The internet is filled with folks singing the praises of high-fat, keto-friendly diets. Meanwhile, most healthcare providers stick by the decades-old advice to stick with a low-saturated-fat diet to improve your cardiovascular health.
It can be hard to know what to believe. Nutrition is a very complex topic, and the best thing you can do is lean into what your registered dietitian has advised you to do based on your health history, family history, and lifestyle factors. And, if that recommendation happens to be a low-saturated-fat diet, then I’ve got you covered in this piece.
Let’s discuss what a low-saturated-fat diet is and what foods you should include to navigate this eating pattern with ease.
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What is a Low-Saturated-Fat Diet?
According to MyFitnessPal dietitian Katherine Basbaum, a low-saturated-fat diet limits foods that are high in saturated fats—not unsaturated fats.
But what are saturated fats?
“They’re the kind of fats that are solid at room temperature. They’re most often found in animal products and certain processed foods—think: beef, pork, butter, cookies, and cakes,” she explains (1).
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) 2020-2025 actually recommend that a maximum of 10% daily calories come from saturated fats (2).
Scientists based this recommendation on decades of research that have shown a diet low in saturated fat can help improve heart health through improving cholesterol numbers (4).
For someone following a 2000-calorie diet, this would mean roughly 20 grams (or less) of saturated fat should be eaten throughout a day (3).
That can really add up fast. For example:
| Food | Serving Size | Grams Sat Fat |
| Cheeseburger | 1 burger | 10 |
| Ice Cream | 4 ounces | 10 |
| Greek Yogurt | ¾ cups | 6 |
| Butter | 1 tablespoon | 7.3 |
| Fast food biscuit with egg and bacon | 1 sandwich | 8 |
| Frozen pepperoni pizza | 12-inch pizza | 26 |
Foods that are high in saturated fat are also usually high in calories. It’s OK to enjoy all these foods in moderation, but if you eat them often it can make a weight loss journey difficult. That’s why tracking your intake of foods high in saturated fat can help! (3, 4).
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What’s More Important, Saturated Fat or Dietary Cholesterol?
When it comes to heart-health, it’s more important to reduce saturated fat than dietary cholesterol.
Science has evolved and proven that dietary cholesterol does not impact blood cholesterol like was once believed (5). In fact, the DGA actually removed the limit on dietary cholesterol from their most recent guidelines due to the lack of evidence supporting the relationship (2).
The good news is foods like eggs, which contain a higher amount of dietary cholesterol, are now actually recommended in moderation by the American Heart Association as part of a heart-healthy diet (6).
About the Experts
Katherine Basbaum, MS, RD is Food Data Curator at MyFitnessPal. She received her Masters in Nutrition Communication from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University and completed her Dietetic Internship at UVA Health, where she also works as a nutrition counselor for cardiology patients.
Elizabeth Shaw, MS, RDN, CPT is a nutrition expert, four-time cookbook author and early nutrition pioneer in the field of fertility nutrition. She is the president and owner of the USA-based nutrition communications and consulting firm Shaw Simple Swaps.
5 Low-Sat-Fat Foods That are Good For You
There are a variety of foods low in saturated fat that actually also happen to be sources of other good-for-you nutrients, too!
Here’s a peak at the top five low-saturated-fat foods I recommend to my clients regularly.
Almonds
Nutrition Per 1-Ounce Serving (7)
Calories: 160; Total Fat: 14 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 6 g; Total Sugars: 1 g; Fiber: 4 g; Protein: 6 g
Almonds aren’t a low-fat food, but they are a food low in saturated fat. Almonds also deliver big when it comes to both dietary fiber and protein. This trifecta of nutrition helps keep you fuller for longer while also setting you up to achieve your goals (8, 9).
How to eat them: Enjoy one ounce of them on their own as a snack roasted and lightly seasoned. Or toss them into a salad, or mix them into your favorite energy bite!
Avocados
Nutrition Per ⅓ Medium Avocado (50 g) (10)
Calories: 80; Total Fat: 7 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 4 g; Total Sugars: 0 g; Fiber: 3 g; Protein: 1 g
Avocados have risen to fame on social media and on restaurant menus across the globe over the past two decades, thanks to their stellar nutrient profile.
Again, it’s not a low-fat food (it contains 7 grams of total fat), but it does provide only 1 gram of saturated fat, making it fit nicely in this list (10). Plus, it packs 3 grams of filling fiber, a nutrient most Americans aren’t eating enough of (2,10).
How to eat them: You can certainly enjoy avocados on their own, but you can also use ⅓ of a medium avocado as a vehicle for protein-rich foods. Or add to a breakfast bowl with eggs, or of course, on a black bean burger.
