Healthy eating - use fat sparingly; choose vegetable oils rather than hard fats

Guidelines for Healthy Eating

The first group of guidelines provide general messages to promote a healthy lifestyle:

Enjoy a variety of foods.
Be active!
Drink lots of clean, safe water.

The next group of guidelines help to plan good mixed meals:

Make starchy foods part of most meals.
Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit every day.
Eat dry beans, split peas, lentils and soya regularly.
Fish, chicken, lean meat or eggs could be eaten daily.
Have milk, maas and yoghurt every day.
Use fat sparingly; choose vegetable oils rather than hard fats.

The following guidelines give messages about the use of foods that are commonly used but can be harmful when too much is used.

Use salt and foods high in salt sparingly.
Use sugar and food and drinks high in sugar sparingly.

Use fat sparingly;
choose vegetable oils rather than hard fat

The body needs some oils and fats from foods. Oils and fats can be found naturally in plant foods (like peanut butter and avocado) or animal-derived foods (like meat and chicken). They can also be added to foods and meals by spreading tub margarine on bread or using sunflower oil to brown onions for a stew.

The total amount of fat and oil in the diet should be limited, because too much fat increases the risk for weight gain and the development of high blood fat levels.

Fat is an essential nutrient in the eating plan; the type of fat, and the amount eaten are important.

Use plant oils and foods made from plant oils examples are sunflower, canola, avocado, olive or tub margarine, as shown on the food guide.
Limit fat from animal foods (full cream milk, cheese, fatty meat, skin of the chicken, high fat processed foods).
Cook meals using fresh ingredients instead of buying readymade meals; these are likely to be cheaper, more nutritious and have a lower fat and salt content.
Choose cooking methods that require little or no added oil or fat.

FOODS	UNIT
Oil; sunflower, canola, olive oil or other plant oil	1 teaspoon
Tub margarine	1 teaspoon
Peanut butter	1 heaped teaspoon