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| By Ng Hooi Lin |
| Nutritionist, Singapore Heart Foundation |
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| What is saturated fat? |
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| Many of us know that saturated fat is not good for us. But what exactly are saturated fats and what do they do to our body? |
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| Saturated fats, which are solid at room temperature, come mostly from animal products such as butter, lard, ghee, the skin of poultry and fatty meats. In plant products, saturated fats are found in palm oil, coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut cream. |
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| What will happen if we eat too much saturated fats? |
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| If you consume too much saturated fats in your diet, your blood cholesterol level will easily increase and this could bring you one step closer to heart disease as excess cholesterol causes arteries to clog and harden. You don’t want that, do you? |
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| Are we eating too much? |
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| Definitely! According to the National Nutrition Survey (2004), 8 in 10 Singaporeans exceeded the daily recommendation for saturated fats in their diets. |
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| Start with small changes! |
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| 1. Cooking with butter, lard and ghee is not a good idea. For healthy cooking, use pure vegetable oils such as canola, olive, peanut, corn, or rice bran oil instead. Do note that even if the packaging shows a picture of green leafy vegetables, the product may still contain palm oil which is high in saturated fat. |
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| 2. Select lean meats and skinless poultry and remove visible fat and skin. When having deep fried chicken for your meal, peel off the skin before eating. |
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| 3. Purchase low-fat/skimmed milk and dairy products such as low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheeses etc. |
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| 4. Prepare coffee or tea with low-fat milk instead of creamer, sweetened milk and full cream evaporated milk. Take a look at the list of ingredients on the food label of condensed or full cream evaporated milk. You will be surprised to see palm kernel oils appearing high on the ingredients list. |
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| 5. Spreads such as butter, peanut butter, margarine, kaya etc should be used in moderation. |
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| 6. Coconut milk or coconut cream-based foods are high in saturated fat and should be enjoyed only occasionally. |
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| 7. Substitute flavoured rice such as nasi lemak, nasi briyani, and chicken rice with plain white or brown rice. Why? Flavoured rice is high in saturated fat. |
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| 8. Chilling soups will cause the oils and fats to solidify and hence enable the layer of saturated fat to be removed easily. |
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| 9. Limit intake of pastries such as cookies, doughnut, chips that are high in saturated fat and have very little nutritional value. |
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| Back to Nutrition Tips |
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