Question: Which Foods Are High In Saturated Fat?
Answer: When you are following a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, you should keep your intake of saturated fat to a minimum. Saturated fats can not only cause weight gain, they can also raise your LDL cholesterol levels and triglycerides.
The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that your saturated fat intake be less than 7% of your total food intake daily. That is, if you are following a 2,000-calorie diet, you should not consume more than 14 grams of saturated fat each day. The following foods contain high amounts of saturated fat, and eating these should be closely watched if you are trying to lower your cholesterol:
Whenever you are in doubt about whether one of your favorite foods is high in saturated fat, check the nutrition label, which is usually located on the back of the package.
Sources:
Rolfes SR, Whitney E. Understanding Nutrition, 3rd ed 2005.
Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (PDF), July 2004, The National Institutes of Heath: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
