We all need some amount of fat in our diet but not so much to incur health risks. The recommended intake for a moderately active person ranges from a minimum of 2 tablespoons to a maximum of about 5 tablespoons oil per day. Active persons may need more and sedentary persons will need less. It is much easier to exceed ones oil/fat requirement for the day than not to meet requirement since most of the foods or meals available to us are made with too much oil. To reduce your oil intake here are some tips:
• Know the sources of hidden fats and limit intake of these by limiting frequency of consumption and portion sizes eaten. Hidden fat sources include cakes, pies, donuts, croissant, other pastries, pizza, plantain chips, hot dogs, French fries & all fried foods, corned beef, high fat meats, chocolates and others
• Try lower fat versions of whole milk. A 250 ml cup of whole milk supplies about 8g of fat. To reduce the amount of fat, you can opt for skimmed milk which is virtually fat free or low fat milk which contains only 2.5g fat per 250 ml volume
• Opt for fat free salad dressings or use reduced fat yogurt as a substitute for salad dressing. If total fat per serving of salad dressing is less than or equal to 3g fat then the product is indeed a low fat product
• Cut off all visible fat off meats and poultry before using them in cooking
• Do more stir fry sauces instead of oily stews
• Scoop all oil off your palm nut and groundnut soups before consuming them
• Try other cooking methods such as roasting, baking, grilling, steaming, poaching of your meats and other foods instead of always frying them.