The Fat Basics

Table of Contents

Slide #1: A Matter of Fat: Fat Basics
Slide #2: What is fat?
Slide #3: Fat - Part of a Healthy Diet
Slide #4: Canada's Food Guide
Slide #5: Where is fat found?
Slide #6: % Fat in the Canadian Diet
Slide #7: Types of Fat
Slide #8: Polyunsaturated Fats
Slide #9: Monounsaturated Fats
Slide #10: Saturated Fats
Slide #11: Trans Fats
Slide #12: Naturally Occurring Trans Fats
Slide #13: Foods Have a Mixture of Fats
Slide #14: Quiz on Fats
Slide #15: Quiz on Fats
Slide #16: Quiz on Fats
Slide #17: Additional Information
Slide #18: Acknowledgement

FAT

• is a nutrient
• is a source of energy
• adds taste and texture to foods
• makes us feel full longer
• helps absorb fat-soluble vitamins

Speaker's Notes

• Sometimes we hear about fat and all the negative aspects � like a high fat diet can increase the risk of heart disease
• Although true, we often forget that fat is an important nutrient in our diet; we need it for normal body functions.
• Some fats are essential; meaning, we need to eat them because our body cannot make these fats.
• Fat provides us with energy.
• It adds a wonderful taste and texture to foods.
• It makes us feel full longer because we digest fat more slowly than other nutrients.
• Fat is also important in helping us absorb fat soluble vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K.

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20 � 35% of total Calories from fat

• 2000 Calorie diet = 44 � 78 grams of fat or 11 � 19 1/2 teaspoons
• 1500 Calorie diet = 33 � 58 grams of fat or 8 1/4 � 14 1/2 teaspoons

Speaker's Notes

• Fat is part of a healthy diet.
• Current recommendations (Dietary Reference Intakes) suggest that adults consume between 20 and 35% of their total calories as fat.
• This range reflects a variety of foods selected each day and represents a healthy range � levels above 35% may increase the risk of diseases such as heart disease and obesity; levels below 20% may increase the risk of not consuming or absorbing enough essential fats or fat soluble vitamins.
• Typically a 2000-Calorie diet is used as a reference � this is an average for all adults.
• A 2000-Calorie diet would mean that 20 to 35% of fat would be between 44 and 78 grams or, later in this presentation, it would be 11 to 19.5 teaspoons of fat, where 1 teaspoon equals 4 grams of fat.
• Women, smaller adults, or those trying to limit total food intake may consume a diet closer to 1500 Calories.
• A 1500 Calorie diet would contain between 8 1/4 and 14 1/2 teaspoons of fat to be within the recommendations.

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Speaker's Notes

To achieve the recommended amount of fat in a healthy diet, it is important to choose a variety of foods from all 4 food groups.

The fat we eat comes from each of the four food groups as well as other foods. Within each food group there are many lower-fat options.

• weight gain or obesity
• heart disease

Canada�s Food Guide to Healthy Eating is currently being revised. A new guide is expected in 2006.

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1. Easy to see

• Fat added to foods
  - Butter, margarine, oil
• Fat on the outside of foods
  - Chicken skin, outside trim on meat

• Ingredient
  
  - Snack foods, baked products, desserts
• Added in cooking
  
  - Fried foods, cream soups, sauces

Speaker's Notes

To be able to reduce our fat intake, we need to know where the fat is in our diets.
Sometimes fat is easy to spot:

• In the butter, oil, margarine we add to foods or use in cooking foods;
• The fat on the outside of foods like the skin on chicken and the trim on meat � these are easily removed.

• We use fat as ingredients in foods � in recipes, in baked goods;
• We use fat to cook foods � this fat gets absorbed into foods and increases the fat content as seen in fried foods.

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Speaker's Notes

• Other Foods are foods that are not part of the Four Food Groups;
• It includes foods that are higher in fat or calories and/or low in other nutrients;
• Foods in this group include oils, margarines, butter, lard, salad dressings, mayonnaise, higher fat snack foods like chocolate bars, as well as foods like candy, tea, coffee, water, and alcohol.

• Values are taken from the "Food Habits of Canadians" study at McGill University.

