Fat is an essential part of the diet, but lots of people eat more fat than they need or is good for them.

In particular, saturated fats are dangerous because they raise 'bad' cholesterol and can block up the arteries to the heart.

Having too much harmful cholesterol in the blood increase the risk of coronary heart disease - the biggest killer in the UK.

The Food Standards Agency hopes to cut everyone's saturated fat intake by 20%.

This could prevent up to 3,500 premature deaths a year, says the government watchdog.

What is 'good' and 'bad' fat?

We all need to eat fat as part of a healthy diet. 'Good' fats include omega-3 fatty acids, found particularly in oily fish such as herring, mackerel, sardines, tuna, salmon and swordfish; and omega-6 fats found in olives, nuts, seeds and seed oils, and many vegetables and grains.

These help keep our arteries healthy and raise levels of beneficial HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.

'Bad' fats are saturated fats - hard fats found mainly in animal products such as red meat, butter and full-fat cheeses; and 'trans-fats' (fats that have been solidified by the process of hydrogenation) found in processed foods such as many margarines, biscuits, cakes and pies.

These raise blood levels of harmful LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.

BBCNews

Hi forwardone,

Well,It appears that diets high in saturated fat increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Most Americans consume far too much saturated fat in their diets. Reducing your consumption of saturated fat is a good dietary decision. The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat consumption to less than 7% of total energy intake.

Thanks

Interestingly, some contend it's not the fat that's causing the problem (outside of trans fats), but rather the high carb diets that go along with the high fat intake.

As an example for their reasoning, the Inuit, or commonly known as Eskimos, in their traditional life have always had an incredibly high fat diet. Straight blubber. But heart disease was unknown until they began to adopt the western diet of things like Coke and 'burgers.

When I first heard this it seemed pretty bizarre but I guess what happens is the body burns the fat for energy instead of the usual carbs since there aren't enough carbs and as a result the fat is not available to plug arteries or cause any of the other conditions we suffer in our western cultures.

It has to make you wonder, that's for sure.

Tula

Hello
It has to do with the way the chains of molecules are arranged in the fats. Unsaturated fat is a bend molecule and is easier to break down into a usable form, but saturated fat is a long, straight line and harder to break down.