Everyone knows that too much fat in your diet is not good. Eating a high fat diet can lead to overweight and obesity, which can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancer. What many do not know is that you can easily replace or cut back on much of the fat in the food you eat. A gram of fat has about twice as many calories as carbohydrates and protein. Naturally, if you cut back on fat, you will begin to lose weight. Common ways to reduce fat that most of us are already aware of include choosing low fat or fat free milk, cheese and other dairy products, trimming fat and skin from poultry, avoiding fried foods and choosing low fat salad dressing. The other way to cut your fat intake is to replace it with something else when you bake or cook. Try one of these suggestions the next time you are whipping something up; replace butter or oil with mashed or pureed fruits like bananas or applesauce in any baked good, use two egg whites to replace one egg, use low fat evaporated milk or low fat condensed milk instead of heavy cream, or substitute unsweetened cocoa for chocolate. And there are many other, creative ways to make your food healthier. The dietary reference for adult intake of fat is 20% to 35% of total calories from fat. That equals 44-77 grams daily, if you follow a 2,000 calorie diet. Not all fat is bad for you and everyone needs it in their diet to survive. When you choose your fat, stick with unsaturated. This type can lower your risk of heart disease. Unsaturated fat can be found in olive, peanut and canola oils, avocados, and nuts. Omega-3 fatty acids are also good for you; these are found in fatty, cold water fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, as well as walnuts. If you start by making small changes, they will likely lead to other, bigger changes later. Many people eat and cook with less healthy items simply out of habit, and habits can be broken. For every small change you make, you are one step closer to improving yours, and your families’ lives.
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