The internet is full of praise from people, praise for keto-friendly diets. Meanwhile, most healthcare providers follow decades of advice to stick with a low-saturated fat diet to improve your cardiovascular health.
It’s hard to know what to believe. Nutrition is a very complex topic and the best thing you can do is rely on what your registered dietitian recommends to do based on your health history, family history, and lifestyle factors. And if this advice happens to be a diet with low saturated fat, then I will let you cover this piece.
Let’s discuss what is a low-saturated fat diet and what foods should be included to easily browse this diet.
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What is a low-saturated fat diet?
According to MyFitnesspal nutritionist Katherine Basbaum, a diet with low saturation fat limits very high foods saturation Fat – No Unsaturated Fat.
But what is saturated fat?
“They are solid fats at room temperature. They are usually found in animal products and certain processed foods – considering: beef, pork, butter, cookies and cakes,” she explained.
American Dietary Guidelines (DGA) 2020-2025 actually recommends up to 10% of daily calories from saturated fats (2).
This suggestion from scientists is based on decades of research that suggests that a low diet of saturated fat can help improve heart health by improving cholesterol amounts (4).
For those who follow a 2000-calorie diet, this means that about 20 grams (or less) of saturated fat should be consumed every day (3).
This can indeed add up quickly. For example:
| food | Service size | Gone with fat |
| Cheeseburger | 1 Hamburger | 10 |
| ice cream | 4 oz | 10 |
| Greek Yogurt | ¾ cup | 6 |
| butter | 1 tablespoon | 7.3 |
| Fast food cakes with eggs and bacon | 1 sandwich | 8 |
| Frozen pepperoni pizza | 12-inch pizza | 26 |
Foods with high saturated fat content are usually high, too. It is OK to enjoy all of these foods in moderation, but if you eat them regularly, it can make the weight loss journey difficult. This is why tracking the intake of high foods in saturated fat can help! (3, 4).
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What’s more important is saturated fat or dietary cholesterol?
When it comes to heart disease, reducing saturated fat is more important than eating cholesterol.
Science has evolved and demonstrated that dietary cholesterol does not affect blood cholesterol as it once thought (5). In fact, due to the lack of evidence supporting this relationship, DGA actually eliminates the limitations of cholesterol in diet from recent guidelines (2).
The good news is that foods like eggs, which contain higher levels of dietary cholesterol, are now actually moderately recommended by the American Heart Association as part of a healthy heart diet (6).
About the Expert
MS, RD Katherine Basbaum Is MyFitnessPal’s food data curator. She received her Master of Nutrition Communications from the Friedman School of Nutritional Science and Policy at Tufts University and completed her dietary internship at UVA Health, where she also worked as a nutrition consultant for heart patients.
Elizabeth Shaw, MS, RDN, CPT is a nutrition expert, four-time recipe author and an early nutrition pioneer in the field of fertility nutrition. She is the president and owner of Shaw Simple Swaps, a U.S.-based nutrition communications and consulting company.
5 low fat-mock foods that are good for you
Various foods in saturated fat are actually also sources of other good nutrients!
This is the peak of five low-saturated fat foods that I regularly recommend to clients.
almond
Nutrition per 1 ounce (7)
Calories: 160; Total fat: 14 grams; Saturated fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 6 g; Total sugar: 1 g; Fiber: 4 g; Protein: 6 g
Almonds are not low-fat foods, but they are low-saturated fat foods. Almonds can also provide a lot of dietary fiber and protein. This nutritional three effects helps to make you longer and longer while also enabling you to achieve your goals (8, 9).
How to Eat them: When their snacks are roasted and lightly seasoned, they will enjoy one ounce of one ounce on their own. Or throw them into a salad, or mix them into your favorite energy bite!
avocado
Nutrition of avocado in each ⅓ (50 g) (10)
Calories: 80; Total fat: 7 grams; Saturated fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 4 grams; Total sugar: 0 g; Fiber: 3 g; Protein: 1 g
Avocado has risen in reputation on social media and global restaurant menus over the past two decades thanks to its excellent nutrients.
Again, it’s not a low-fat food (it contains 7 grams of total fat), but it does provide 1 gram of saturated fat, making it perfect for this list (10). Plus, it packs 3 grams of fiber-filled, which is undernourished for most Americans (2,10).
How to Eat them: You can certainly enjoy avocado yourself, but you can also use medium avocados as a tool for protein-rich foods. Or add a black bean burger to a breakfast bowl with eggs.
