.

Saturated fat can also be found in some hydrogenated margarines. (Hydrogenation is the process that turns liquid oil into solid fat and an unsaturated fat into a saturated one.)

Taking Control Of Fat

It is suggested that most people should eat less for a well balanced, nutritious diet.  Fat has received a lot of bad press recently, and rightly so.  It has been identified as a risk factor in a number of serious illnesses, and most people eat too much of it.  At the same time though, a certain amount of fat is essential.  Fat is an important part of your diet.

Fat Has its Good Points...
One of the reasons people like fat so much - and eat so much of it - is that it makes food taste, feel and smell good.  Among its good points, fat:

• Is a vehicle for fat-soluble vitamins in food
• Is a useful source of energy, if very physically active
• Increases palatability of food
• Enables your brain and nerve signals to transmit normally  
• Stores and transports energy
• Provides essential fatty acids that are involved in body processes

...and its Bad Points
The problem is that when you eat too much fat, certain problems may arise.  For example, there's a greater risk that you might:

• Gain too much weight - Fat is fattening.  One gram of fat has 37 kilojoules.  Eat enough of it, and you may eventually fall out of your healthy weight range.
• Develop heart disease or risk of stroke
  Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in Australia today, and a high fat diet has been identified as one of the factors that increases your risk.