One more bite won't hurt.....or will it???

US News & World Report recently posted a study from the University of Sydney in Australia on their findings after 14 trial participants, all healthy and between the ages of 18 and 40, ate just one piece of high-fat carrot cake and drank a milkshake. That fat-laden feast compromised the ability of the participants' arteries to expand to increased blood flow. The sudden boost in the saturated fat reduced the effects of "good" cholesterol, aka HDL, from protecting the inner lining of the arteries from the build-up of fatty plaques. We've always known this in the back of our minds that fatty meals do have an immediate, negative effect of our heart health, but will we ever change our ways? Each time we sit with our families at dinner or co-workers during lunch and notice there is only one piece left of that juicy hamburger, steak, or fries; we want to eat it in order to not waste food. Unfortunately we tend to give in to our tendancies of "thinking we're still hungrey" after 2 servings. Where is the self control? Where are the little voices in our head telling us not to eat anymore? Apparently they're also on a break during snack time, lunch, and dinner. So what can we do to reduce our risks of heart disease?

The American Dietetic Association suggests cutting down on meat, full-fat milk and full-fat dairy products as a way to reduce saturated fat. Those foods are all major sources of saturated fat, as well as processed foods and snacks. The American Heart Association sets the bar for saturated fat at less than 7% of daily calories. Therefore, if your total calorie goal is 2,000/day (reasonable for moderately active adults) you should aim for no more than 20 g of saturated fat to keep your intake to 10%. While few people will take the time to add up their fat grams, doing so for a day or two can give you an idea of how you are doing.

Switching to low-fat or non-fat dairy products can minimize total saturated fat intake. It's important to read the Nutrition Facts labels.

Here are examples of good alternatives:
1 cup vanilla soft serve ice cream - 13.5g of saturated fat
Low fat ice cream bars - 1.5g of saturated fat

1 ounce of cheddar chess - 6g of saturated fat
1 ounce of part-skim mozzarella - 2.9g of saturated fat

3 oz Regular ground beef cooked (25% fat) - 6.1g of saturated fat
3 oz Extra lean ground beef cooked (5% fat) - 2.6g of saturated fat

1 cup whole milk (3.35%) - 4.6g of saturated fat
1 up low-fat milk (1%) - 1.5g of saturated fat

Learn more about saturated fats, visit the USDA Dietary Guidelines site.

Maybe these suggestions as well as the USDA Guidelines will help prevent us from eating that last piece of cake!