Worst Fatty Foods

There are different kinds of fats: "bad" fats, which are saturated and trans fats, and "good" fats, which are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. When selecting what food to eat, it's important to consider not just the quantity, but the type of fat in it as well. Avoid the bad fats; they raise bad cholesterol---low-density lipoprotein, or LDL. Too much LDL cholesterol can contribute to heart disease and stroke.

Animal Fats

• Bad fat is found primarily in animal foods.

  Cholesterol is only found in foods from animals. Some of these foods, such as butter, chicken fat, bacon and lard are obvious. But there others that are less well-known. Hot dogs, organ meats, some lunch meats, poultry and duck are high in unhealthy fats. Oils from plant sources do not contain cholesterol, but there are a few exceptions: coconut oil and palm kernel oil.

Frozen Dinners and Dressings

• Some frozen dinner foods contain high levels of fat.

  There is a lot of bad fat hiding in frozen dinners. Frozen pot pies---at 11 to 15 grams of fat per serving---is one of the worst offenders. Macaroni and cheese, pizza and breaded fish and chicken contain trans fats. The label might read "low fat" but buyer beware---that fat is still trans fat.

  Salad dressing is another fatty culprit. Sure, dressing makes salad more interesting, but the leafy greens remain good for you only if you use dressings in the right amounts. Some dressings are high in fat and others labeled "low-fat" may contain trans fats or higher levels of sodium and sugar.

Sweets and Beverages

• Donuts and pastries are high in sugar and fat.

  Cinnamon rolls and donuts are not eaten because they are healthful, so before twisting open a refrigerated tube of these sweets and popping them into the oven, consider their contents. One cinnamon roll with icing has more than a day's worth of fat and up to 20 grams of sugar---that's about half of the recommended daily allowance. As for donuts, just one has about five grams of trans fat and nearly five grams of saturated fat.

  And if you love your iced coffee but want to cut back on fat, have it made with nonfat milk and omit the whipped cream on top. Non-dairy creamers, whipped toppings contain high levels of artery-clogging trans fat.