Low Fat Diets

Many people have misconceptions of what a low fat diet should be.  A low fat diet does not have to take out major food groups.  Also, a low fat diet should not abandon all fat entirely.  Even if you want to lose weight and go on a low fat diet, it is important to note that some dietary fats can be necessary.  Let's take a further look into the world of low fat dieting.  Alsom here are our top 5 sites for low fat diets.

Tips for low fat dieting

One common asepct of any weight loss program, will often involve a low fat diet.  There are some important guidelines to follow before you get started.  It is important to know as much information as possible so that your low fat diet can be the most effective.  Many people think that a diet will always force people to do things they dont want to do.  This is not always the case.  It is possible to still enjoy meals the same way you always have while sticking to the guidlines of the program.  You won't have to give up all your favorite foods.  What you will have to do is pay attention to labels, learn more about different types of foods, come up with replacements for the highest fatty foods and eat more moderately.  Since the amount of fat in a diet determines how the fat in the body is digested and moved, a low fat diet will almost always work for people with high cholesterol levels. 

Know about fat

Most people just look at cholesterol levels when examining different foods for their diet.  It is also important to know about other kinds of fats.  Saturated fats tend be most prominent in animal foods.  The liver will turn saturated fats into cholesterol will prevent weight loss.  Therefore, it is important not over-indulge in saturated fats for an effective low fat diet.  Polyunsaturated fats are usually found in non-meat foods and are more healthy than saturated fats.  These types of fats do lower the bad cholesterol levels but also lower the good cholesterol. Monounsaturated fats are the most healthy.  These fats lower the bad cholesterol and raise the good cholesterol at the same time.  Thus, for an effective low fat diet, saturated fats should be avoided the most.  The tricky part is that the foods with low levels of cholesterol are typically high in saturated fats.  Foods that are high in cholesterol are usually lower in saturated fats.  This means that you should not always assume that low cholesterol is always a good thing for your diet.  In many cases, it isn't.  Always make sure to double check the saturated fat levels of any foods.   

Formula for an effective low fat diet

Now that you know a bit more about cholesterol and the different types of fats, you are probably asking yourself:  How do I know how much of each kind of fat should I consume.  This is based on the your new knowledge of the fact that some fats and cholesterol can do good things for your body.  You should not eliminate ALL fats.  Here is a recommended formula to follow for your low fat diet. 

  • Total fat content should be under 30 percent of total calories
  • Saturated fat content should be under 10 percent of total calories
  • Monounsaturated fat content should be under 15 percent of total calories
  • Polyunsaturated fat content should be under 10 percent of total calories
  • Cholesterol intake should be under 300 mg per day

For people who have a strong history of cholesterol problems, this low fat diet should be varied slightly:

  • Total fat content should be under 25 percent of total calories
  • Saturated fat content should be under 6 percent of total calories
  • Polyunsaturated fat content should be under 10 percent of total calories
  • Monounsaturated fat content should also be under 10 percent of total calories

How much total fat?

Food labels are required by law to say the content of all calories, fats and cholesterol.  Therefore all you will have to do is some easy math to find which foods are right for your low fat diet.  To figure out how many calories you should consume, there is another formula.  Calories are what you need to maintain your current body weight.  The amount of calories you should consume is also related to how active you are.  If you are very inactive, you should take your weight and multiply that by 12.  This will give you the amount of calories that you should consume in your diet per day.  If you are moderately active, you should multiply your weight by 14 to give you your proper calorie amount.  If you are extremely active, you should take your weight and multiply it by 18.

If you are going on a low fat diet in order to lose weight, you can use this formula as well.  The only difference is that you should take your desired weight and multiply that.  For example, if you are moderately active, weigh 180 lbs, and want to lose 20 lbs via low fat diet, you should multiply 160 by 18.  After doing that math you will get 2880, which should be your targeted amount of calorie intake per day for you diet.  After you get that figure, you can then use the formula above to figure out how much of each type of fat should make up that calorie content.  After this, you should be well on your way towards developing an effective low fat diet.