Fat Sources in Your Diet

The following table shows you the natural fat sources, and where you may find processed trans fat sources in your diet:

• Processed trans fats
• processed peanut butter
• baked goods
• frozen dinners
• processed meat products
• breakfast cereals
• confectionery
• margarines and hydrogenated spreads dried fruits
• chocolate
• low-fat and lite products
• crackers
• snack foods like chips
• Natural fats
• nuts
• seeds eggs fish
• chicken
• meat butter fruits and vegetables
• legumes and grains cold-pressed and unrefined oils

As you can see, butter is a natural fat, and we believe butter is better for you in moderation than a processed trans fat. However, butter is high in saturated fat, and should only be used sparingly.

Note: A small amount of trans fat can occur naturally in animal products such as meat and milk. This is due to the bacteria in the animal's gut, which produce these fats and transfer them on. These fats are only found in minimal amounts and they are recognised by your body as naturally occurring trans fats. Therefore the body does not respond to them in the same way it does to trans ('plastic') fats as mentioned above.

How Much Protein Do You Need?

Adults need about 50-60g of protein per day. This can be obtained from a couple of portions of foods like chicken, lean meat and fish (each one being approximately 20g). A vegetarian can meet their daily needs with eggs (two of which will provide approximately 15g), a few slices of cheese, a couple of slices of whole-grain bread and a cup of yoghurt.

Some people will need more protein than this at different times, such as infants, teenagers and pregnant women. If you are injured, the body requires more protein to help protect existing tissue and repair and rebuild the injured parts. Surgery, blood loss or wound healing also increase your protein requirements as the body creates new cells. Some athletes, particularly bodybuilders, need extra protein to help build more muscle tissue turned into trans fat. Trans fats also hide in a lot of other processed foods, such as cakes, biscuits, instant and frozen meals, breads, lollies and chocolate. Check the label because the amount of trans fats is not always listed. The only way to be certain is to phone the manufacturer.

(The best way to use butter is to make your own butter blend (this does not contain a lot of the additives that blended butters from the supermarket do): 250 g of unsalted butter blended by hand or in a processor with half a cup of olive oil and half a cup of flaxseed oil.)

The problem with trans fats is that they are not natural. Their altered molecular structure means our bodies are less able to use them, therefore they are of little nutritional value to us and can interfere with other bodily processes; for example, they can block the absorption of good fats. They are definitely not the kind of fat you want in your diet! Keep in mind, then, that fats are more beneficial if they are not processed.