THE FACTS ABOUT SPREADS AND OILS AND ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

Both the amount and type of fat you eat is important. 1 teaspoon of oil contains 5g of fat. 1 heaped teaspoon of margarine or butter has almost 6g of fat, while low fat spread or low fat butter have almost 3g fat. Reduced fats spreads contain different amounts so check the label. All oils are the most concentrated source of fat (100%) followed by margarines and butter (80%), which contain the same amount of calories and fat but have different types of fat. Low fat margarine or low fat butter has less fat (about 40%). Saturated, hydrogenated (hardened) and trans fats are the ‘bad’ fats because they raise the amount of harmful cholesterol in your blood and increase your risk of heart disease. They include the white fat you see on meat, and are also in sausages, puddings and meat pies and in butter, hard margarines, lard and some dairy products like hard cheese and cream. Saturated fats are also in pastries, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, confectionery and salty snacks like crisps.
Reduce intake of saturated fats by limiting these foods to special occasions. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are the ‘good‘ fats because they lower the harmful cholesterol in your blood and are good for your heart. They are found in most pure vegetable oils like sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil and the spreads made from these. They are also found in seeds and nuts. Oily fish is the best source of an essential fat called Omega 3.
EU guidelines on nutrition labels to tell you if a food is high in fat: Total fat • High is more than 20g of fat per 100g • Low is 3g of fat or less per 100g Saturated fat • High is more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g • Low is 1.5g of saturated fat or less per 100g If you are trying to cut down on fat, you should limit your consumption of foods and drinks that have more than 3g/100g of total fat and more than 1.5g/100g of saturated fat.
ALCOHOL For low risk drinking the weekly limits are • Up to 11 standard drinks a week for women (112 grams of pure alcohol) • Up to 17 standard drinks a week for men (168 grams of pure alcohol) Alcohol is high in calories but does not provide any nourishment.
One standard drink contains about 100-150 calories. Drinking more than the weekly limit can increase your weight and your blood pressure, putting you at risk of heart disease and stroke. It can damage your liver and can increase your chances of getting cancer, including breast cancer. Stick to recommended upper limits and spread drinks out over the week. Do not take more than 5 standard drinks in one sitting and have 3 alcohol free days during the week.
A man who drinks up to 17 drinks per week, consumes more than 1700 extra calories each week. This can lead to weight gain of about 1.5 stone in 1 year. A woman who drinks up to 11 drinks per week can gain about 1 stone in a year