The Balance of Good Health

Is all FAT the same?

Saturated fat

Saturated fat is the 'bad' type of fat and the one that we need to really watch in our diets. Saturated fat can really build up in the system, eventually leading to the chances of developing heart disease. Unfortunately, it is also found in lots of foods.

These are some of the foods to watch out for which are high in saturated fat: • Processed meat like burgers and sausages • Butter and lard • Cream and ice cream • Cheese • Pastry • Cakes and biscuits • Chocolate • Coconut oil and palm oil

Unsaturated fat

Unsaturated fat is a more healthy kind of fat, and we need to make sure we have some in our diets. This is because it helps us absorb vitamins and can actually help to reduce cholesterol, as well as giving us essential fatty acids that our bodies need. However, we still need to be careful – we don’t need too much in our diet to keep us healthy, so it’s best to have in small doses.

Here are some of the foods you can find unsaturated fat in: • Oily fish like mackerel, salmon, trout and sardines • Avocados • Nuts and seeds • Sunflower oil • Olive oil • Vegetable oil • Spreads made from vegetable oil

Where does the fat we eat go?

Body If we eat too much fat, our body can’t process it so fatty deposits get stored. This can slow us down and make it more difficult for us to move about.

Heart Too much fat in our body clogs us up so our heart finds it harder to beat. This means that it struggles to do its job and carry the blood round our body, but it can also mean that it slows down and gets poorly later in life

Liver Our liver helps us to digest fat. When we have too much of the wrong kind of fat in our body the liver gets clogged up and struggles to do its job properly

Arteries

Arteries are big veins that carry blood around our body. When we have too much of a bad kind of fat called saturated fat in our system, these arteries can get clogged up so our blood finds it difficult to get through.

Lungs If we have too much fat in our system it means that our lungs have to work harder to get oxygen round our body. This can make your lungs feel strained and tired, and we may feel short of breath or even develop asthma.

Blood Too much fat in our blood can give us something called 'high cholesterol' as we get older. This is where the blood vessels become so thick and sticky with fat that the oxygen can’t get through, making us tired and out-of-breath.

Leave on the shelf Put in basket

Streaky bacon

Croissant

Butter

Sausages

Doughnut

Biscuits

Cream

Ice cream

Full fat milk

Cheddar cheese

Burgers

Minced beef

Back bacon

Bagel

Lower fat spread

Vegetarian sausages

Currant bun

Malt loaf

Reduced fat Greek yogurt

Tomato or vegetable sauce

Lower fat frozen yogurt

Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk

Lower fat cottage cheese

Fish fingers (grill instead of fry)

Turkey mince

Cheese sauce

Crisps Low fat plain popcorn

SUGAR

Too much sugar means excess energy, which can lead to stored fat in the body. And this can lead to heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

You’d be amazed at how much sugar is lurking about in our food - even the food that doesn’t taste sweet. It can do more harm than we realise. Here are a few facts about sugar and where it’s hiding.

There are more than 7 teaspoons of sugar in the average can of cola.

The average person in Britain consumes about 700g of sugar a week* - that’s 140 teaspoons!

Sugar can even be in some baked beans and shop-bought pasta sauces

Sugar can cause tooth decay.

There are lots of different words used to describe sugar can you name them?

glucosesucrose

fructose

maltose

corn syrup

honey

What’s high sugar and what’s low sugar?

Healthier options have 5g of sugar or less - this is low

Anything over 15g of sugar is high, so try to eat these less often

Between 5g and 15g is medium

Fast Food ealeal

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Has more Fats and Sugars than all this…

Fats and Sugars• Good fats are runny and are called unsaturates -

sunflower oil, olive oil etc

• Bad fats are those that set called saturates – butters, blocks of lard etc

• Limit the amount of sugar by drinking water instead of fizzy pop try not to have sweets every day have fruit instead.

Eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables