Dieting on a Budget

In a healthy diet, people usually want to limit or avoid the saturated fat. Saturated fat is known to raise blood cholesterol levels and is found in the following foods: fatty meats, poultry skin, coconut and palm oils, pastries, cookies, and high fat dairy products.

Unsaturated fats have been shown in recent studies to fight cardiovascular disease, improve skin appearance and help to lower cholesterol.

Consider the following low-cost tips to increase unsaturated fat in your diet:

• Have 1 or 2 tablespoons of salad dressing made with olive or canola oil and vinegar in salads each day.
  

• Add 1 teaspoon of margarine made with olive or canola oil to vegetables at dinner.
  

• Use olive or canola oil to saute vegetables and add to recipes.
  

• Have 30 grams of unsalted nuts or seeds as a snack or on cereals. That means any ONE of the following: 22 almonds, 28 peanuts, 20 pecans, 45 pistachios, 10 walnuts or 1/4 cup sunflower seeds.