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The Role of Fat in Healthy Eating

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Fad diets come and go. The fat-free craze introduced us to hundreds of fat-free food products that flooded the market because so many people became fat-phobic.

There's no doubt, fat is rich in calories. Gram for gram, fat has more than twice as many calories as carbohydrates and protein. And it's true - some fats simply aren't good for you. Trans fats are found in fried foods and processed foods (as well as in some meat products). They are unhealthy because they raise levels of unhealthy cholesterol (LDL) and decrease the level of healthy cholesterol (HDL) in our bodies.

Saturated fats cause problems too.

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. These include the skin on chicken or turkey and the visible fat on a steak. Saturated animal fat also contains cholesterol and promotes heart disease. We definitely need to limit the amount of saturated fat in our diet.

But some fats are healthy -- in fact our bodies need them.

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