Like so many other nutritional concepts, the fat picture isn’t as simple as it often may sound in the latest news story or web site. Will you solve a cholesterol problem by com pletely eliminating animal products in your diet without changing anything else? Maybe, but maybe not. Will you develop a chronic disease if you eat too much polyunsatu rated fat? Probably not, but nutritionists don’t have a definitive answer to this question, either. Will you live to be one hundred years old if your fat intake comes primarily from monounsaturated fats? Again, maybe, and maybe not. No body exists in a vacuum, and even the Mediterranean diet is bigger than what kind of fat it includes. Common sense, and the traditional Mediterranean diet, dictate that moderation in all dietary aspects makes the most sense: small amounts of meat and dairy, with an emphasis on monounsaturated fats.
One of the best ways to cut saturated fat is to minimize your consumption of animal products like high-fat meat and dairy products, and maximize your consumption of plant foods. This is the crux of the traditional Mediterranean diet, and is easy to visualize with the Mediterranean Diet Pyra mid. If plant foods make up the bulk of your diet, you’ll need to do little else to keep your saturated fat intake under control. That’s not to say you shouldn’t eat any meat or dairy products. Lean meat, low-fat or nonfat dairy, and small amounts of richer animal products can flavor and enhance a plant-based diet. But when you eat in the Mediterranean way, these animal products embellish rather than dominate the dinner plate.
Center your meals around delicious whole-grain foods and bean dishes, with plenty of vegetables and fruit. Meats and cheeses make delicious and occasional condiments for flavoring. When you fill up on whole grains, vegetables, and fruits, you will not have much room left for high-fat foods.
When you do add fat to your diet, choose a fat rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, like olive oil or canola oil, as often as possible. The alternatives are far less appealing, healthwise. The major sources of saturated fat include but ter, shortening, lard, and cocoa butter. Consume these fats on rare occasions. Try substituting olive and canola oil in baking and as a dip for bread. There are many ways to avoid the use of saturated fats in traditional American recipes and still produce an excellent dish. Contact the American Di etetic Association (see the Resources section of this book) for recommended cookbooks including such recipes. Co - conut, palm, and palm kernel oils are perhaps the most noto- rious of the plant oils because they are among the few that contain a large proportion of saturated fat (take a deep breath and check the labels of your favorite processed foods).
If most of the fat in your diet comes from monounsaturated fat sources like olive oil and canola oil instead of the many sources of saturated and trans-fatty acids fat, you’ll find you can indeed eat fat and maintain a healthy heart, as long as you eat fat in moderation, keep your weight at a healthy level, and eat a diet based on plant foods. Remember the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid when choosing foods and planning meals. Olive oil is best, but you only need a drizzle.
EmoticonEmoticon