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A Low Cholesterol, Low Saturated Fat Diet:
A Guide
for Parents
Are you worried that your teen eats
too many foods high in fat and cholesterol? Or has your teenager
already been diagnosed with high cholesterol? Many adolescents
lead very active lifestyles - going to school, working, and taking
part on after school activities and they may be too busy to think
about nutrition. Or they may think nutrition isn’t very important.
But as a parent, there are certain things you can do to improve
how your teen eats.
First, you need to get informed and
learn about nutrition. This information sheet will teach you about
low fat, low cholesterol eating. Once you have the right
information, you can change the way your whole family eats at
home. You will know what healthy food choices to stock your home
with. (See the list of low fat, low cholesterol food choices.) You
will be able to prepare and cook foods using less fat. Providing
good nutrition at home is one of the most important things you can
do to help your teen.
When your child is outside the home
or when you are not around, you obviously have less control over
what your teen eats. You should talk to your teen about nutrition
and encourage him/her to make healthy food choices. But in the
end, it’s up to your teen to decide what he/she is going to eat.
All you can do is provide the information and serve as a model for
your teen, and hopefully your teen will make smart choices.
You can also talk with your teen
about meeting with an expert in nutrition who works with
adolescents. This person can talk with your son/daughter about a
healthy diet. Then you just need to provide your teen with healthy
food and support his/her in following these nutritional
guidelines.
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fat-like, waxy
substance found in foods of animal origin, such as meat. It is
also found in fish and dairy products that contain fat. You will
never find it in vegetable sources. Your liver makes all the
cholesterol that you need, so you need to limit the cholesterol in
your diet. Too much cholesterol might build up in the walls of
your arteries and cause heart problems in the future. The American
Heart Association recommends eating a diet that contains less than
300 mg of cholesterol per day and less than 30% of total daily
calories from fat. For example, if you need to eat 2,000 calories,
you will need around 67 g of fat per day. Since 1 gram of fat has
9 calories, about 600 calories should come from fat.
What is fat?
Fat is important for our bodies since
it is used to transport some vitamins. Fat adds flavor to food,
which is why the food that is high in fat tastes good. Fat also
gives us a feeling of fullness, since it takes a while to digest.
This is why you feel full for a longer time when eating foods high
in fat. While fat is important, we only need a very little amount.
Small amounts of it have a lot of energy. Too much fat makes it
harder to maintain a healthy weight and may increase your risk of
heart disease. Most of us will be healthier if we lower the amount
of fat that we eat.
Fat is important for:
-
Making
hormones, vitamin D, and other things your body needs
-
Your brain
and nervous system to function correctly
-
Making up
the cell membranes for every cell in your body
-
Carrying
vitamins through your body
-
Protecting
organs from damage
-
Keeping you
warm (layers of fat in your body keeps you warm)
-
Providing
your body with energy
-
Allowing
you to feel full
What are the fats that are found in
the body?
-
Total Cholesterol —
Includes both the "good" and "bad" cholesterol (see below).
-
Low
density lipoprotein —
also know as the "bad" cholesterol because it transports and
deposits the cholesterol to the artery walls.
-
High density lipoprotein
— also know as the "good" cholesterol or protective cholesterol.
This lipoprotein removes excess cholesterol from the artery walls
and transports it to the liver for removal. It also prevents the
buildup of cholesterol in the walls of arteries.
-
Triglycerides — The
triglycerides in your blood can come from your diet or can be made
by your body. High amounts of triglyceride in combination with
high amounts of low density lipoprotein may increase your risk for
heart disease.
What are the types of fat found in
the food we eat?
There are 3 types of fat:
1.
Saturated fat – It is
usually solid at room temperature and is believed to increase
blood cholesterol twice as much as cholesterol alone.
Examples:
-
Butter
-
Meat fats
-
Coconut and
palm oil
2.
Polyunsaturated fat –
It is liquid at room temperature and lowers both good and bad
cholesterol.
Examples:
-
Corn oil
-
Safflower
oil
-
Sunflower
oil
-
Soybean oil
3.
Monounsaturated fat –
It is believed that this type of fat lowers the "bad" cholesterol
and maintains the "good" cholesterol. That’s why this is the type
of fat that we recommend you use in cooking, but still in
moderation!
Examples:
-
Olive oil
-
Peanut oil
-
Some nuts
What are some ways to lower
cholesterol and saturated fat intake?
-
Reduce the
amount of red meat you eat. Limit to a maximum of 2-3 servings of
2 or 3 ounces per week. Try fish or poultry instead.
-
For
cooking, bake, broil, or stir-fry meats, fish, or poultry (instead
of frying).
-
Cut away
any visible fat from meat and remove the skin from poultry.
-
Limit the
consumption of eggs to 2 egg yolks per week. Egg whites are
acceptable because they don’t contain cholesterol. You could also
use egg substitutes in place of whole eggs.
-
Use all fat
in moderation, especially saturated fat. Monounsaturated fat is
the best type to use.
-
Limit fast
food intake.
-
Read the
labels on all products. Look at the percent of calories from fat
and select those products that have 20% or less of calories from
fat.
Remember, children and adolescents
learn through example, so be a good role model. Take time to
prepare healthy meals and eat as a family. |