Dates and Low Fat Diet
- All About Dates
- April 1, 2023
- 3 minutes read
Diet Description
Low fat diets limit the amount of dietary fat eaten. They should only be less than 30% of daily calories. Cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans-fat are also generally limited.
Diet Purpose
Low fat diets can help reduce the amount of calories you eat. This is because one gram of fat contains more calories than one gram of protein or carbohydrate. It may also help with lowering cholesterol. A low-fat diet that is high in vegetables, fruits, and grains can also reduce your risk for certain chronic conditions, like heart disease. Certain health conditions may also require a low-fat diet, like pancreatitis.
Dates in Low Fat Diet
Dates can be included in a low-fat diet. The average date contains about 0.03 grams of fat. This makes them a very low-fat food.
What to Eat
Focus on fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and low-fat or fat-free dairy. Eat lean proteins, like chicken breast or low fat fish, that have been prepared without oil or butter. Reduce the amount of fat in meat by trimming any visible fat, removing any skin, and flavoring them with lemon juice and herbs rather than oil and butter. Bake, grill, steam, or dry roast your proteins instead of frying.
What to Avoid
Limit high-fat foods like oils, butter, egg yolks, fried food, full fat dairy, and high fat proteins. Condiments like oil-based salad dressings and mayonnaise should also be eaten in moderation. Processed foods often have large amounts of oils added during cooking or processing so should be avoided. A nutrition facts label is a good tool to see the amount of fat that is in the food.
Conclusion
While fats are an essential nutrient for our body, low-fat diets are followed for many reasons, like supporting heart health. Eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, and grains while limiting foods high in saturated fat. These include full-fat dairy and fatty meats. Dates are very low in fat and a great addition to a low-fat diet.