Fats explained

A small amount of fat is good for you. Too much bad (saturated) fat in your diet can increase your risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases.

There are lots of things you can do to eat less bad fats. Replacing some of them with healthy (unsaturated) fat will keep your heart healthy and manage your weight.

Why do we need some fat?

We all need to eat a small amount of fat to have a healthy and balanced diet. The right amount of fat helps our bodies to:

• stay warm
• have energy
• make hormones that help our bodies work the way they should
• have essential fatty acids like Omega-3 and Omega-6 – the body can’t make these
• absorb vitamins A, D and E – the body can’t absorb these vitamins without the help of fat.

When we eat more fat than our bodies need, the excess from our food is turned into body fat. We need some body fat to function properly and be physically active. But having too much body fat, especially around your waist, can increase your risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases. It can also make you feel more tired, give you joint pain and make you snore while you sleep.

What are the types of fat?

There are four main types of fat in our diets. They are:

• monounsaturated fats
• polyunsaturated fats
• saturated fats
• trans fats.

Monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat are ‘healthy’ fats. They can help to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is a fatty substance in your blood.

Saturated fat and trans fat are ‘unhealthy’ fats. They can raise your ‘bad’ (non-HDL) cholesterol in your blood. Too much cholesterol can increase your risk of having:

• a stroke
• a heart attack
• vascular dementia.

Cutting down on foods and drinks that are high in saturated and trans fats will help to keep your heart healthy and maintain your weight. You can replace some of them with unsaturated fats.

Types of fats		Types of foods
Monounsaturated Have these healthy fats in small amounts.		Peanut butter, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts and pistachios. Rapeseed oil, olive oil, olives and avocados.
Polyunsaturated Have these healthy fats in small amounts. They supply omega-3 and omega-6. Your body can’t make these important nutrients on its own.		Oily fish like kippers, mackerel and salmon. Rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and corn oil. Some nuts like walnuts, pine nuts, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds.
Saturated Reduce how much you eat these unhealthy fats by swapping some of them for unsaturated fats.		Processed and fatty meats like sausages, ham, burgers and bacon.  Hard cheeses like cheddar. Whole milk, cream and ice cream. Butter, lard, ghee, suet, palm oil and coconut oil.
Trans Limit how much you eat these unhealthy fats as much as you can.		Fried foods and takeaways. Snacks like biscuits, cakes, pies and pastries. Hard margarines made with hydrogenated oil.

How much fat should I eat?

The UK government recommends that:

• men should have less than 30g of saturated fat per day
• women should have less than 20g of saturated fat per day
• men and women should have less than 5g of trans fat per day
• children should have less trans fat and saturated fat per day than adults.

Most people in the UK eat too much saturated fat. The nutrition labels on your food’s packaging will show you the amount of total fat and saturated fat you are eating. Looking at the amount of saturated fat in your food will help you keep to the recommended daily intake.

We tend to eat more saturated fats than trans fats. But you may want to check your food’s nutrition labels for trans fats. They are usually listed as ‘hydrogenated fats’ or ‘hydrogenated vegetable oils’ in the ingredients.

Are ‘low fat’ and ‘lighter’ foods better for me?

A lower fat option might not be better for you. For a food or drink to be labelled as:

• ‘lite’, ‘light’ or ‘lighter’, it must have at least 30 per cent less fat than the original product
• ‘low fat’ or ‘reduced fat’, it must have less than 3g of fat per 100g and the pack’s label will have the fat content coloured green.

Sometimes, the fat will be replaced with more sugar or salt to make it taste like the original product. This might not make the lower fat option healthier.

Even if your food’s packaging says it’s lower fat, you might want to check its nutrition label. You can check the amount of ‘total fat’ and the amount of ‘saturated fat’ per serving on the label.

Easy tips to help you reduce unhealthy fats

• Cook with vegetable oils and spreads like olive oil, rapeseed oil and sunflower oil.
• Measure the amount of oil you use with a teaspoon or use a spray bottle.
• Make your sandwich fillers healthier by using spreads made from vegetable oils and nuts. And swap hard cheese and processed meat for oily fish and vegetables like avocado, and lettuce.
• Reduce your intake of processed meats like hamburgers and sausages. Choose lean meats (meats with less fat) like skinless chicken, turkey and fish. Or plant-based protein like lentils, beans or Quorn.
• Snack on unsalted nuts and fruit, rather than biscuits, cakes and crisps. Or make your own healthy snacks like homemade fresh fruit scones.
• Use semi-skimmed, skimmed or 1% milk. Or no added sugar, plant-based milk like almond milk, soya milk, oat milk and cashew milk.
• Use lower fat cheeses like feta, mozzarella, half-fat cheddar, edam and ricotta, rather than cheeses like halloumi and cheddar. Or grate your cheese to make it go further in your meal.
• Check the amount of saturated fat per serving on your foods labels to help you keep to the recommended daily intake.

Try our easy recipes

Our recipe finder will help you take the stress out of planning yours and your family’s meals. Find quick recipes for meals and snacks to reduce the amount of saturated fat you eat. You’ll find tasty ideas for all dietary requirements and cuisines, even recipes to support diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Visit our recipe finder

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Page last reviewed: September 2021
Next review due: September 2024