Saturated Fat

Bristol Diabetes . Access . Diet . Fat
Saturated Fat is usually solid at room temperatures. The common sources of saturated fat are from animal products such as meat, dairy products and eggs and it is sometimes known as animal fat.

Poultry also contains saturated fat but only about a third of the fat in poultry is saturated, that compares to about ½ of the fat in red meat being saturated fat.

There are aso vegetables sources such as the tropical oils: highest of these are Coconut and Palm, followed by Brazil Nuts with about 16-17% saturated fat.

Palm Oil is a common ingredient of Scottish Oat Cakes and some biscuits. So oat cakes may not be quite as healthy an option as you think!

Eating to much Saturated Fat is likely to increase the levels of blood cholesterol, increasing the risks of Heart Disease, Strokes and High Blood Pressure.

Saturated fat together with Hydrogenated fat should at most make up 10% of the calories in the diet.

Oily fish do not contain a lot of saturated fat and may actually reduce the risk of heart disease.

If you are getting roughly 30% of your calories from fat, its perfectly acceptable to change from saturated to unsaturated fat rather than simply reduce fat (see the Food Standards Agency (FSA) link).

This is fairly new advice, when I reviewed this page in February 2005 the FSA's advice was a 'low fat diet'.

External Links
Reducing Saturated Fat should reduce the risk of heart disease. You can reduce saturated fat by:--
  • Eating the leanest meat you can afford or more poultry (without the skin) and better still try fish.
  • Use low fat versions of foods like milk, cheese, cream, yoghurt and sausages.
  • Trim visible fat from any meat and grill rather than fry.
  • Use Vegetable Oil substitutes like Olive or Sunflower Oil for cooking and spreading.

Type of FoodSources of Saturated Fat
Meat & Meat Products Burgers and all meat has varying amounts of satirated fat.Beef, Pork, Lamb, Poultry, Duck, Sausage, Pie, Burgers ...
Dairy Produce Cheese like most dairy and egg products is high in saturated fat.Butter, Cream, Milk, Cheese, Yoghurt and Eggs.
Tropical Oils Coconut Oil and Palm Oil (Oat Cakes commonly use Palm Oil) and to a lesser extent Brazil Nuts.