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Lowering fat in the diet

In terms of weight management, fat is a killer: one gram of fat has almost twice as many kilojoules as 1g of carbohydrate or 1g of protein. Plus, too much fat can be bad for your heart.

But while it clearly makes sense to cut fat intake, it's important to remember that you still need to include some fat in your diet - your body simply can't function without it.

The golden rule is to limit unhealthy fats, such as saturated fats obtained from animal products and trans fatty acids (such as hard margarine, coffee creamers and coconut), and to include more healthy fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from plant oils (for example canola oil, olive oil, avocado pear and peanut butter), in your diet.

In terms of lowering your overall fat intake, here are a few useful tips:

• Always choose low-fat or fat-free milk and dairy products, for example low-fat yoghurt and cottage cheese. These options could also replace cream in recipes.
• Go for soft rather than hard margarines.
• Wait until toast has cooled down before spreading margarine or butter onto it. Also remember to spread the margarine/butter thinly.
• If you use fat, choose low-fat (lite) options for mayonnaise, salad dressings and margarines, and use these sparingly.
• Never use two fats(such as margarine, mayonnaise, peanut butter and avocado) to spread on bread. Choose one topping and spread it thinly.
• Remove all visible fat from meat before preparation. Steer clear of the skin of chicken and other poultry ( ideally remove it prior to cooking).
• Aim to eat less red meat, preferably no more than 2-3 times a week. Use lean meat options, such as lean mince, lean beef or lamb, ostrich, venison or soya mince. The fattiest meat is lamb, followed by beef, pork, chicken, ostrich and venison.
• Eat fish (fresh or canned) 1-2 times a week.
• Avoid processed meats such as ham and salami.
• Limit the addition of any form of extra fat during food preparation (such as margarine, butter, cream, mayonnaise, oil or cheese).
• Use low-fat cooking methods, for example boil, steam, grill, braai over the coals, bake in the oven, poach or stir-fry. Try not to fry food.
• If you do need to fry food, use very little oil (canola or olive oil) or try to prepare the food with no oil at all by means of fat-free frying (see method below).
• Limit the amount of gravies and sauces you use.
• Read food labels to assess the fat content of foods. A product is low fat if it contains lt 3g fat/100g and fat free if it has 0.5g fat/100g. On a more practical level, choose foods that contain fat between 3 -10% and try to stick to about 10 - 13g fat per meal. This can be achieved by adding only one fat to a meal and following the above-mentioned cooking methods.

Fat-free frying
The way in which you prepare food can go a long way towards lowering the fat content of your meals.

When browning meat, chicken or vegetables, stock with water or vegetable juices can be used instead of oil. A non-stick frying pan is useful, but not essential. What's more, there will be no difference in the flavour of the final dish although sautéing food without using oil or butter does take a little longer.

Simply follow these steps when doing fat-free frying:

• Fill a teacup halfway with boiling water and add a teaspoon of stock powder. Stir until dissolved and then fill the cup to the top with red or white wine. If you don't drink alcohol, vegeta ble juice or apple juice can be used instead.
• Place chopped onion to sauté in a frying pan over high heat. Toss the onion with a wooden spoon as it begins to cook. When it starts to brown and stick to the pan, add a few teaspoons of the stock mixture to the pan (enough to cause a cloud of steam without making the onion simmer).
• Continue tossing until the onion begins to stick again and then pour in the rest of the stock mixture, stirring until the brownish residue has lifted off the bottom of the pan.
• Cover with a lid and leave for 5-10 minutes until the fluid has reduced and the onions will be soft, brown and slightly caramelised.
• Add beef goulash cubes, vegetables or chicken strips as well as any other ingredients.

(Health24, January 2008)