Spend your fat allowance smartly

Fats are definitely required by our body to provide energy, regulate body temperature, maintain hormonal balance and absorb the fat soluble nutrients from food.

Unfortunately, in the current scenario, abundant fats are coming from processed and packaged foods such as burgers, pizza, fries, nuggets, creamy beverages, cupcakes, desserts, etc. These contain a combination of deadly fats that choke the arteries and have earned fats a bad reputation!

Total recommended fat intake is around 30-35% of total calories. For e.g. In a 1500 kcal diet, fat should be 50g which includes visible and invisible fat

Visible fats

Sources : Butter, Oil, Margarine, Ghee

Our requirement of visible fat including Oil, ghee and butter is 3 tsp or 15g/day.

•   15g or 3 tsp/day = 15g x 30days = 450ml/person/month

For a family of four, we require only 2 L of (oil+ghee+butter) in a month. https://atomic-temporary-89405474.wpcomstaging.com/2015/11/20/choose-your-cooking-oil-wisely/

Invisible fats

Sources: Milk, Cottage cheese, Cheese, Nuts, fish, meat,Eggs,  etc

Requirement of invisible fat is 30-35g/day which can be acquired from walnuts (3-5 per day), almonds (handful a day), flaxseeds (3 teaspoons/day), fatty fish (salmon, mackerel 30-35g/ 2-3 times a week), eggs and milk and milk products. These should be incorporated into the diet to prevent risk of cardiovascular diseases.

We know that fats are being blamed for  increased incidence of heart diseases but very few are aware that if chosen judiciously, fats can in fact reduce our risk of several lifestyle diseases as well as cancer. Quality of fat is equally important as the quantity and good type of fats can be instrumental in shaping our Heart Health