Canned Tuna
Nutrition Per 3-Ounce Serving (11)
Calories: 110; Total Fat: 2.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 0 g; Total Sugars: 0 g; Fiber: 0 g; Protein: 20 g
Unless you’re a vegetarian, there’s no reason to avoid canned tuna. Canned tuna not only is a low-fat and low-saturated fat food, but it’s a convenient, high-protein food that packs 20 grams in just a 3-ounce portion (11).
Protein is crucial for building, maintaining and repairing your lean muscle. It also aids in satiety and weight management (8, 12).
How to eat it: You can enjoy canned tuna straight from the can. I’m in favor of combining it with a fiber source so you can reap the benefits of that nutrient, too. Consider adding 3 ounces of tuna to a salad with a peanut dressing. Or try it with avocado on top of apple slices, or even in savory oats with seaweed. (Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!)
Nonfat Greek Yogurt
Nutrition Per 1-Cup Serving (13)
Calories: 150; Total Fat: 1 g; Saturated Fat: 0.5 g; Carbohydrates: 9 g; Total Sugars: 8 g; Fiber: 0 g; Protein: 25 g
While whole milk Greek yogurt can have more saturated fat than you want, a nonfat option can be a great choice.
Plain, nonfat Greek yogurt is really a superstar in the health field. Not only is a nonfat variety a great choice when it comes to saturated fat (it has just 0.5 grams of it), it’s also packed with 25 grams of protein and a source of probiotics (those good for you bugs that support gut health) (13,14).
“Both nonfat and low-fat plain Greek yogurt are great choices for someone following a low-saturated fat diet,” says Katherine Basbaum, a MyFitnessPal dietitian. “In addition to it being a versatile food, Greek yogurt is rich in protein and vitamin B12,” she explains (6, 13).
How to eat it: Whether you choose to enjoy a cup of Greek yogurt for breakfast in a parfait, as better-for-you swap for mayo in a salad, or a trendy yogurt bark, you can’t go wrong adding this stellar food to your regular meal plan.
Lentils
Nutrition Per ½-Cup Cooked Serving (15)
Calories: 150; Total Fat: 6.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 17.5 g; Total Sugars: 1.5 g; Fiber: 7 g; Protein: 8 g
Lentils, alongside other pulses like beans and peas, are one of my go-to recommended plant-powered protein sources that also just happen to be a food low in saturated fat, too. Plus, lentils pack both dietary fiber and protein, keeping you fuller for longer between meals (8,9).
How to eat them: Swapping lentils for ground beef in tacos is actually a wonderful way to incorporate more plant-based proteins into your diet without sacrificing flavor. Since they’re extremely versatile, you can also pair ½-cup of lentils with lots of other foods, like potatoes for a simple dish, toss them into a salad, or puree them into soups.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What foods contain low saturated fats?
Plant-based foods, like beans, legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds, and whole grains are naturally low in saturated fats (6). But, animal based foods including lean and extra-lean protein choices—such as 93% lean/7% fat ground beef, boneless and skinless chicken breasts, and nonfat dairy foods—can also often fit into this category of low-saturated fat foods (6).
Which snack foods are the lowest in saturated fat?
Whole grains are often low in saturated fat, like air-popped popcorn or rice cakes. Plus, nuts like almonds and pistachios are also great snack options that may be high in total fat but are considered low in saturated fat (1,6). Any produce picks, including both fruits and vegetables, also make the cut here, too (1,6). Most have no saturated fat.
Which meat has the lowest saturated fat?
A 3-ounce portion of boneless, skinless chicken breast has just 1 gram of saturated fat (16). Typically, both chicken and turkey tend to have less saturated fat than beef or pork.
How do you get rid of saturated fat in your body?
Unfortunately, you can’t just banish saturated fat from your body. “Saturated fat is a type of fat found in food, and once consumed, there is no way to remove it from the body. However, excessive saturated fat intake is associated with higher levels of LDL cholesterol and there are ways to lower LDL. Some examples include eating more fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains ,as well as incorporating more plant-based fats into the diet,” says Basbaum (1,6).
The Bottom Line
A diet low in saturated fat is recommended as part of a healthy diet by the most recent DGA (2). This style of eating may benefit both heart health and weight management.
However, this does not mean low-fat. In fact, foods low in saturated fat may actually contain a higher amount of total fat. That’s because they pack those better-for-you unsaturated fats (1, 6). Get to know your own saturated fat intakes by logging your food in the MyFitnessPal app today!
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