The important thing to remember is to balance your choices so that your total fat intake is no more than 30 percent of your total daily calories. They differ in their chemical makeup and in the types of foods in which they appear. Saturated fats are those found primarily in meat and dairy products and in some vegetable fats, such as coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils. Polyunsaturated fats are found in safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean, and cottonseed oils, and some fish. They help lower the level of blood cholesterol by helping the body get rid of excessive, newly formed cholesterol.
Monounsaturated fats are in liquid vegetable oils such as canola and olive.
Recent evidence indicates that they may be as effective as polyunsaturated oils in decreasing blood cholesterol levels. Cholesterol and fat are not the same thing. In the human body, cholesterol is a white, waxy substance found in every cell and is needed for normal functioning. You never have to add cholesterol to your diet, however, because your liver manufactures all the cholesterol your body needs. Cholesterol is carried from one part of your body to another in the bloodstream.