Lowering Fat Consumption

Eating a high fat diet may contribute to heart disease. Eating too much fat also contributes to excess body weight, since a gram of fat has about twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates and proteins. Being overweight may increase your risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (diseases of the heart and blood vessels) and certain forms of cancer.

Whether you are trying to lose weight, lower blood cholesterol levels or simply eat healthier, you'll want to limit total fat intake.

You can do a few things right now to reduce the amount of fat you consume. Train yourself to think lowfat when you eat, shop, and order in restaurants. Lowering your fat intake doesn’t have to be a chore, though. Keep these fat-reducing tips in mind:

Go fat-free in dairy. Probably the single most important step you can take to reduce the amount of fat you consume is to switch to fat-free (skim) milk, cheese, sour cream, yogurt, ice cream or frozen yogurt, and butter- or margarine-type spreads.

Discover liquid fat-free non-dairy creamers. Flavored and unflavored liquid fat-free non-dairy creamers are ideal for putting in coffee, tea, cocoa, and desserts.

The plain liquid non-dairy type (it’s made from soybeans) is a terrific substitute everywhere you use cream.

A typical dinner meal on the lower fat diet would include sesame chicken with rice, snow peas and carrots, frozen broccoli, fat-free cheese, oranges and a dinner roll.

According to the American Diabetes Association, Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes; millions of Americans have been diagnosed with it, and many more are unaware they are at high risk. Some groups have a higher risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, particularly African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and the elderly.

Although more research is needed, a prudent recommendation for losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight is to be mindful of the amount of food you eat in relation to the amount of calories you burn in a day. A moderate intake of fats, with an emphasis on healthful unsaturated fats, fits in fine with a weight-loss or weight-maintaining diet.