Eating 'good' fats can help people lose weight and stay healthy

Good, unsaturated fats should account for about 20-30 percent of daily calories. These can be found in olives and olive oils, nuts, avocados, fish and many vegetable oils. Bad, saturated fats in ice cream, meat, poultry, butter and eggs should take up 10 percent of daily calories. Trans fats should be avoided at all costs. They can be found in hydrogenated oils.

• FATS: Foods To Enjoy, Foods To Avoid!
• It's more accurate to state: you eat the wrong fats, you get fat.
• Yes, a diet too low in fat can be detrimental too.
• So says Kerry McLeod, author of The Last Diet Book Standing (simple nutrition series press).
• Second, while "good" fats and oils are absolutely an essential part of good health and maintaining your weight, they should be used sparingly.
• McLeod notes THE GOOD FATS (unsaturated) can actually help you lose weight because they help the body burn fat rather than store it.
• They also help to lower LDL cholesterol levels (bad cholesterol) and maintain or even raise HDL (good cholesterol).
• The recommended amount of good fats should be in the range of 20-30 percent of your total daily calories.
• Monosaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature, but can start to solidify in the refrigerator.
• The main sources include olives, olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, most nuts and avocados.
• THE BAD FATS (saturated) contribute to arterial aging and heart disease, as well as strokes and many different types of cancer and diabetes, because they raise bad cholesterol and suppress the good.
• THE UGLY FATS (trans fats) along with saturated fats are thought to raise your blood cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems.
• Trans fats are made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil through a process called hydrogenation; this makes the fat more solid at room temperature.
• "Food manufacturers are not presently required to list the amount of trans fats in their products.
• So, many seemingly 'heart-healthy' foods, made with vegetable oils containing little saturated fat and no cholesterol, do contain this very heart-unhealthy trans fat.