Dietary fats, oils and cholesterol

You need a certain amount of fat in your diet for healthy functioning. Oils and fats supply calories and essential fats and help your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K. The type of fat consumed is as important for health as the total amount consumed.

That's why it's important to choose healthier unsaturated fats. Eating too much and the wrong kinds of fats saturated and trans fats may cause an unhealthy imbalance, raising the bad LDL cholesterol and lowering the good HDL cholesterol, which can increase your risk of high blood pressure, narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), heart attack and stroke.

Canada's Food Guide recommends that you include a small amount  – 30 to 45 mL (2 to 3 tablespoons) – of unsaturated fat each day (also known as mono- and polyunsaturated fat). This includes oil used for cooking, salad dressings, soft non-hydrogenated margarine and mayonnaise.

Monounsaturated fats

These have been shown to improve blood cholesterol levels. They're found in olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, non-hydrogenated margarine, avocados and some nuts such as almonds, pistachios, cashews, pecans and hazelnuts.

Polyunsaturated fats

These fats can lower bad cholesterol levels (LDL cholesterol). One type of polyunsaturated fat is omega-3, which can help prevent clotting of blood, reducing the risk of stroke and also helps lower triglycerides, a type of blood fat linked to heart disease. The best sources of omega-3 fat are cold-water fish such as mackerel, sardines, herring, rainbow trout and salmon, as well as canola and soybean oils, omega-3 eggs, flaxseed, walnuts, pecans and pine nuts.

Another type of polyunsaturated fat is omega-6. It helps lower LDL cholesterol, but in large amounts it's thought to also lower the good HDL cholesterol. Eat it in moderation. It's found in safflower, sunflower and corn oils, non-hydrogenated margarine and nuts such as almonds, pecans, brazil nuts and sunflower seeds. It is also in many prepared meals.

Saturated fat

This can raise the bad LDL cholesterol. Foods high in saturated fat include fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, butter, hard margarines, lard, coconut oil, ghee (clarified butter), vegetable ghee, and palm oil.

Trans fat

Like saturated fat, trans fat raises the bad LDL cholesterol. Try to limit products that list vegetable oil shortening or partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients. Trans fat is found in partially hydrogenated margarines, deep-fried foods from fast-food outlets (fries, doughnuts), and many packaged crackers, cookies and commercially baked products.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is working to reduce trans fats in Canada's food supply. Read here.

How much fat should you eat in a day?

Remember that since all fats are calorie-heavy, you'll need to use even the healthier ones in moderation. A healthy eating pattern includes between 20% to 35% of your day's calories from fat. For women, this works out to 45 to 75 grams of fat a day, and for men, 60 to 105 grams of fat a day. The amount of fat a child or adolescent needs depends on their height, build, gender and activity level. Young children need a slightly higher amount of fat for growth and development, but this need decreases as they age. A tablespoon (15 mL) of oil, for example, equals about 14 grams.

What is dietary cholesterol?

The liver makes about 80% of the cholesterol in your body. The other 20% comes from the foods you eat. The foods that raise your blood cholesterol the most are saturated fat and trans fat in such foods as fatty meat and whole-fat dairy products, snack foods and ready-prepared foods. Foods that have high levels of dietary cholesterol include egg yolks, organ meats, shrimp, squid and fatty meats.

Dietary cholesterol only has an effect in some people. From a nutrition perspective, the best way for controlling blood cholesterol is to eat a healthy diet that is lower in fat, especially saturated and trans fat. Your doctor will advise you on how much food containing dietary cholesterol you should eat.

Read more about cholesterol as a risk factor. See our risk factors information here. For more information on dietary fats and cholesterol, please see our healthy eating brochure here.

 Dietary Fat and Cholesterol (PDF 530 KB)