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Saturated fats, considered by many to be a main cause of LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol, are a group of fats that have no double bonds between the carbon atoms in the fat molecule. Instead, the carbon atoms are fully saturated with hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats are found mostly in foods from animals but also in some plants. Primary sources of saturated fats from animals include beef, beef fat, veal, lamb, pork, lard, eggs, seafood, poultry fat, chocolate, butter, cream, whole milk, cheeses, ice cream, and other dairy products. Primary sources of saturated fats from plants include coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, and cocoa butter. Research has consistently associated high levels of saturated fats with raising low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, raising total cholesterol level, atherosclerosis, obesity, and coronary heart disease. It is recommended that foods heavy in saturated fats be replaced with foods with not so heavy a fat content where possible. This can be accomplished by selecting different meats (such as fish for beef), foods prepared differently (such as baked for fried), cooking ingredients (such as margarine for butter), etc. But you have to check out the total effect of each when choosing since as when it comes to butter, you can instead switch to margarine, where you then need to consider the varying levels of trans fats. Additional info on saturated fats can be found on the following pages: Know Your Fats - American Heart Association Trans Fat Now Listed With Saturated Fat and Cholesterol on the Nutrition Facts Label - USDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Fat - MedLine Plus from U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health Butter vs Margarine - Cleveland Clinic Foundation
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