DIETARY
GUIDELINES
2015-2020
EIGHTH EDITION
FOR AMERICANS
Cut Down on
Saturated Fats
Limiting saturated fats is important for your health — and it doesn’t mean you have to cut down on
flavor. Learn how to swap out saturated fats for healthier options.
The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting calories from saturated fats to less
than 10% of the total calories you eat and drink each day. That’s about 200 calories for a 2,000 calorie diet.
What are saturated fats?
Saturated fats are one type of fat in the foods we eat and the
beverages we drink. Most come from animal products, like dairy,
meat, and poultry. To limit the amount of saturated fats you eat,
choose lower-fat and lean options of dairy, meat, and poultry —
like skim milk, lean beef, and grilled chicken breast without
the skin.
Eating too many foods high in saturated fats can be bad for your
health. By replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats, you may
lower your risk of getting heart disease.
What foods and beverages are higher
in saturated fats?
• Meats higher in fat, like beef ribs, sausage, and some
processed meats
• Higher-fat dairy, like regular-fat cheeses and whole or 2% milk
• Butter, stick margarine, cream, and cream cheese
• Some tropical oils, like coconut and palm kernel oil
• Cakes, cookies, and some snack foods
Dishes with many ingredients — like pizza, casseroles, burgers,
tacos, and sandwiches — tend to have ingredients that are high
in saturated fats.
Choose ingredients for these dishes that are low in saturated
fats — like vegetables, whole grains, low-fat and fat-free dairy
products, most oils, and lean cuts of meats and poultry.
What are unsaturated fats?
Unsaturated fats are
found in some foods and
most oils. There are 2
types of unsaturated fats:
monounsaturated fatty acids
(MUFA) and polyunsaturated
fatty acids (PUFA).
While saturated fats have
health risks, unsaturated fats
have health benets.
Focus on getting unsaturated
fats from:
• Seafood (lik e salmon, trout,
herring, tuna, and mackerel)
• W alnuts, almonds, cashews,
and most other nuts
• Sesame, pumpkin, and ax
seeds
• Olive, canola, peanut,
sunower, saower, corn,
so
ybean, and cottonseed oils*
• A vocados
* The Dietary Guidelines recommends that adult
women get 1.5–2 tablespoons and adult men
get 2–2.5 tablespoons of oils each day.
2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans — Cut Down on Saturated Fats — Page 1
How can I cut down on saturated fats?
The best strategy is not just to limit saturated fats — it’s also to
replace them with healthier unsaturated fats.
Studies show that swapping saturated fats for unsaturated fats
may have health benefits. It can help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol
in the blood. It may also lower the risk of heart disease.
Here are 3 things you can do.
1. Find out how many calories from saturated fats you’re
getting now.
You can use USDA’s SuperTracker (https://supertracker.usda.gov)
to get an idea. If it’s more than 10% of your daily calories, find
small changes you can make today and build on over time.
2. Check the Nutrition Facts label.
The label shows total fat broken out by
saturated fat and trans fat. Labels may
also list monounsaturated fatty acids and
polyunsaturated fatty acids. These are
types of unsaturated fats.
Pay attention to the specific types of fats
listed. Choose options that are lower in or
have no saturated fats and trans fats or
have unsaturated fats instead.
3. Make some healthy shifts.
Replace foods and beverages higher in saturated fats with healthier options.
Cook with olive oil instead of
butter or stick margarine
Go for grilled chicken breast
(without the skin) instead of fried
Have fruit salad instead of
ice cream for dessert
You can still have some foods and beverages with saturated fats — just choose smaller portions or have them
less often. For example, you can:
• Replace some of the meat or poultry in your taco recipe with fish, beans, or other vegetables
• Use less meat and more vegetables to make a stir fry cooked with a small amount of oil
• Limit desserts to special occasions and use small bowls and plates to encourage smaller portions
What about trans fats?
Like saturated fats, trans fats
may increase the risk of heart
disease.
Food companies have lowered
the amount of articial trans
fats they add to foods. But there
may still be some articial
trans fats in packaged foods
like snacks, desserts, frozen
pizzas, margarine, and more.
The Dietary Guidelines
recommends eating and
drinking as few articial
trans fats as possible.
Small amounts of natural trans
fats are in dairy and meat.
The Dietary Guidelines
recommends lowering how
many natural trans fats you
get by choosing fat-free or
low-fat dairy and lean meats
and poultry.
Want to learn more about saturated fats and how to build a healthy eating pattern that works for you? Check out
DietaryGuidelines.gov for more information on the Dietary Guidelines and ChooseMyPlate.gov for online tools, recipes, and more.
2015 –2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans — Cut Down on Saturated Fats — Page 2
December 2016
