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So, you need to cut down the amount of fat in your diet and make sure that most of it is unsaturated. Here are a few simple tips on how you can go about it.
1. Use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk and low-fat milk products (such as yoghurt and cottage cheese), instead of full-fat types.
2. Use less fats and oils. If you use margarine, choose one that has at least twice as much polyunsaturated fats as saturated fats. The best are only available from health food stores; they are not hydrogenated to make them firm.
3. Bake, boil, steam, poach, grill or microwave foods instead of frying them in fat. If you do fry, use a non-stick pan with no oil.
4. Butter and margarine are equally fattening so if you use them spread them more thinly. Don't use them in sandwiches just for the sake of it. British people have a terrible habit of using mayonnaise and butter together in a sandwich, and butter or margarine with beans on toast or grilled cheese sandwich!
5. Make salad dressing with less oil or use low-fat yoghurt and loads of herbs, vinegar, tomato juice and spices instead of salad cream.
6. Substitute low-fat fillings or ingredients for high-fat ones. , Baked potatoes with beans, cottage cheese, tuna fish and no butter or margarine; low-fat yoghurt or low-fat fromage frais for cream; sorbet for ice cream.
7. Most cheeses are high in fat, but with the range of cheese now available in the supermarket you can select those that are less high in fat.
8. Increase your intake of complex carbohydrates, fresh vegetables and fruits.
Beware of 'Low-Fat' Claims
Many foods have terms such as 'low fat', 'reduced fat', 'light', or 'light in calories', which appear on the packaging. These terms are purely advertising claims not accurate nutritional information in other words they're meaningless. Read the nutritional information label ' instead. While, for instance, a so-called 'low-fat' margarine or spread is lower in fat than regular butter or margarine, it still contains about 40 per cent fat.
Snacks and Junk Food
While most people should know that biscuits, sticky buns, cakes and ice cream are full of fat, there are plenty of other fatty snacks you may be less aware of. For example, about 65 per cent of the calories in crisps come from fat, even 'low-fat' crisps are 50 per cent fat calories. A bag of peanuts contain 75 per cent fat calories, 'Hoops' contain 56 per cent fat calories, and samosas are just dripping with fat calories. Most 'fast food' or take-aways are full of fat. Many of the snacks above are also very high in salt, which can lead to high blood pressure and to further health problems such as heart and kidney disease. Finally, chocolate tastes wonderful but it is basically just fat and sugar. The point is, to think about how much junk food you eat' and to cut down on it - if you eat a lot, cut down on it drastically. By the way, don't automatically trust 'healthy' candy bars such as muesli and raisin - read the ingredients.
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