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• All fat-containing foods have a mixture of different fats
• Types of fats include:
  • Polyunsaturated fats (PUFA)
  • Monounsaturated fats (MUFA)
  • Saturated fats (SFA)
  • Trans fats (TFA)

Speaker's Notes

• Fat is made up of different fatty acids � the building blocks of fat.
• All fat-containing food has a mixture of these different fatty acids.
• Usually the type of fat that is in greatest quantity determines how that food is identified. For example, olive oil has more monounsaturated fat than the other fats.
• The main types of fat are polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and saturated fat. We will also talk about trans fats since they are present in a number of foods and are linked to heart disease.

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• Some are �essential� because the body cannot make them:
  • Omega-3 fats can help decrease the risk of heart disease
  • Omega-3 fats are found in fish and omega-3 eggs
    
• Other foods with PUFA are
  • vegetable oils (corn, soybean, sunflower), margarines made with vegetable oils, walnuts, pecans, products made from corn, flaxseed

Speaker's Notes

• Polyunsaturated fats are an important part of our diet.
• Some are essential because our body cannot make them like omega-3 fats, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.
• Omega-3 fats are found in fish such as salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna, herring and halibut, flaxseed and omega-3 eggs.
• Other sources of PUFA include vegetable oils (corn, soybean, sunflower), margarines made with vegetable oils, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and flaxseed.

Notes to leader:

• These foods are listed in the �Canadian Nutrient File�.
• Their fat profile indicates that the level of PUFA is higher than the other types of fat.

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• Considered �good� fats because they help decrease the risk of heart disease
• Examples: Olive oil, canola oil, margarine made with canola, peanuts, nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans)

Speaker's Notes

• Like polyunsaturated fats, these are considered �good� fats because they help decrease the risk of heart disease.
• Foods that are sources of monounsaturated fats include olive oil, canola oil, margarine made with canola, peanuts (and peanut butter), nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans), and avocados.
• Interestingly, many animal products are identified as primarily sources of saturated fats; however, many cuts of meat, including beef, pork, chicken and fish are higher in monounsaturated fat than saturated fat.
  • For example, lean beef has about 51% monounsaturated fat, 45% saturated fat and 4% polyunsaturated fat.

• Source of information is the �Canadian Nutrient File�.

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• Diets high in saturated fats can increase the risk of heart disease
• Examples: butter, cakes and pastries, chocolate bars, coconut, coffee whitener are all high in saturated fat
• Other sources of saturated fat include untrimmed meat and higher fat dairy products (e.g., cheese, cream)

Speaker's Notes

• A high intake of total fat and saturated fat has been associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
• Sources: Food items such as butter, cakes and pastries, chocolate bars, coconut, coffee whitener are all sources of saturated fat.
• Untrimmed meat and higher fat dairy products are also sources of saturated fat in our diets.

Note to leaders

• Many animal products are identified as primarily sources of saturated fats. If the meat is untrimmed then the amount of saturated fat is higher than the other fats. However, when trimmed, many cuts of meat, including beef, pork, chicken and fish are lower in total and saturated fat, and higher in monounsaturated fat.
• For example, lean beef has about 51% monounsaturated fat, 45% saturated fat and 4% polyunsaturated fat.
• In addition, one-third of the saturated fat in beef is stearic acid, which does not affect blood cholesterol.
• Source of information is the �Canadian Nutrient File�.

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• Are made from hydrogenation
  • This makes oils more firm.
• Act like saturated fats in the body
• Most found in commercially prepared foods
  • some French fries, potato chips, donuts, cookies, crackers, cereals, shortening, muffins, pizza crusts, buns, cakes

Speaker's Notes

• Most trans fats are produced through the processing of other polyunsaturated fats � this is called hydrogenation.
• Hydrogenation makes the vegetable oil more stable and firm � this results in products that are more suitable than liquid oils for cooking and baking.
• The problem with these trans fat is that they act like saturated fat increasing the risk of heart disease.
• There is no way of knowing how much trans fats there are in foods until the Nutrition Facts are listed on all packaged products. Ingredient lists will identify hydrogenated vegetable oils, which will give you some indication but not the amount.
• Most are found in commercially prepared foods � some brands of French fries, potato chips, donuts, cookies, crackers, cereals, shortening, muffins, pizza crusts, hamburger buns, cakes (Reference: Heart Headlines, Volume 7(2), Summer 2000. www.becelcanada.com)
• Many companies are changing their recipes to decrease or eliminate the trans fat in their foods.

