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Summary
Fat is a type of nutrient. You need some fat in your diet but not too much. Fats give you energy and help your body absorb vitamins. Dietary fat also plays a major role in your cholesterol levels.
But not all fats are the same. You should try to avoid
- Saturated fats such as butter, solid shortening, and lard
- Trans fats. These are found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs). By 2018, most U.S. companies will not be allowed to add PHOs to food.
Try to replace them with oils such as canola, olive, safflower, sesame, or sunflower. Of course, eating too much fat will put on the pounds. Fat has twice as many calories as proteins or carbohydrates.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Specifics
-
7 Things to Know about Omega-3 Fatty Acids
(National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
- Butter vs. Margarine: Which Is Better for My Heart? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Olive Oil: What Are the Health Benefits? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
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Omega-3 Supplements: An Introduction
(National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
- What Are Chia Seeds? (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
Health Check Tools
- Face the Fats Quiz 1 (American Heart Association)
- Face the Fats Quiz 2 (American Heart Association)
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Dietary Fats
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Fatty Acids
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Fatty Acids, Omega-3
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Reference Desk
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You Are What You Eat
(National Institute of General Medical Sciences)
Children
- Fats and Your Child (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Learning about Fats (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Teenagers
- Dietary Fat and Cholesterol (Children's Hospital Boston) Also in Spanish
- Figuring Out Fat and Calories (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Butter, margarine, and cooking oils (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Dietary fats explained (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Facts about monounsaturated fats (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Facts about polyunsaturated fats (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Facts about saturated fats (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Facts about trans fats (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Omega-3 fats: Good for your heart (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish