Many foods are free of cholesterol but remain high in fat, like cheese, snack foods, nuts, peanut butter, oils, margarines, sauces and avocado. Cholesterol occurs only in foods of animal origin, so food made from plants is automatically free of cholesterol. For most people, the body regulates its own cholesterol and can switch production on or off, depending on how much cholesterol and saturated fat is eaten. Fat intake, particularly saturated fat, is more important to reduce than the cholesterol. Usually there is 25 or 33 per cent less fat than in its regular counterpart.
Examples are reduced-fat cheese, margarine spreads, mayonnaise, sour cream and dairy desserts.
One of the most common oil used to fry snacks and fast foods is palm oil, a tropical oil which is 50 per cent saturated. While it qualifies as a vegetable oil, it differs greatly from the unsaturated vegetable oils such as canola, soya bean and sunflower oil. If one of these oils is used in the food, it will usually tell you on the pack. The chemical name for salt is sodium chloride and figures on food labels are given in milligrams of sodium. Compare foods bought at a health food shop with those from the supermarket, especially foods like unprocessed bran, rolled oats, brown rice, unsalted nuts, dried fruit, muesli bars and flours.