What is saturated fat?

Why saturated fat matters

Eating a lot of saturated fat raises your LDL ("bad") cholesterol, which can build up in your arteries and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.

MedlinePlus advises keeping saturated fat:

• under 10% of your daily calories
• even less if you already have heart disease or high cholesterol

Fats are also high in calories, so too much can add to weight gain.

Saturated fat in Indian food

You don't need to give up ghee, just use it thoughtfully: a small spoon on your dal rather than a generous pour.

Simple swaps:

• Cook everyday dishes in liquid oils like mustard or groundnut instead of ghee or vanaspati.
• Choose toned or low-fat milk and dahi.
• Eat red meat less often, and swap in dals, fish or chicken.

Limit fried snacks, biscuits, cakes and packaged foods, which often use palm oil, and check labels for saturated fat.

Is saturated fat on a report?

Saturated fat itself isn't measured on a lab report, but its effect shows up in your lipid profile as raised LDL cholesterol.