You can help to lower your blood cholesterol when you replace saturated fats with unsaturated fat. Just be sure to limit the total amount of fats or oils to keep calories in check.
When buying fats and oils, remember to:
- Choose liquid vegetable oils that are high in unsaturated fats -- like canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, sesame, soybean, and sunflower oils.
- Buy margarine made with unsaturated liquid vegetable oils as the first ingredient. Choose soft tub or liquid margarine or vegetable oil spreads.
- Limit butter, lard, fatback, and solid shortenings. They are high in saturated fat and cholesterol.
- Buy light or nonfat mayonnaise and salad dressing instead of the regular kind that are high in fat. For example, two tablespoons of regular Italian dressing can add as many as 14 grams of fat.
For tips on how to prepare low fat, low cholesterol foods on the TLC Diet, check out the Heart Healthy Cooking tip sheet. Also see the tipsheet on which fats and oils to choose.
| Quick Check |
| Try one of the things below. Do it today!  Instead of using butter to spread on my toast, I’ll switch to a soft tub margarine. To cut back on fat and calories, I’ll try to use a reduced fat or nonfat salad dressing or mayonnaise or naturally lowfat lemon juice, vinegar, or herbs. |
| A Word About Margarine |
| You may have heard that margarine has a type of unsaturated fat called "trans" fat. "Trans" fats appear to raise blood cholesterol more than other unsaturated fats, but not as much as saturated fats. "Trans" fats are formed when vegetable oil is hardened to become margarine or shortening , through a process called "hydrogenation." The harder the margarine or shortening, the more likely it is to contain more "trans" fat. There are now margarines available that contain no "trans" fats. You can also read food labels and choose margarines that contain liquid vegetable oil as the first ingredient (rather than hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil) and the least amount of saturated fat. |
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