Eating a lot of saturated fat can increase the cholesterol in your blood. High levels of cholesterol can increase your risk of:
- a heart attack,
- stroke, and
- narrowed arteries (atherosclerosis).
Cholesterol is a type of fat that your liver makes from the fatty food that you eat.
Is all fat bad for me?
Your body needs small amounts of fat to help it work normally. However, some types of fat are healthier than others. There are two main types of fat in food:
- saturated fat, and
- unsaturated fat.
It’s a good idea to eat less saturated fat, to reduce the health risks linked with high cholesterol levels.
Which foods contain saturated fat?
Saturated fat comes from foods such as:
- butter, lard and ghee (oil made from butter),
- fatty meats and meat products, such as sausages and pies,
- full fat milk,
- cream, soured cream, crème fraîche and ice cream,
- cheese, particularly hard cheese,
- some savoury snacks, such as crisps,
- coconut oil, coconut cream and palm oil,
- biscuits, cakes and pastries, and
- sweets and chocolate.
Eating less saturated fat
If you do eat foods that contain saturated fat, it’s a good idea to eat less of them. Below are some tips to help you:
- Include less fat and less fatty foods in your diet.
- Choose lean meat or skinless poultry, instead of fatty meat or meat products.
- Trim the fat off meat before you cook it.
- Grill meat instead of frying it.
- Eat less pastry, cakes, biscuits and crisps.
You can also choose foods with lower levels of saturated fat, or foods that contain unsaturated fat. For example:
- Choose lower-fat dairy foods, like 1% fat milk, low-fat yoghurt, or low-fat crème fraîche.
- Grating cheese instead of slicing it may help you to eat less of it.
- Cook with small amounts of unsaturated vegetable oil, such as sunflower, olive or rapeseed oil.
- Compare food labels and choose the option that contains less saturated fat. Some foods have traffic light labels that show if the food is high, medium or low in fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt.
Further information:
