Avoid Saturated Fats

There are two major classes of fats, saturated and unsaturated. generally speaking, the saturated fats are all those which are from animal sources or which are solid at room temperature. Some of the saturated animal fats are butter, ghee, lard, dripping and suet. Eggs and meats also contain a lot of saturated fat. In addition, however, plant oils such as coconut oil and palm oil are also highly saturated fats. Although the saturated fats do not actually contain cholesterol, they do cause the body to produce more cholesterol, which collects on the walls of the arteries and later may cause heart attack or stroke.

Margarine and vegetable shortening are not made from animal products, yet they appear to affec the body in much the same way as saturated fats. To become solid at room temperature, they have undergone a process called hydrogenation which makes them closely resemble the saturated fats.

The unsaturated fats include corn oil, sesame oil, olive oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil. They are the preferred fats to use because they do not have the same cholesterol producing effect. Even these should be used in very small amounts, however, because of the large number of calories they contain.

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