Thursday, November 4, 2010

AUGUSTA -- In this "Smart Heart" report, we teaming up with University Hospital to talk about saturated and unsaturated fat.

For years, doctors have said saturated fat is bad. They say it caused weight gain and heart disease.

But new research appearing in the October issue of "LIPIDS" says saturated fat might only have a small impact on our heart.

Candice Stapleton is a nutrition support dietitian at University Hospital.

She says a saturated fat is solid at room temperature, such as butter. Unsaturated fats are liquids, such as cooking oil.

She says you can include both in your diet, as long as there's a balance.

"It's a balance of a healthy lifestyle, exercise, eating the right things and some of the bad things in moderation. Almost anything can fit into a diet, as long as it's in moderation," she said.

A third kind of fat, trans fat, is a man-made product. Companies add extra hydrogen atoms to make products like vegetable oil solid, instead of liquid.