Which foods contain polyunsaturated fats

Too much fat in your diet, especially saturated fats, can raise your cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease. Current UK government guidelines advise cutting down on all fats and replacing saturated fat with some unsaturated fat. A small amount of fat is an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Fat is a source of essential fatty acids, which the body cannot make itself. Fat helps the body absorb vitamin A , vitamin D and vitamin E. These vitamins are fat-soluble, which means they can only be absorbed with the help of fats. Any fat that's not used by your body's cells or turned into energy is converted into body fat. Likewise, unused carbohydrates and proteins are also converted into body fat. All types of fat are high in energy.

A gram of fat, whether it's saturated or unsaturated, provides 9kcal 37kJ of energy compared with 4kcal 17kJ for carbohydrate and protein. Most fats and oils contain both saturated and unsaturated fats in different proportions. As part of a healthy diet, you should try to cut down on foods and drinks that are high in saturated fats and trans fats and replace some of them with unsaturated fats.

Most of them come from animal sources, including meat and dairy products, as well as some plant foods, such as palm oil and coconut oil. Cholesterol is a fatty substance that's mostly made by the body in the liver. Eating too much saturated fats in your diet can raise "bad" LDL cholesterol in your blood , which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Trans fats are found naturally at low levels in some foods, such as meat and dairy products.

They can also be found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Duyff RL. Fat facts. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Department of Health and Human Services and U. Department of Agriculture. Accessed Feb. Dietary Reference Intakes for energy, carbohydrate, fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein, and amino acids.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Saturated, unsaturated, and trans fats. Accessed Oct. Hyperlipidemia adult. Mayo Clinic; The skinny on fats. American Heart Association. Sacks FM, et al.

Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association.

Bonow RO, et al. Nutrition and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Elsevier; Healthy diet adult. Hooper L, et al. Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Mozaffarian D. Dietary fat. Polyunsaturated fat.

Accessed March 1, Saturated fat. See also MIND diet may cut Alzheimer's risk 3 diet changes women over 50 should make right now 3 key changes in the new Nutrition Facts label Healthy-eating habits Reduce sugar in your diet Acai berries Added sugar Alcohol use Alkaline water Are energy drinks bull?

Artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes Autism spectrum disorder and digestive symptoms Bad food habits at work? Most foods contain a combination of fats. Foods high in polyunsaturated fat include a number of plant-based oils, including: soybean oil corn oil sunflower oil Other sources include some nuts and seeds such as walnuts and sunflower seeds, tofu and soybeans. Are polyunsaturated fats lower in calories?

Polyunsaturated fats — like all fats — contain nine calories per gram. Last Reviewed: Jun 1, First Name required First Name Required. Last Name required Last Name Required. Email required Email Required. Zip Code required Zip Code Required. I agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Kroger Health. Nationally Sponsored by.

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