Dietary Recommendations

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American Heart Association's Dietary Recommendations

The lists below will help you “budget” your saturated fat and dietary cholesterol. For example, if you eat foods high in saturated fat or cholesterol in one meal, balance them with foods lower in saturated fat or cholesterol for your other meals on that day.

Portion	Food	Saturated Fat (g)	% daily total*	Dietary Cholesterol (mg)	% daily total**

	Milk Products
1 Tbsp.	Butter	7.2	33	31	10
1 oz.	Cheese, American	4.4	20	18	6
1 oz.	Cheese, cheddar	6.0	5	30	10
1 oz.	Cheese, mozzarella, part-skim	3.1	14	15	5
1 Tbsp.	Margarine, hard stick	2.1	10	0	0
1 Tbsp.	Margarine, soft tub	1.5	7	0	0
8 oz.	Milk, low-fat, 1% milk fat	1.6	7	10	3
8 oz.	Milk, nonfat	0.0	0	5	2
8 oz.	Milk, reduced fat, 2% milk fat	2.9	13	20	7
8 oz.	Milk, whole, 3.7% milk fat	5.6	26	34	11

Portion	Food	Saturated Fat (g)	% daily total*	Dietary Cholesterol (mg)	% daily total**

	Eggs
Small	Egg, fresh	1.1	5	157	52
Medium	Egg, fresh	1.4	6	187	62
Large	Egg, fresh	1.6	7	213	71
X-Large	Egg, fresh	1.8	8	246	82
Jumbo	Egg, fresh	2.0	9	276	93

Portion	Food	Saturated Fat (g)	% daily total*	Dietary Cholesterol (mg)	% daily total**

	Meats
3 oz.	Beef, ground, extra-lean,17% fat	5.3	24	84	28
3 oz.	Beef, ground, lean, 21% fat	5.9	27	86	29
3 oz.	Beef, ground, regular, 27% fat	6.5	30	86	29
3 oz.	Beef, t-bone, meat only	3.1	14	50	17
3 oz.	Beef, tenderloin, meat only	3.1	14	73	24
3 oz.	Ham, regular, 11% fat	2.9	13	49	16
3 oz.	Ham, extra lean, 5% fat	1.4	6	40	13
1 item	Hot dog, beef, 1 = 45 g	5.4	25	27	9
1 item	Hot dog, turkey, 1 = 45 g	2.7	12	48	16
3 oz.	Italian sausage, pork	7.5	34	65	22
3 oz.	Lamb, loin chop, lean only	3.2	15	74	25
3 oz.	Pork, loin chop, meat only	3.0	14	69	23

Portion	Food	Saturated Fat (g)	% daily total*	Dietary Cholesterol (mg)	% daily total**

	Poultry
3 oz.	Chicken, breast, meat only	0.9	4	73	24
3 oz.	Chicken, breast, meat and skin	1.8	8	71	24
3 oz.	Chicken, thigh, meat only	2.5	11	80	27
3 oz.	Ground turkey	2.8	13	83	28

Portion	Food	Saturated Fat (g)	% daily total*	Dietary Cholesterol (mg)	% daily total**

	Fish and Seafood
3 oz.	Clams	0.0	0	57	19
3 oz.	Cod	0.0	0	45	15
3 oz.	Oysters	0.9	4	85	28
3 oz.	Lobster	0.0	0	69	23
3 oz.	Salmon (varies by species and whether farm-raised or wild)	0.0-2.7	0-12	47-81	16-27
3 oz.	Scallops	0.0	0	28	9
3 oz.	Shrimp	0.0	0	166	55
3 oz.	Tuna, canned in water, light	0.0	0	26	9
3 oz.	Tuna, fresh	0.0	0	50	17

Portion	Food	Saturated Fat (g)	% daily total*	Dietary Cholesterol (mg)	% daily total**

	Snack Foods
1 oz.	Crackers, snack	1.0	5	0	0
Small	French fries, fast-food	3.3	15	0	0
Med	French fries, fast-food	5.1	23	0	0
Large	French fries, fast-food	6.5	30	0	0
1 oz.	Potato chips	2.3	11	0	0

* Based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.
** Based on a recommended cholesterol limit of less than 300 mg per day.

(http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4665)