• Trans fats are produced from partial hydrogenation. Oils that are fully hydrogenated are saturated fats and do not contain trans fats. Unfortunately, both partially hydrogenated oils and fully hydrogenated oils are often listed the same way on labels � as hydrogenated oils. This does not make it easy to determine whether a product has trans fats or not without the Nutrition Facts Table which will be on most products by 2006.

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• Found in dairy and meat products
• Some are not the same as those found in processed foods
• One type is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
  • These may reduce risk of cancer and heart disease

Speaker's Notes

• In addition to trans fats produced through hydrogenation, there is a small amount of naturally occurring trans fats.
• These trans fats also include conjugated linoleic acid or CLA � research using animals (like mice or rats) on this fatty acid has shown that CLA may be beneficial in reducing the risk of cancer or heart disease.
• A lot more research is needed to determine whether CLA has any benefit for people.

• When products have the Nutrition Facts on their labels, the trans fat listed on the label of milk products or meat products is the naturally occurring trans fat only, but does not include the CLA in these foods. There are no trans fats in milk and beef from hydrogenation.

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Speaker's Notes

• All fat-containing foods are a mixture of different types of fat.
• This slide shows 4 examples of fats � showing the mixture of fats.
• Fats are classified based on the one that is in the greatest quantity.
• For example, corn oil is almost 60% polyunsaturated fat, but it also has 40% of other fats.
• Butter, olive oil and corn oil do not contain trans fats, but may have small amounts of other fat compounds not measured in the three main types of fat.
• The hard margarine (or stick margarine) contains partially hydrogenated oil. As a result, it has a high amount of trans fat.

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Why is fat important?

• Fat is a nutrient
• It is a source of energy
• It adds taste and texture to food
• It helps us feel full longer
• It helps us absorb fat-soluble vitamins

Speaker's Notes

Here is the first of three questions to review some of the information covered in this presentation.

Why is fat important?

Fat is an important nutrient because:

• Fat is a nutrient
• it is a source of energy,
• it adds taste and texture to food
• It helps us feel full longer
• it helps us absorb fat-soluble vitamins.

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Give three examples of foods that contain hidden fats.

Examples include:

• Snack foods
• Fried foods
• Cream soups
• Desserts

Speaker's Notes

The second question is asking you to give three examples of foods with hidden fats.
Examples of foods that have hidden fats include:

• Snack foods such as potato chips, peanuts, granola bars, chocolate bars
• Fried foods � French fries, fried chicken or fish, any deep-fried food, doughnuts
• Cream soups
• Desserts � pies, some cakes (e.g. cheesecake, mouse, cakes with whipped cream, cakes with a lot of oil or butter in the recipe), muffins, cream cookies, etc.

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How much total fat is recommended in our diets?

It is recommended that we have between 20 and 35% of our Calories from fat.

Speaker's Notes

The third question is how much total fat is recommended in our diets.

It is recommended that we have between 20 and 35% of our Calories from fat.
For a 2000-Calorie diet, that would be between 44-78 grams of fat.

Nutrition Labelling resources:
www.healthcanada.ca/nutritionlabelling
www.healthyeatingisinstore.ca/
Canada�s Food Guide to Healthy Eating:
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/onpp-bppn/food_guide_e.html
Nutrition information and activities:
http://www.dietitians.ca/
Recipes and more nutrition information about beef:
http://www.beefinfo.org/

Reviewed by:
Laurie Barker, RD, Sobeys, Nova Scotia
Lisa Boyce, RD, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Heather Deegan, MSc, RD, Public Health Nutritionist, Ontario
Nancy Doern-White, RD, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Isabelle Huot, Chroniqueur nutrition, Montreal, Quebec
Ramona Josephson, RD, Your Nutrition Coach, British Columbia
Kathy Ladd, RD Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Sarah O�Brien, RD, Nutrition Resource Centre, Ontario

Developed by: The team of Registered Dietitians at the Beef Information Centre

June 2004