Canned tuna
Nutrition per 3 ounces (11)
Calories: 110; Total fat: 2.5 g; Saturated fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 0 g; Total sugar: 0 g; Optical fiber: 0 g; Protein: 20 g
Unless you are vegan, there is no reason to avoid canned tuna. Canned tuna is not only a low-fat and low-saturated fat food, but also a convenient high-protein food that is packed in only 20 grams (11) in a 3-ounce portion.
Protein is essential for building, maintaining and repairing lean muscle. It also contributes to satiety and weight management (8, 12).
How to eat it: You can enjoy canned tuna directly from the jar. I favor combining it with a fiber source, so you can also get the benefits from this nutrition. Consider adding 3 ounces of tuna to a salad with peanut butter. Or try avocado on apple slices, or even on salted oats with seaweed. (Don’t knock it before trying!)
Non-fat Greek yogurt
Nutrition per 1-cup serving (13)
Calories: 150; Total fat: 1 g; Saturated fat: 0.5 g; Carbohydrates: 9 g; Total sugar: 8 g; Optical fiber: 0 g; Protein: 25 g
While whole milk Greek yogurt has more saturated fat than you want, the non-fat option may be a good choice.
Regular, non-fat Greek yogurt is actually a superstar in the health field. Not only is the perfect choice for saturated fat (with only 0.5 grams), nonfat varieties also contain 25 grams of protein and source of probiotics (those that are good for bugs that support gut health) (13,14).
“Non-fat and low-fat regular Greek yogurt are great choices for people with low saturated fat diets,” said Katherine Basbaum of MyFitnesspal Dietitian. “In addition to being a versatile food, Greek yogurt is also rich in protein and vitamin B12,” she explained.
How to eat it: Whether you choose to enjoy a glass of Greek yogurt in parfait for breakfast, mayonnaise in salad for a better exchange, or a stylish yogurt bark, you can’t go wrong by adding this great food to your regular meal plan.
Lentils
Nutritional Cooked Every ½ cup (15)
Calories: 150; Total fat: 6.5 g; Saturated fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 17.5 g; Total sugar: 1.5 g; Fiber: 7 g; Protein: 8 g
Lentils, as well as other legumes (like beans and peas) are one of my preferred sources of plant-dynamic proteins and also happen to be foods low in saturated fat. Plus, lentils package dietary fiber and protein, allowing you to spend longer between meals (8,9).
How to Eat them: Swapping lentils for ground beef in tacos is actually a wonderful way to incorporate more plant-based protein into your diet without sacrificing flavor. Since they are very versatile, you can also pair five lentils with many other foods, such as potatoes for a simple dish, toss them into a salad, or puree them into soup.
FAQs (FAQs)
Which foods contain low saturated fat?
Plant-based foods, such as legumes, legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains, are naturally lower than saturated fats (6). However, animal-based foods, including lean and lean protein options, such as 93% lean/7% fat ground beef, boneless and skinless chicken breasts, and non-fat dairy products – can also usually fit this category of low-saturated fat foods (6).
Which snack foods are the lowest in saturated fat?
Whole grains usually contain saturated fats, such as air popcorn or rice. Additionally, nuts like almonds and pistachios are excellent snack options, with a large total fat that is considered low in saturated fat (1,6). Any agricultural product selection, including fruits and vegetables, can also be cut here (1,6). Most have no saturated fat.
Which meat has the lowest saturated fat?
The 3-ounce portion of boneless, skinless chicken breasts has only 1 gram of saturated fat (16). Generally, chicken and turkey tend to have less saturated fat than beef or pork.
How do you get rid of saturated fat in your body?
Unfortunately, you can’t just eliminate saturated fat from the body. “Saturated fat is a fat found in food that once consumed, it cannot be removed from the body. However, excessive saturated fat intake is associated with higher levels of LDL cholesterol, and there are ways to reduce LDL. Some examples include eating more fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, vegetables, whole grains and whole plant-based fats, as well as incorporating a plant-based diet into the diet, and incorporating more diets into Basba (1).
Bottom line
The latest DGA recommends a diet with low saturated fat as part of a healthy diet (2). This diet may benefit from heart health and weight management.
However, this does not mean low fat. In fact, foods with low saturated fat may actually contain higher amounts of total fat. That’s because they packed those unsaturated fats (1, 6). Record your food in the MyFitnessPal app now and learn about your saturated fat intake!
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