4 lower-fat food swaps

Make lower-fat choices

Health Canada recommends consuming about 27 to 40 grams of unsaturated fat a day for optimal health-that’s the equivalent of around two to three tablespoons. Unsaturated fats include canola, corn, flaxseed, olive, peanut, soybean and sunflower oils. Limit saturated fats (found in hard margarine, butter, lard and shortening). Here are four lower-fat grocery store swaps.

Frozen pasta

Instead of: Knorr Grilled Chicken Alfredo (shown left) packs 630 calories and 35 g of fat per 340-g serving. About half of that is saturated fat, and it has 1,000 mg sodium.

Try: Knorr Mediterranean Inspirations Chicken, Rigatoni & Broccoli has 390 calories and 14 g of fat in the same-size serving (3.5 g saturated fat). Sodium is lower (890 mg), but still pretty high.

Cheese

Instead of: Black Diamond Medium Cheddar Cheese (shown left) from the dairy aisle is a good source of calcium, but a 40-g serving (two 1-inch cubes) has 13 g of fat (8 g saturated fat). Calories: 160.

Try: Black Diamond Cheestrings Mozzarella is a lower-fat cheese option: A similar-size serving (two strings are 42 g) has 8 g of fat (5 g saturated fat). Calories: 120.

Flavoured warm drinks

Instead of: Nescafé Vanilla Cappuccino (shown left), individual 18.5 gram flavoured coffee mix packets you stir into hot water, has 2.5 g of fat in one 150 mL serving, with most of it being saturated fat, thanks to the milk powder and modified milk ingredients. It’s a little, but it all adds up.

Try: Nestlé Nesquick chocolate syrup has no fat and 50 calories in a 1 tbsp serving, which can be used to make hot chocolate as well as chocolate milk. Add this to a cup of warmed or cold skim milk for 136 calories and 0 g of fat.

Breads

Instead of: Country Harvest Twelve Grain tortillas (shown right) seem like a healthier choice than bread, but one wrap (58 g) has 5 g fat (1 g saturated fat). Calories: 170.

Try: Country Harvest 100% Whole Grain Plus bread has only 3 g of fat for two slices (76 g),
with 0.6 g satu-rated fat. Cal­ories: 200. Who knew? Now you do.

Related:
• 4 lower-salt food swaps
• 11 foods swaps to help you lose weight
• 8 foods with less sugar