Where can saturated fats be found?

Found in meat (don’t worry, we’ll explain later), butter, cheese, eggs and coconut oils, there are several types of saturated fatty acids. These are the most difficult for your body to digest and result in the storing of fat in areas you don’t want it. Look out for palmitic acid, myrisitc acid and lauric acid  on ingredients lists.

What do saturated fats do?

Saturated fats raise your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the bad stuff), which is responsible for clogging artery walls, thus increasing your chance of heart disease or a stroke.

The one type of saturated fat you don’t need to avoid so much is stearic acid (found in lean red meat). This won’t raise your LDL levels, it’s actually proven to lower them, so rejoice, meat can remain on the menu.

How much saturated fat should you be eating?

Saturated fats need to be kept to a bare minimum – only 5% of your total calories per day is recommended.

Top tip: Daily recommended calorie intake is 2,500 kcal for men and 2,000 kcal for women.