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By Diane Hanson

We're always being told we should only put good healthy stuff into our bodies, but is it ok to eat fats? Most of us avoid fat in an attempt to lose weight yet emerging research shows that fat is a necessary part of a balanced diet. We need good fats for a variety of reasons such as to feel comfortably satiated, to lose weight, and for disease prevention, to name a few.

Now the question is, what are healthy fats to eat? And, bad fats to avoid? For successful weight reduction and optimal health, here are a few things to keep in mind the next time you go to the grocery store or sit down for a meal.

1. Eliminate trans fatty acids (partially hydrogenated fats)

Trans fatty acids or trans fats are formed when food manufacturers turn liquid vegetable oils into solid fats such as shortening and hard margarine to extend shelf life and add taste. Most of the trans fats you eat come from commercially baked and fried foods, usually made with vegetable shortening, hard margarine or oils containing partially hydrogenated oils and fats.

Consuming too much trans fats not only contributes to obesity, it has also been shown to cause a host of other harmful health effects including diabetes, and heart-related problems such as stroke and heart attack.

While there is no official recommended daily allowance (RDA) for trans fats, but the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends you limit trans fats to 1 percent of your daily calories, which is almost equal to about 2 to 2.5 grams of trans fat per day.

Therefore, you want to cut back on highly processed foods like instant ramen noodles as well as french fries, doughnuts, pastries, muffins, cookies, and chips. A piece of donut has nearly 5 grams of trans fats, and pound cake has about 4 grams per slice so watch out.

2. Reduce saturated fats

Like trans fats, a diet that is high in saturated fats can raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in your body, leading to an increased risk for coronary heart disease.

Saturated fats are found in meat and other animal products such as full-fat cheeses, butter, lard, whole fat milk and cream.

To limit your saturated fat intake, avoid fatty cuts of meat (marbled meat), organ meats (liver) and processed meats (bacon, salami, corn beef) as much as possible.

Consume only lean meats and poultry without skin, and prepare them without added saturated and trans fat such as baking instead of deep-frying. To cook healthy meals, use the leanest cuts of red meat (sirloin, chuck, loin and round) that you can afford, usually labeled "choice" or "select" grades.

3. Eat monounsaturated fats

Monounsaturated fats are far better for overall health than saturated fats. This is because they are "good fats" that actually reduce bad cholesterol levels, improve glycemic control and help promote weight loss (particularly belly fat), when consumed in moderation.

You can find monounsaturated fats in olive oil (73%), and rapeseed oil (60%).

Hazelnuts (50%), almonds (35%), Brazil nuts (26%), cashews (28%) also have good amounts of monounsaturated fats in them. If you have nut allergies, try avocados (12%), sesame seeds (20%) and pumpkin seeds (16%).

4. Consume essential fats

Essential fatty acids, particularly omega 3 fats, can benefit your body in a huge way. Aside from lowering your risk for heart attack and stroke, they also keep your weight down and may help you prevent some types of cancers including cancer of the colon and breast.

Omega-3 essential fats, found in cold water fish (salmon, trout and herring), fish oils, flaxseeds, chia seeds and fortified foods (bread, soymilk and eggs) are recommended as a regular part of a healthy diet.

5. Use fat sparingly

Remember fat contains 9 calories per gram, twice the calories of carbohydrates and proteins so make sure you keep fat to the minimum.

To help you "eyeball" portion sizes, keep in mind that 1 teaspoon of margarine or butter is about the size of the tip of your thumb.

Eating good fats and avoiding bad fats is the key to speeding up weight loss, and maintaining a healthy balanced diet.

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